Drivers express interest in hybrids, but many don't buy

[DainBramaged]

About six out of 10 consumers say they would look at a gas-electric hybrid when the time comes to replace their current vehicle, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll has found.

Some 35% would "strongly consider" a hybrid; an additional 23% would "consider" it.

But while the results seem to indicate that hybrid gas savers are taking off, the results are at odds with what consumers actually are buying: only 4.3% of vehicles sold last year were hybrids, the Environmental Protection Agency reports.

Hybrids recharge their big batteries during braking, have electric and gas motors, and often can run short spurts on electricity alone. The systems are a potent — but costly — way to save gas.

For example, a $30,825 Ford Escape front-wheel-drive SUV hybrid is rated 34 miles per gallon in city driving, 31 mpg highway and 32 combined. The non-hybrid Escape FWD automatic gets 21 city, 28 highway, 23 combined — but starts at $23,225.

In fact, of the 38% of poll respondents who say they won't consider hybrids, four in 10 say they are too expensive. Two in 10 reject them because they think the technology remains unproven, while others cited inconvenience, poor performance or "something else."

http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2011-02-14-carspoll14_ST_N.htm


Until people see gas go over $5 a gallon, they won't change their habits. 4.3% of 11,000,000+ vehicles. That's less than 500,000.

[FSogol]

1. A lot of my clients are interested in ground source heat pumps (often mistakenly

called geothermal heat pumps) until they see the installation costs. Despite a 4-5 year pay back they cannot handle the added upfront cost.

[Motown_Johnny]

6. the answer to that is a 5-6 year financing program

[IDemo]

12. Either term is acceptable

Or at least the US Department of Energy seems to think so:

http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/space_heating_cooling/index.cfm/mytopic=12640

Geothermal heat pumps (sometimes referred to as GeoExchange, earth-coupled, ground-source, or water-source heat pumps) have been in use since the late 1940s.

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/geothermal/heatpumps.html

The geothermal heat pump, also known as the ground source heat pump, is a highly efficient renewable energy technology that is gaining wide acceptance for both residential and commercial buildings.

[FSogol]

14. But, if you call a ground source heat pump a geothermal heat pump,

what do you call a unit that is placed into hot springs or volcanoes for heat absorption? Iceland and Hawaii are using true geothermal equipment.

Ground source is the better term.

[IDemo]

15. I won't argue which is better

But both terms are widely used by the DOE and almost every other energy agency.

I lived in some apartments locally that had free "real" geothermal heat. Nothing else can touch it for comfort and quiet!

[defendandprotect]

2. Government should be subsidizing ELECTRIC CARS .. production and purchase ...

and getting gasoline driven cars off the roads --

erecting posts for electric cars --

and we should also be working on SOLAR BATTERIES as Germans have done!!

[liberal N proud]

3. I have yet to see a hybrid that will give me the flexibility I need

Both local and long distance travel. I mean 2 and 3 day road trips.

The gasoline supplemental engines in most hybrids are not sufficient to run long distances regularly. The wear and tear of a long road trip could be quite hard on those small engines.

They will get there eventually.

[EOTE]

8. That's really not true with modern hybrids.

I don't know how many people you need to haul, but there are hybrids more than well suited for long travels. In fact, the bulk of hybrids based upon mid-size sedans actually have the same gas engines as their non-hybrid counterparts. I can't imagine you'd have any problem going for long distances in the Camry, Fusion, Malibu, Tahoe or Sonata hybrids, just to name a few.

[Pithlet]

25. Our Hybrid has handled long road trips perfectly fine.

Maybe that was true once :shrug:

[MadHound]

4. I'll buy one,

But the trouble is, the price is currently out of my range, and secondly, I'm never buy a new car until the old one is dead. That could be another four, five years or more.

[Motown_Johnny]

5. you have got to start somewhere

I bet this year the percentage is far above 4.3.

The number of hybrids and pure electrics at the Detroit Auto Show this year was encouraging. The indecision seems to be over and the entire industry is moving in one direction. Two or three years ago you would have seen a mixture of other technologies, such as fuel cells, but those are all but extinct now. Electric cars and gas-electric hybrids are the way things are going and I expect this to be the starting point of a more substantive transition.

The more that are sold the more people will be exposed to them and not be afraid of the technology that they don't really understand. Keep checking on that 4.3% number because I am pretty sure that is the lowest the percentage will be in my lifetime and beyond.

[EOTE]

10. Fuel cell technology isn't extinct, it's hardly in its infancy.

There are a few fuel cell prototypes available, you can even lease them in Europe and on the West Coast. There are more promising developments going on right now in fuel cell vehicles than in typical electric/hybrid vehicles. You see very few of them right now, but that's only because the technology/infrastructure is still in its infancy.

[Motown_Johnny]

16. 3 years ago the Detroit Auto Show had any number of fuel cell vehicles

along with items like a "pump" which could be attached to the natural gas line of your home so you could refuel your vehicle.

This year there was one, count it ONE, fuel cell vehicle at the Detroit Auto Show. All of the additional items were missing.


It seems the market place has spoken. There won't be any fuel cell vehicles mass produced in the USA for the foreseeable future.

[EOTE]

19. That's because the technology is expensive and electric/hybrid is cheap.

But that's only because electricity is relative cheap now. The FCX and other fuel cell prototypes all run into the 6 figures right now. That price, like the battery production that makes electric and hybrid vehicles possible today, will drop precipitously when a larger investment is made. Right now, there's very little incentive for that investment. That will change as electricity becomes more expensive to produce and hydrogen becomes cheaper and easier to produce. I see fuel cells as having a far greater impact on future transportation than electric and hybrid vehicles. Once again, the technology isn't extinct, it's barely in its infancy right now.

[bluestateguy]

7. It's kind of a yuppie thing

Meaning you have to make yuppie kind of money to buy one.

Having principles costs money.

[superduperfarleft]

18. +1. n/t

[taterguy]

21. Lack of money led me to less gas consumption

When I was too broke to replace my car 20 years ago I realized that I could get to almost anywhere I needed to go on a bicycle.

YMMV.

Obviously.

[Shagbark Hickory]

9. The current hybrids don't really offer acceptable MPGs.

You can get better milelage if they would just reduce the size of the friggin engines and stop ramming these "largest, most powerful engine yet" down our throats.
In other continents you can buy a 1.x liter 4 cylinder mid sized vehicle that gets better mpgs than any of the hybrids including prius.

[NV Whino]

11. Hybrids are not cost effective for most of us

I'd love a hybrid, but it costs double what I paid for my FIT, and doesn't get significantly better gas mileage based on my driving requirements.

[tabbycat31]

13. I am interested in a hybrid or electric car

But I'm not ready to replace my car yet. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Subaru and plan on driving it into the ground (just got a repair last week and runs like new).

When Subaru comes out with an electric or hybrid and my Forester is on her last legs, then I will consider.

[uppityperson]

17. I've changed my driving habits but drive 20 yr old cars. Find me a reasonable used hybrid

and I might consider it.

[proud2BlibKansan]

20. That's the secret

I have a hybrid and I find myself watching the mpg gauge. That makes me drive differently and I get much better mileage. If I drive this hybrid like I drove the car I had before this one I'd get much worse gas mileage.

[Curmudgeoness]

22. Three years ago I bought my current car. I considered a hybrid.

In fact, I thought it was a done deal that I would get one. But I drive 25 miles one way to work, all highway. And the hybrid was supposed to be most efficient in city driving. So for the addition cost of the hybrid, which was substantial, I didn't see the up side for me. I have always driven small four cylinder cars, so I have always had decent gas mileage, and the hybrids were just not much better.

In fact, I am confused as to how my 1974 Corolla that was all heavy metals and little plastic got mileage as good as I get today, after all these years and all the plastic replacement of metal parts.

I also decided to wait and see how things went with replacement of the batteries down the road, and there were not enough of them on the road to know how that would go or how much the cost of replacement would be.

[distantearlywarning]

23. Would love to, but too expensive.

Also they have been hard to find sometimes at dealerships.

Same deal with solar panels - would love to install as many as possible on our flat roof and be energy efficient, but...it would cost nearly $40K to do it! That's a substantial portion of the cost of our entire house! If they could get the cost down to under 10K we would seriously consider it.

[Luciferous]

24. If I could afford to buy a new car, I would buy a hybrid.

[Initech]

26. My next car is absolutely going to be a hybrid.

I'm debating between the Ford Fusion, Hyundai Sonata, and Kia Optima.

[flvegan]

27. I'd happily consider one.

Just make it a 5 door hatchback, comfortable, 300 horsepower, and under $30k.

But then for that same $30k, I dream two years into the future where I'm driving a used, two year old CTS-V wagon. That car is porn on wheels. I must have one.