In a report that is sure to be controversial, CNW Marketing Research of Oregon concludes after two years of study that, even though hybrid cars use less fuel, they require more energy than conventional cars.

This is because their design and manufacture are more complex and the costs of disposal or recycling are higher for their batteries, electric motors and other specialized components.

Among CNW's startling claims is that several large sport utility vehicles as well as a number of large vans, pickup trucks and exotic sports cars cost less per mile in energy usage from design through disposal than the Toyota Prius, Honda Accord and Civic hybrids and the Ford Escape Hybrid.

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"If a consumer is concerned about fuel economy because of family budgets or depleting oil supplies, it is perfectly logical to consider buying high- fuel-economy vehicles," said Art Spinella, president of CNW.

"But if the concern is the broader issues such as environmental impact of energy usage, some high-mileage vehicles actually cost society more than conventional or even larger models over their lifetime."

Hybrid makers and advocates disagree. "On face value, without seeing all the data, it doesn't make sense," said Bradley Berman, editor of HybridCars.com, a New Jersey-based Web site that promotes hybrid cars.

And David Friedman, director of the Union of Concerned Scientists' Clean Vehicles Research Program, said when he looks at the CNW study "an amazing number of red flags come up."

According to Toyota, whose Prius is the top-selling hybrid: "The focus of CNW on energy costs is only a small and incomplete part of the picture."

The carmaker said an analysis by the University of Colorado of "cradle to grave" energy costs and environmental effects concluded the Prius was environmentally preferable to a conventional car.

The CNW report is not the first to knock gasoline/electric cars. Fuel economy far lower than federally published estimates, combined with purchase prices thousands of dollars above those of comparable conventional models led the prestigious Consumer Reports last month to question the cars' value in saving buyers money.

It concluded that only two hybrids, the Prius and Civic, recover their price premiums and save owners money within the first five years, or 75,000 miles of ownership. Even then, the savings are only US$400 (HK$3,120) for the Prius and US$300 for the Civic.

Comparing hybrids to their conventionally powered counterparts, the CNW report said the Honda Accord hybrid has an energy cost per mile of US$3.29 while the conventional Honda Accord is US$2.18.

NEWSDAY