With "greener" alternative fuels becoming a more omnipresent facet of the world in which humans continue to seek a symbiosis between themselves and their organic homeland, the question remains: "How much is this all going to cost?"
Anent CNBC's report Tuesday that the amount of money spent on gas by consumers has reached a nearly thirty-year high, in collusion with the similarly frightening fact that gas prices are the highest they have ever been during the beginning of any February on record, there's no question that something needs to be done soon.
In fact, last year at this time, gas was four cents cheaper per gallon ($3.48 vs. $3.52). There's been a similarly shocking rise in recent days alone, with gas now being almost ten cents a gallon cheaper last week, almost 25 cents cheaper a month ago.
Whereas some - like those at Business Insider - blame President Obama's seeming lack of interest in the steadily increasing gas prices, others - eg, the Institute for Energy Research - point to other external causes such as "world oil demand growth" and "domestic supply."
No matter what the reason, the fact remains that gas prices are higher than ever and climbing (quickly).
Hence the study by Autoweek's Tara Baukus Mello published on Monday. By utilizing the U.S. Department of Energy's "vehicle cost calculator," the Autoweek contributor was able to directly compare traditional-fuel cars with their alternative-powered counterparts.
Especially by taking full advantage of tax breaks issued to those who drive electric cars, Mello discovered that there can be a clarion cost effectiveness for those looking into changing up their gas guzzlers for an alterna-vehicle.
However, Mello notes soberly, these cost differences could vary according to vehicle type and sometimes only turn out saving dividends over a long period of time.
In her contrasting the 2013 Chevrolet Volt with the 2013 Honda Accord, for example, Mello finds that the respective car costs are - surprisingly - about the same for the first three years, then slightly shift in favor of the Volt before making the electric car $5000 cheaper after a ten-year period.
Through the appearance of some disagreements and speculation on the part of Mello's article's commenters - some wondering why she chose California as a control environment for her experiment, others curious about why projected gas/electric prices were not taken into account - the final question of all may be that of, "Will the debate about alternative and traditional fuels ever come to an end? And if so, when?"
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