Be Green While Saving Green

By: Meaghan Monahan
Posted In: National News

Forty-five years ago, Allan Taylor was one of the first to own a Volkswagen Bug. Whenever passing another Bug on the highway you’d always give each other “the big wave,” he said. Even now at 80-years-old, he gets that same feeling about being one of the first with a hybrid vehicle. He still tries to park next to one he sees in a parking lot and gives other hybrid drivers “the nod” on the road.

The demand for hybrid cars, like the one Taylor owns, is rising each year as the technology becomes increasingly environmentally-friendly. Toyota of Newport’s records show that they have sold nearly 300, while nationally they said Toyota has sold 200 to 300 thousand this year alone. According to MSNBC.com, the Toyota Prius is the leading model of fuel economy vehicles for 2007, getting 60 mpg on the highway and 51 mpg in the city. While other makes and models, including the Ford Escape Hybrid and the Mercury Mariner Hybrid, start from 32 mpg on the highway and 29 mpg in the city.

Taylor recently traded-in his ’98 Oldsmobile for a brand-new 2006 Mediterranean Green Toyota Prius that gets 50 percent more gas mileage. After looking at a lot of different hybrids, mostly Toyotas, he purchased the model and color the dealership was able to get a hold of quickly. Just a few short weeks after purchasing the car, he was driving just what he was looking for, a comfortable car that was better for the environment. “I think a very satisfying feeling that I’m doing the right thing,” is the best part of owning a hybrid, Taylor said.

Taylor wasn’t interested in conventional cars this time around. They didn’t have the mileage he wanted. He’ll need 20 years to pay for the extra money he spent on the vehicle in gasoline, but saving money wasn’t why he purchased the car. “I wanted to be green, to do something for the environment,” Taylor said. He could’ve bought a cheaper model, but it wouldn’t have had the gas mileage he was looking for. “Using less gas is good for emissions and for the fact that I’m less dependent on foreign oil,” Taylor said.

Matt Auten, an advocate for Environment Rhode Island, a statewide, citizen-based environmental advocacy organization, also believes that hybrid cars are good for controlling emissions and reducing the amount of fuel used and smog in the air, he said. “Hybrid car(s) can have a significant influence on the fuel economy” because they burn less fuel, Auten said.

The demand for hybrid vehicles is high in Rhode Island. “Most people are excited about them,” Auten said. From an environmental perspective, the state can benefit from less global pollution and drivers spending less. “As more people purchase hybrid vehicles, the technology will become cheaper and more advanced,” Auten said.

According to USA Today, states are offering benefits ranging from allowing single drivers to use carpool lanes to insurance discounts for owners of hybrid cars. Hybrid cars may cost up to $3,000 more than conventional cars, but with the money saved on gas, benefits and the tax credits of up to $3,400 drivers can reduce the hybrid premium.

Paul Little, a manager at Toyota of Newport, said that the Toyota models of hybrid vehicles range in price from $20,000 to low $40,000 for a fully equipped Highlander. Though hybrids may be a bit more expensive than conventional cars, sales have been increasing recently due to the increase in gas prices because “hybrid technology is good on fuel,” Little said. The gas mileage is just a good by-product because hybrid technology originally came out to help the Earth.

Toyota offers three different hybrids: the Prius, Highlander sport utility, and newly released Camry. Toyota of Newport sells “every one of them” that they are able to get there hands on, Little said. They are generally order-only, but the few in stock are because customers have wanted a change in color or features. U.S. availability is improving now that Toyota produces their Camry Hybrid in the United States.

Customers may have misconceptions about hybrid vehicles, but they run just as smoothly as conventional cars, Little said. Toyota hybrids flip between a gas motor and an electric motor while driving. Other makes, such as Honda, have a gas and electric motor running together at all times. Hybrids can run just as long as a conventional car and require no extra services.

Toyota also covers its hybrids under a 100,000 mile warranty and “most people don’t drive a car beyond that,” Little said. Right now “the resale value is [also] phenomenal, people get outrageous money” because if the dealership can’t get their hands on them and the demand continues to rise the market value is very high.

The demand for hybrids continues to rise because it will always be enjoyable to get that feeling that Taylor got all those years ago when seeing another Bug on the highway.