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Sales of Hybrid Cars are Brisk, Availability is Limited September 2004Since she rides the bus to work and doesn't drive all that much to begin with, Sarah Lynn Cunningham only sees a gas pump up close every four to six weeks.Cunningham, an environmental engineer at the Louisville and Jefferson County Metropolitan Sewer District, is the owner of a red Honda Insight, one of the new environmentally friendly hybrid cars that you may soon be seeing and hearing a lot about, especially if gas prices spike upward in 2005. Cunningham, a self-described "tree hugger," said her record in terms of gas mileage since driving the 2000 Honda Insight is 75.5 miles per gallon. She accomplished that feat while driving from Lexington to Louisville. "A lot of people think that fuel efficiency means sacrificing," said Cunningham, who has been driving her Insight for four years. "I'm meeting my needs. But I'm using a fraction of the fuel that all the other cars are using." The curiosity about hybrid cars, which are defined as cars that have both a standard combustible engine and a supplemental electric engine, is increasing gradually, according to local car dealers. And a bevy of new versions are set to roll out in the next two years. The hybrid system that is used in the Ford Escape Hybrid also is used in the Toyota Prius. The hybrid system relies on the driver creating friction and energy by pushing down on the brake to charge up the electric battery. The Escape Hybrid is silent when it is powered solely by the electrical engine. As the Escape Hybrid reaches 25 mph, the screen on the console alerts the driver that the car is now being powered by the gasoline engine. The switch from electric to gasoline engine is difficult to detect. Cunningham, a member of the Louisville Sierra Club, said she thinks it will take even higher gas prices for hybrids to catch on. Car dealers in Louisville agree. "I think that just judging by the comments and questions, I think people are untrusting of new technology," Cunningham said. "I think it is going to take higher gas prices for it to catch on." 'Professor types' are into hybrids, dealer says Dennis Fante, president of Toyota of Louisville, said he has a list of 37 people who are in line for a Toyota Prius and that the wait to get one of the hybrids currently is four months. The people who are interested are "a pretty green, Earth-positive type of group -- the professor types," Fante said. The ages of those "professor types" are between 16 and 85, he added. The Prius sells for about $21,000 without a global positioning system. With the GPS and side air-bags, the cost increases to $26,000. Hybrids, to some degree, are here to stay, he said. "It's part of the future," Fante said. "I think all the manufacturers are looking to get into this market." Indeed, the list of hybrid vehicles scheduled to hit the new car lot in the future are from brands such as Lexus, which has a hybrid version of the popular sport utility vehicle, the RX 330, called the RX 400h (the 'h' is for hybrid) to the hybrid models that Chevrolet is putting out that look like the large Chevy Silverado and Sierra, except they are hybrid versions. There also are hybrid models of the Honda Civic and Accords that boast that they have the same power under the hood that regular cars have. Analysts see gradual climb of hybrid sold During the past three years, sales of hybrid models in the United States have risen gradually, according to John Tewes, senior manager of media relations with J.D. Power and Associates in Detroit. He said that J.D. Power, an informational services firm that follows, among other things, the U.S. automobile market, is predicting that just under 100,000 hybrids will be sold this year. That number is expected to climb to 172,000 in 2005, to 237,000 in 2006, then to 328,000 in 2007, and 409,000 in 2008. Tewes said that hybrids only make up about half a percent of the automobile market now. He said the market share of hybrids is expected to inch upward for the next three years and only reach 2.3 percent by 2008. "We don't see the trend growing to every other garage," he said. But, he added, automakers also need to offer some kind of hybrid in order to remain competitive. What can make a big difference to some people is who else is buying and driving a hybrid. "The movie star appeal" may play a factor in hybrid sales, according to Reed Montgomery, Honda sales manager for Bob Montgomery Chevrolet-Honda. "Those little things, as sad as it is, make a difference," Montgomery said of celebrities, including Cameron Diaz and Leonardo DiCaprio, who own and advocate hybrid vehicles. When a hybrid has plenty of power under the hood, something that has not happened just yet, more car buyers also may warm up to alternative technology, Montgomery said. The wait for power may soon be over, though. Honda is scheduled to unveil a hybrid Honda Accord with a V-6 engine. It is slated to arrive in the Louisville area early next year, Montgomery said. The cost for a hybrid generally is about $3,000 more than a standard car, according to Jim Booher, a salesman with Lexus of Louisville. That extra cost is attributed to the fact that hybrid vehicles have two engines. Booher said most people who ask about the Lexus hybrid that is scheduled to come out this fall or early 2005 are concerned about fuel savings and not sticker price. Ford is set to launch a larger hybrid It took Ford Motor Co. more than three years from the drawing board to the showroom to develop the technology used in the hybrid that the automaker will launch this month. Stephen Hunter, a control systems engineer who worked on the development of the Escape Hybrid, said most of the development work was focused on optimizing usage for battery life while maintaining fuel economy and performance. "This is not your typical hybrid," Hunter said. "What we are seeing now is smaller cars." The Escape Hybrid, in contrast, can hold five people, do zero to 60 mph in 10 seconds and can tow a small boat weighing under 1,000 pounds. The fuel economy on the Ford hybrid is 36 mpg in the city and 31 mpg on the highway. The fuel economy is lower in the city because the gasoline engine does not use fuel when it is going below about 20 mph, meaning that in traffic jams or during long, slow commutes the electric engine would keep the vehicle running. Hunter is predicting that the demand for hybrids will increase at a gradual rate if sticker prices go down and gas prices go up. "This one is definitely going to take off," he said. Ford is making 20,000 of the vehicles this year and is set to sell them at $27,000 standard and $30,000 with options. Are hybrids just a fad? Because the Escape Hybrid is better in "coast-and-brake traffic," Ford dealers in the 20 "greenest cities" in the United States -- including Chicago, Los Angeles and New York -- will get them first, said Kevin Collins, president of the Collins Auto Group and a member of the Ford National Dealer Council, a group of dealers who regularly meets with Ford executives to discuss dealers' concerns and ideas. Collins said the difference between the Escape Hybrid and a traditional vehicle is hard to tell unless you watch a small computer monitor located in the middle of the dashboard. It tells the driver whether the electric or gasoline engine is in operation. "I think the energy crisis in this world is not going to go away anytime soon," Collins said. Whether or not car buyers will trust the new technology is a key question, he added. "The real issue, though, honestly, is not do we have technology," Collins said. "The real issue is, after it is developed, will the consumer pay for it? That's the real $64,000 question. The consumer says, 'I would like to buy that, but I'm not willing to pay for it.' It generally comes down to affordability." | ||
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