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...

Demand for the Toyota Prius &
other hybrid car models
has skyrocketed.

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 today’s 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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