Gallup Surprise: Most Americans Now Say They May Buy Hybrid Cars

[sabra]

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002314621

Gallup Surprise: Most Americans Now Say They May Buy Hybrid Cars

NEW YORK A Gallup poll released today shows that nearly half of all Americans have cut back "significantly" on their driving due to high gas prices--and in a surprise, 57% say they will consider buying a hybrid car when replacing their current vehicle.

About half of Americans report economizing in general in order to compensate for the increase in gas prices over the past year.

Those favoring hybrids show little gender or regional differences, but "hybrids appeal much more to younger and middle-aged Americans than to seniors," Gallup reports. Upper-income Americans are slightly more likely than lower-income Americans (62% vs. 55%) to say they would seriously consider buying a hybrid when purchasing their next car.

According to the poll, 48% say they have cut back significantly on the amount they drive and 54% says they have reduced their household spending on other items because of high gas prices.

[Brigid]

1. Better Idea

Hybrid cars are fine, but I have an even better idea: Improve public transportation.

[Warpy]

2. That won't work out here in NM

because the distances are just too great. However, what public transit that can be done is being done, after decades on the drawing board, passenger rail service north to south. Right now it only covers about 70 miles, but the plan is to extend it.

Oh, and our city buses now run on Sunday. Woo hoo.

Not everyone can afford the additional cost of a hybrid. Plus, there are battery life and disposal problems. An equally decent solution is the efficient car replacing the gas guzzling SUV.

As for me, I haven't owned anything with more than 4 cylinders since 1969.

[nickinSTL]

34. no argument here...

but it has to actually get done.

Here in St. Louis, the public transport is not good. If you live in the city, it's probably good enough, but in most of the rest of the metro area, it just isn't practical.

I'd be happy to use it...if it were improved sufficiently, or if I was in a situation where I reasonably could use what's there now.

[Demeter]

3. Since there aren't any other reasonable alternatives...

why is it such a surprise?

[Tyler Durden]

4. Hybrids are a SCAM.

Plymouth HORIZON: 45+ MPG
Geo METRO: 45+ MPG
Saturn SL1: 40+ MPG (and I just bought a 1997 one in perfect shape for $800)

Add in Light Rail on electricity and we can do it without the hybrids.

[tridim]

5. VW turbo diesel 50+mpg

However, I don't think hybrids are a scam, they're just a first generation attempt. I applaud the effort even if they aren't perfect.

[Tyler Durden]

8. We had perfectly good electric cars. What did they do?

They CRUSHED THEM.

The Hybrid is an attempt to placate the Oil Companies, and I defy the 60+ MPG claimers to make that stick on the freeway with a full car.

I took two adults and two teens in my 1997 Saturn SL1 1 90 miles and back on Sunday, and burned a whole 5 gallons of gas going 70-75mph.

Beat THAT in your Prius.

[Bigmack]

23. Always do....

Just came from SoCal to Seattle. Two of us, the dog, the parrot, and every cubic inch crammed with stuff... heavy stuff, too. Up I-5 at 75 mph (in SoCal, faster) over the Siskiyous and everything. 47 mpg. Got about that going south, too, with a huge cooler of frozen fish and meat, plus all the other heavy stuff.

If I read your numbers right, you travelled 180 miles on 5 gallons. 36 mpg. Never got that low in the life of the vehicle. Our best was 58 mpg, and our usual is 52.

[Clovis Sangrail]

25. 36mpg isn't all that great

I've got a 2002 Prius.
I recently drove to Tahoe from sea level with 2 14' kayaks on the roof, 2 bikes on the back, doing 70mph +... I still got close to 38MPG

Normally it hovers around 45MPG.
Not 45 at the high end;
45 average.

[LeftyMom]

29. Those Saturns are damn fine cars

Very reliable, very safe. I have a '97 too, but an SW1. I love that thing.

[AndyTiedye]

19. Diesel, Cough

I wish more people running diesel would maintain them properly.

Low-sulfur diesel should be better, I hope.

We can't buy those diesel cars in California anyway.
Because of this, the diesel cars that are on the road
are showing their age (cough). They never instituted a smog testing
program for diesels, since they were being phased out of passenger
cars in California anyway.

If we do start bringing diesel cars into California again
I hope there will be an effective smog testing program for them.

[skids]

30. To convert Diesel mileage to gas multiply it by 0.89.

...because you cannot compare them directly, you have to compare by chemical energy content.

1 gallon of gasoline = 124,000 Btu

1 gallon of diesel fuel = 139,000 Btu

...so the gasoline-equivalent mileage of that VW turbo is 44.6 mpg.

And then there's British gallons to deal with. British gallons are bigger. A U.S. gallon is only 83% the size of a Birtish Gallon. So if you see a car's mileage reported as such you have to apply the correction (though over there they usually report mileage backwards as volume/mile so it's a dead giveaway.)

You could also factor in the EIOER factors for each fuel as well, and probably should, though the EIOER figures don't account for combined processes -- that is different products that have to be made in the same process and their relative value.

All that's real complicated, so basically I just make sure to write appropriate units after the figure which makes them appear disclaimer-like. Like a Solar Cell produces W(p) or Watts Peak, or a diesel gets 50mpg(diesel)

[jsamuel]

6. Prius 60+

[recoveringrepublican]

7. For sure you get 60+? Am looking at buying a new car

in a couple of weeks. Was wanting a Civic, and the difference didn't seem that big of a deal between the base model and the hybrid. I have to fit 2 car seats in the back, with a Prius accommodate that?

[Lumily]

9. We consistently get 53-55 mpg in our Prius.

We love it. It's a lot bigger on the inside than it looks from the outside. I've taken my niece and nephew places in our car, and they are both still in car seats. They weren't crammed in there either.

Now one of my neighbors has an Insight (Honda). It only has seating for two, but he averages 64 mpg.

[recoveringrepublican]

10. Thanks, if it gets over 50 it's well worth the price difference for me

right now I'm commuting 80 miles round trip. Is the battery life similar to the hondas? Was reading that the battery is good for 8 years, but is very expensive to replace.

ok, I have to stop talking myself out of this...I HATE big purchases and am a cheap skate and really don't want to pay over 20K for a car, I'm just going to close my eyes when I see the sticker. ll

[Paulie]

26. I'm back up to 51 with the summer blend fuel (E10) now in the tanks

and my commute is 72 miles round trip. I used to take a 30 minute commuter rail to downtown Chicago, then the company relocated to one of their operating companies to save money, so I bought the Prius for the commute.

Its an awesome car. You'll love it when you're on electric only power in stop and go or in the parking lots. Honda can't do that with their mild hybrid assist technology. I can be in electric mode with the A/C running too, Honda can't do that either. :hi:

[peacebird]

11. we get 54mpg spring thru fall and 48mpg winter with our prius

it only cost 23k which is what we paid for our previous car as well so I guess I don't get the price "premium" people talk about for a Prius.

We love it!

[salin]

22. I paid the same I would have compared to the two other cars

I was looking at - I don't fit the "price premium" either.

Though I haven't quite gotten the mileage you get. Got it in the winter and got 45-48 mpg; and now (spring) am hovering at 48-50. But this is still double the mpg than my old car.

And its so much fun to drive!

[Lorien]

27. My best friend gets the same mileage out of his

he loves it too. And it's not just the efficiency; he loves the performance and the low emissions too. :-)

[AndyTiedye]

12. Hybrids Have a Lot Going For Them

Plymouth Horizon was only rated at 25/30 (25/34 for the stick).
That is a bit lower than the Ford Escape Hybrid, even though the Escape is an SUV.
If you get over 45 MPG out of a Horizon, what would you get with a Prius, which is rated at 60/51?

Geo Metro? I think a car whose transmission expires a month after the warrantee is a scam.
That's what happened to some friends of mine who owned one.

The Saturn is rated at 27/37 (28/40 for stick-shift). If you are getting better than that,
good for you, and you might beat the EPA mileage in a hybrid, too. Some people do.

I get a bit less than EPA in my Prius, and about the same as EPA in the Escape Hybrid.
I live in a mountainous area, so my mileage is usually a bit lower than EPA. I don't
do a lot of city driving either. On the other hand, regenerative braking really ROCKS
on the hills -- much less of a mileage hit than a gas-only vehicle, and the brakes last longer.

It isn't all about mileage either. Hybrids pollute a lot less.

I'm with you on light rail and train service in general. We need a lot more of it.
Poland has a much better rail system than we do. If we started a crash program building the rail
system America needs today, it might be finished by the time our hybrids are worn out.

[maxsolomon]

13. rail service will not be restored until there is a true crisis

and by then, 80 mile RT commutes will be a quaint memory. the government can legitimately claim that there is no $ left to restore the passenger rail system. we spent it destroying iraq trying to keep the spice flowing.

i need to stop reading www.kunstler.com

anyway, hybrids are for CITY DRIVING, not highway cruises. they recharge using braking energy.

and a geo metro is a POS death trap. and ugly. this is better:

[Trillo]

16. Did you see that report of the Prius owners,

engineering types, getting 100+ MPG?

Someone posted about it here on DU, but I can't use search here right now, so:
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/08/team_achieves_1.php

[greenman3610]

20. first get hybrids on the road

that will support the development of plug in technology.

Plug in charging will more than double the efficiency of the
hybrids.

Meanwhile, the technology used in hybrids establishes
the basis for hydrogen, electric, or whatever the
standard shakes out to 25 years from now. (that's been
Toyota's strategy)

And, no, plug in technology need not increase
electricity use tremendously - charging at
night takes advantage of "spining reserve"..
power plants still running even tho demand
is lower than during daytime- thus
more efficient use of existing coal or
nuke plants as we bring in wind, cogeneration, and
other capacity.

Yes, bring mass transit along. But that's a long,
long curve, and won't work in every community.

[petgoat]

28. Hybrids are nice, but consider Michael Ruppert's point:

"Why does he not figure into his presentation the fact that every new vehicle manufactured requires the equivalent of 12-15% of all the energy it will ever consume just to make it in the first place? Rough calculations show that for a new hybrid with an expected 20-year lifespan (averaging 30 mpg) that figure is between 960 - 1200 gallons of gasoline (equivalent) just for the vehicle's manufacture. Ore must be mined and transported. It must be smelted and formed by heat. It must be transported to factories. Plastics (now heavily used in auto body construction), paint and vinyl all are made from oil. Frames must be moved down assembly lines by electricity and assembled. Rubber must be shipped from overseas to make tires. To the raw rubber, oil and other petroleum derivatives are added. There are 7 gallons of oil in every new tire (National Geographic, June 2004). So, to replace the 230 million vehicles on America's roadways today would consume the equivalent of 230 billion gallons of gasoline."

http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/022405_hey_forgot.shtml

My '88 Hyundai just looks better and better.

[skids]

32. What he doesn't take into account...

...is that auto parts needed to replace worn out ones, and the materials and labor to do so, also have a carbon load associated with them. Sure, there is a point where if we replaced cars too often, then that would be no good. However there's also a point where if we refused to replace them that would also be no good.

And then there's the fact that many of the hybrids on sale today are capable of being modded into somewhat-on-the-underpowered-side EVs with nothing but solid-state components (electronics and batteries.) Unfortunately mine currently isn't because I bought in before the EV switch option. But I digress -- the point is that many of the hybrids being bought today are not neccessarily going to spend their entire useful life "dependant on fossil fuels anyway."

[petgoat]

33. Good points. nt

[warrens]

14. And the second they get used to $3 gas they'll be back to SUVs

We as a nation are not known for sharp learning curves. Until we've been beaten over the head for at least, oh, 8 years, we never learn. See the last two presidential elections for examples.

[AndyTiedye]

17. Get Used to It How?

Get the boss to pay us more? Yeah, that'll work. :rofl:

Drive a more fuel-efficient car? Yup! I see more Priuses every day.
I think they are outselling everything else in California.

[mimitabby]

15. then there's the Smart car.

But only a few dealers in the USA sell them and only the most expensive models.
They are VERY safe and have great gas mileage.

[AndyTiedye]

18. They Cost as Much as a Hybrid! Why?

What's the point of a "Smart Car" if it costs so much?
The hybrids cost the same, and are much nicer and roomier cars,
and get better mileage.

[Robb]

21. Not me

False economy on the environment considering pollution to manufacture the new vehicle.

78 mpg for me on the bike, which cost $2K. Not a solution for everyone, for sure.

I applaud people for wanting to do the right thing, though. :shrug:

[Post]

24. $5 Gal for Gas

Not that far off, according to Bloomberg today: http://postanapology.blogspot.com/2006/04/5-for-gallon-of-gas-this-summer.html#links

[skids]

31. Dammit Toyota!

Upper-income Americans are slightly more likely than lower-income Americans (62% vs. 55%) to say they would seriously consider buying a hybrid when purchasing their next car.

...don't get me wrong I live my Prius Classic and respect what they've done, but they simply have to stop cramming mandatory luxury options into the hybrids and make a nice cheap one. Like a Corolla, with no CD player. Look at the Camry -- it has some options from the top of the line XLE embedded in the base package.

(Oh and P.S. when I'm next financially able I'll be upgrading to an HSD Prius, so at least you "lower income" folks will have one more used hybrid on the market. :-) )