More Hybrid Cars to Hit the Road in 2004
Oct. 1 -- Kim Moy is no eco-warrior, but ask her about the kind of car she drives and she'll rave over a super fuel-efficient gasoline/electric hybrid usually associated with green-minded conservationists.
"I'm not a huge environmental person [but] I just love it," says Moy, who drives her 2003 Toyota Prius 45 minutes daily to her job as a program manager at America Online in Dulles, Va.
And with the price of gas rising above the $2 per gallon mark in her area, she's happy to get about 40 miles to the gallon. "Whenever I hear stories about people with their SUVs and stuff about how much they pay to fill up, I go, 'What are they thinking?' It's a kick to me how much gas mileage I'm getting, and a reminder that I made the right choice," she says.
Converts like Moy are just the tip of the iceberg for hybrid auto makers.
Already, according to research firm J.D. Power & Associates, there are roughly 54,000 hybrid cars being driven by consumers in the United States. And with car companies like Toyota starting next year to push even more vehicles based on the technology, the estimate goes up to 500,000 hybrids by the end of 2008. By 2013, more than 870,000 consumers are expected to be driving hybrids vehicles of all types.
What's making the United States an ideal climate for broadening the market for such vehicles? Car makers say its the recent spike in gas prices.
"The public that are buying cars and trucks want to see less dependency on foreign oil," says Ed LaRocque, national advanced technology vehicle manager for Toyota North America. "The combination of rising price of [U.S.] domestic oil and more awareness of the environment is also helping push awareness of hybrids."
With that kind of promise, automakers are already beginning to prime the pump. In 2004, consumers will have no fewer than seven additional choices for hybrid-powered vehicle.
Ford, for example, plans to release a long-anticipated hybrid-powered version of its popular Escape SUV. General Motors is working on similar concepts using the Vue SUV from its Saturn unit, as well as a gas-electric version of the GMC Sierra pickup truck.
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