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The
Rise of the Hybrid Car
With
the price of gas driving demand, take a
sneak peak at the future of car buying in the USA...
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Demand
for the Toyota Prius &
other hybrid car models
has skyrocketed.
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With gas prices
at an all-time high, owners of new hybrid gas-electric cars (now
getting on average 50-plus miles per gallon) are laughing all
the way to the bank. [ Ed. note: also check out the hybrid
car tax credit. ]
Growing demand for hybrid cars - long believed to be the vehicle
of choice for either aging hippies or consumers "on the fringe"
- may about to revolutionize car buying in the traditional land
of the gas
guzzler.
Not surprisingly,
hybrids are most popular among Californians, especially in the
San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles. Cities where traffic and
gas prices make hybrids a smart choice also include Chicago, Washington,
DC, and New York.
Yet experts
say it may be a decade before the vast majority of car owners
in America are driving vehicles powered by both gas and electricity.
However, with gas
prices at more than $3 a gallon, recent buying trends say
hybrids may well be here to stay.
The reasons
for the upsurge are obvious, and "Budgeting 101" plays
a big part in car owners considerations. In a recent poll by Harris
Interactive and Kelley
Blue Book, for example, 49 percent of new car buyers said
that gas prices would play a large part in the car they would
choose.
But does that
mean most consumers will pick a hybrid?
Car manufacturers
are betting on it. At least a dozen hybrid car models were introduced
by 2006, and more are forecast to be on the road in the years
to come as gas prices show no sign of stabilizing any time soon.
Patriotic fervor for reducing America's oil
dependence - as well as saving a buck at the gas station - may well push even the most ardent
big car enthusiastic to take another look at hybrids.
Related
Web Sites:
Consumer
Reports Guide to todays hybrid cars & SUVs
Hybrid
Car Guide - MSNBC
Hybrid
Car Guide - Research, Reviews & News
Edmunds.com
- Hybrid Car Discussion Forum
Green
Car Journal
Fuel
Economy.org
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