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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.
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 $4 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.
More
about hybrid cars around the Web:
Green
Car Journal -
Excellent guide to the latest models of hybrids and smart cars
with general how to's on gas savings, along with a history of
the hybrid car and stalled attempts at their manufacture in the
past.
CNET
editors' hybrid car buying guide
- How
hybrids work, what they can save and how to find one, with an
interactive fuel savings calculator and a look at hybrid concept
cars of the future.
Hybrid
Car Guide - Research, Reviews & News - Owner reviews
and previews of top models including an MPG savings calculator
and a guide to the technology behind hybrids.
Edmunds.com
- Hybrid Car Discussion Forum
- Register
free to pose a question or seek opinions and how to's from hybrid
car buyers and prospective owners.
Consumer
Reports Guide to todays hybrid cars & SUVs
- Reviews
of popular hybrid small cars, sedans and SUVs.
Fuel
Economy.org -
Guide from the U.S. Department of Energy on hybrids, diesel and
fuel alternatives, tips on better gas mileage and car comparisons
using criteria such as greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution
ratings, and safety information.
also
in Cars--> Who
Pulled the Plug on The Electric Car?
also
in Cars--> Car
Buying Guides | Car
Forums | Electric
Cars
also
see in Science -> Global
Warming
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