Reader Question: Is It Stupid to Buy a Hybrid?

Here’s the latest reader question, along with my reply!

Brad asks: I am interested in buying a hybrid because it might actually save me money but I worry that, as you’ve written about, anything other than an electric car will plummet in resale value over the next decade because of the Hair Plugged Man’s likely ban on the sale/use of other-than electric cars by 2030 or even sooner. What’s your position on this or rather what would you do in my position?

My reply: I think we’re already or just about at a Rubicon Moment. What I mean by that historical reference is that it’s no longer about incremental infringements, restrictions and sanctions – the sort of thing we’ve been dealing with and living with for the past 50-plus years at least.

I think it’s all – or nothing – now.

I think that either they will succeed in establishing the “new normal” – which amounts to a kind of latter-day feudalism, with most people owning practically nothing and existing from hand-to-mouth, that existence conditional upon obedience . . . or there will be an epochal pushback against this and a new dawn of freedom will happen.

So I’d go ahead and buy the hybrid. If they succeed in establishing the “new normal” none of this will matter; if they don’t, you’ll have bought a very practical, efficient vehicle that ought to provide you with at least ten years of service and the perk (if you buy a plug-in model) of being able to enjoy most of the benefits of the electric car without buying the liabilities of the electric car.

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