That Reuters article has been thoroughly debunked yet it continues to be heavily used by the anti-EV crowd. Bob Lutz did a good job of explaining why those numbers were idiotic:
I was surprised to read Ben Klayman’s piece on alleged astronomical per-unit losses on the Chevrolet “Volt.” Ben is usually a solid professional who checks his facts.
The statement that GM “loses” over $40K per Volt is preposterous. What the “analyst” in whom poor Ben Klayman placed his faith has done is to divide the total development cost and plant investment by the number of Volts produced thus far. That’s like saying that a real estate company that puts up a $10 million building and has rental income of one million the first year is “losing” 9 million dollars...
The Real Story On GM’s Volt Costs
“Speaking of Hummers, perhaps it is environmentally responsible to buy one and squash a Prius with it.”
The article you cited that referenced a CNW study regarding the Hummer and the Prius was widely regarded as junk science.
Enter the Pacific Institute, an Oakland-based environmental think-tank, with a counter-report alleging that the CNW report is based on “faulty methods of analysis, untenable assumptions, selective use and presentation of data, and a complete lack of peer review.” Among its most flawed assumption: the average H1 Hummer is assumed to last 35 years, and travel 379,000 miles, while the average Prius is assumed to last only 109,000 miles over 12 years.
http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/editorials/article/The-Hummer-vs-the-Prius-2557425.php
In fact, if you believe the CNW Wikipedia page (yes I know its Wikipedia, so take with a grain of salt), CNW themselves later “updated” their numbers: “CNWMR has since added data for 2007-2008 model year cars in the June 2008 release of their ‘From Dust to Dust’ study and the Prius cost per lifetime mile fell 23.5% to $2.191 per lifetime mile while the H3 cost rose 12.5% to $2.327 per lifetime mile.”
Hybrids are too rich for my blood. Until Obama makes the alternative more expensive. By then I’ll work from home.