xcel
05-24-2006, 08:43 PM
As the price of gasoline rises, people are taking another look at what they drive. (http://www.wyomingnews.com/news/more.asp?StoryID=107707)
Jessica Lowell – Wyoming Tribune Eagle – May 24, 2006
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/500/2000_Toyota_Pius.jpg
CHEYENNE - When Terry Barbre bought a hybrid car, reactions here were mixed.
"When I first got it, I remember some guys in big old trucks driving by, flipping me off," Barbre said. "I never could figure that out. I guess it's un-American not to burn gas."
Barbre wasn't the first driver of a hybrid car in Cheyenne, but he was among the first when his family acquired a 2001 Toyota Prius.
Every time the price of gasoline has spiked since then, he's been stopped in store parking lots and other places by people who have a markedly different reaction to the quirky car: they want to know all about it.
As the price of gasoline edges ever upward, people are taking another look at what they drive. Some are looking for vehicles with smaller engines that use less fuel. Others are looking at mileage-friendly diesel models.
But some - like the Barbres, who have bought a second Prius - are choosing gas-electric hybrids.
Experts debate value.
While car experts debate the cost-effectiveness of hybrid cars, the Barbres made the investment in their first Prius because they wanted to support the technology.
"We knew we could buy a Saturn, and it would be cheaper in the long run," he said. And he and his wife wanted to help establish the technology.
"Plus, they are downright cool, and they are fun to drive," he said.
Generally, hybrid cars draw energy both from gasoline and a battery and can switch back and forth. When they come to a stop at a light, for instance, the gasoline engine does not run, and that saves gas.
In some models, the battery adds power, and the gasoline engine doesn't shut off.
Barbre has done quite a bit of research about the cars, and he has had time to study his. For instance, his Prius gets better mileage in the summer than in the winter because warming up the car takes longer in the winter.
"When it gets below 15 or 20 degrees, it never switches over to stealth mode (when the gas engine doesn't run)," he said.
Seeing just how far a car will go on a tank of gas seems to be a guy thing. In the Barbre family, Terry and his son have a bit of a competition going on to see who gets the better gas mileage.
"If he gets better mileage, he's sure to tell me," he said. "It's nice to see a teenage son compete about that rather than see how fast the dad-gum thing will go."
Barbre said he once drove laps around King Soopers supermarket and gas station in east Cheyenne to see if he could squeeze 600 miles out of a tank of gas.
"My wife got so irritated with me," he said.
When the Barbres were investigating buying their first hybrid, Spradley Motors allowed prospective buyers to take one for a spin. Barbre took one to Laramie.
The test for the car was driving up to the summit from Laramie on Interstate 80.
"I was impressed," he said.
The family takes the car, fully loaded, up to Arapaho Basin in Colorado with no trouble, he said.
"There's one stretch on I-70 that's a pretty long stretch, and you will deplete the battery enough that it will tell you to slow down," he said.
Savings noted by many.
Interest in the gas-electric hybrid technology encompasses more than people like the Barbres.
The Wyoming Department of Transportation has dipped its toe in the hybrid pool, as well.
Four or five years ago, the WYDOT Transit Program leased a Prius. Three years ago, it leased a Honda Civic hybrid.
"We use Federal Transit Authority funds in the operation, and we thought it was prudent to learn something about hybrid power and the economies that go along with it," WYDOT Transit Program coordinator John Black said.
"We have found them to be a pure delight," Black said, even if coworkers aren't convinced.
The Prius cost about $20,000, and the Honda Civic, which is nearing the end of the lease period, was a little more.
On a recent trip to Rawlins, Black said he registered 39 mpg driving west and 47 mpg returning to Cheyenne.
"It depends a lot on the wind and how fast I get going," he said.
Black's boss, Rich Douglass, developed a report on the costs of operating the hybrids and forwarded it to the director of the department.
One roundtrip from Cheyenne to Thermopolis in the Prius in October 2000 saved an estimated $18.57 on the 692-mile trip. At that time, the average price for a gallon of fuel in the Rockies was about $1.60, according to historic figures from the Energy Information Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy. On that trip, the Prius logged 43.5 mpg.
There wasn't much response to the report, but perhaps that's understandable: WYDOT gets its operating funds from gasoline taxes.
Even so, Black said he'd buy a hybrid in a minute.
"I was talking to a car salesman the other day, and he said you could never justify the cost, but I don't know if I believe it," he said.
For one thing, with gas creeping toward $3 a gallon, stretching out a tank of gas might make owning a hybrid pay its way sooner.
The other is the substantial tax credit that was written into the National Energy Policy Act of 2005.
The incentive, which went into effect on Jan. 1, ranges from a modest $650 for a Honda Accord hybrid to $3,150 for a Prius.
Some incentives are just estimates, as the Internal Revenue Service has ruled on tax credits for Toyotas and Fords, but it has issued no figure for hybrid cars from other carmakers.
In 2004 and 2005, hybrid car buyers could claim a one-time $2,000 deduction, the value of which varied with the taxpayer's tax bracket.
"I was doing my taxes for 2005, and if I had bought the new one a few months later, the tax advantages got considerably better," Barbre said.
Popular, a little odd? In Wyoming, no one is keeping track of how many hybrids are on the road, but more and more are showing up on state roads, bearing the temporary license plates of newly-bought vehicles.
Marsha Allen, executive vice president for the Wyoming Auto Dealers Association, said that's not something her organization does here.
But nationally, published reports say, sales more than doubled in 2005. Even at that level, hybrids only accounted for 1.2 percent of 16.9 million vehicles sold in the country last year.
Their availability in Cheyenne is an issue of supply and demand.
"We had one Ford Escape," Spradley Motors general manager Bob Womack said. "We sold it, and we didn't get any more for a couple of months."
But automakers are cranking out more hybrid vehicles than they did before.
Womack said Toyota's first run of Priuses was about 20,000; production is now at 150,000 annually.
Interest, Womack said, is increasing daily. On Spradley lots, people can choose from the Ford Escape, Mercury Mariner and the Toyota Prius and Highlander.
"If you had asked me two years ago if we would be selling any of them, I would have said no," Womack said.
His customers have undergone a change in mindset.
"I have a couple who are good customers. They have a Ford F350, which they use to tow a boat and a trailer, but during the week they wanted something different," he said.
The wife traded in a Ford Expedition, one of the largest SUVs, for a Ford Escape hybrid.
"They doubled their gas mileage, and they wanted to be eco-friendly," he said.
But not all Cheyenne-area dealerships are registering the same level of interest.
At Halladay Motors, no one is asking for them, President Tim Joannides said, because he doesn't have any models to sell.
General Motors doesn't have any gas-electric models ready for market, but it does have flexible fuel vehicles that can use E85 fuel, which is mostly ethanol.
Nissan has no models now, but that could change soon. Nissan is among the automakers with plans to launch a hybrid model in the next year or two.
"The Nissan CEO said he's kind of glad they waited because they needed to work some of the kinks out."
And the question, Joannides said, is whether hybrids are worth the $5,000-$6,000 upfront cost premium.
Purchase price and the cost of gas are two considerations; maintenance is another that cost-watchers will take into account.
Barbre said he's had few problems with his cars. The only exception was the pricy replacement of a faulty computer module.
Consumer Reports, the consumer product testing company, has found the first-generation Prius to be among the most reliable in its survey; the 2003 Honda Civic also rated well.
Going green?
Because of their technology, hybrids such as the Prius show better mileage results in city driving. Vehicles with gas-only engines tend to get better mileage on the highway.
Because of the better city-driving results, hybrids have been selling better in cities, especially those with air pollution problems.
"They are really selling much better in metro areas," Joannides said.
Clearly, a hybrid is not a car for all uses.
The Barbres, who like to go camping, own a motor home, which gets about 7.5 mpg.
"We made a conscious decision to get that rather than a travel trailer," Barbre said.
A trailer would require a truck to haul it.
"We crunched the numbers to know that we would be saving more driving two hybrids and using the motor home for camping. We couldn't afford to have a big old truck," he said. "We would have burned a lot more gas using it, so we suck it up when we go camping."
Jessica Lowell – Wyoming Tribune Eagle – May 24, 2006
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/500/2000_Toyota_Pius.jpg
CHEYENNE - When Terry Barbre bought a hybrid car, reactions here were mixed.
"When I first got it, I remember some guys in big old trucks driving by, flipping me off," Barbre said. "I never could figure that out. I guess it's un-American not to burn gas."
Barbre wasn't the first driver of a hybrid car in Cheyenne, but he was among the first when his family acquired a 2001 Toyota Prius.
Every time the price of gasoline has spiked since then, he's been stopped in store parking lots and other places by people who have a markedly different reaction to the quirky car: they want to know all about it.
As the price of gasoline edges ever upward, people are taking another look at what they drive. Some are looking for vehicles with smaller engines that use less fuel. Others are looking at mileage-friendly diesel models.
But some - like the Barbres, who have bought a second Prius - are choosing gas-electric hybrids.
Experts debate value.
While car experts debate the cost-effectiveness of hybrid cars, the Barbres made the investment in their first Prius because they wanted to support the technology.
"We knew we could buy a Saturn, and it would be cheaper in the long run," he said. And he and his wife wanted to help establish the technology.
"Plus, they are downright cool, and they are fun to drive," he said.
Generally, hybrid cars draw energy both from gasoline and a battery and can switch back and forth. When they come to a stop at a light, for instance, the gasoline engine does not run, and that saves gas.
In some models, the battery adds power, and the gasoline engine doesn't shut off.
Barbre has done quite a bit of research about the cars, and he has had time to study his. For instance, his Prius gets better mileage in the summer than in the winter because warming up the car takes longer in the winter.
"When it gets below 15 or 20 degrees, it never switches over to stealth mode (when the gas engine doesn't run)," he said.
Seeing just how far a car will go on a tank of gas seems to be a guy thing. In the Barbre family, Terry and his son have a bit of a competition going on to see who gets the better gas mileage.
"If he gets better mileage, he's sure to tell me," he said. "It's nice to see a teenage son compete about that rather than see how fast the dad-gum thing will go."
Barbre said he once drove laps around King Soopers supermarket and gas station in east Cheyenne to see if he could squeeze 600 miles out of a tank of gas.
"My wife got so irritated with me," he said.
When the Barbres were investigating buying their first hybrid, Spradley Motors allowed prospective buyers to take one for a spin. Barbre took one to Laramie.
The test for the car was driving up to the summit from Laramie on Interstate 80.
"I was impressed," he said.
The family takes the car, fully loaded, up to Arapaho Basin in Colorado with no trouble, he said.
"There's one stretch on I-70 that's a pretty long stretch, and you will deplete the battery enough that it will tell you to slow down," he said.
Savings noted by many.
Interest in the gas-electric hybrid technology encompasses more than people like the Barbres.
The Wyoming Department of Transportation has dipped its toe in the hybrid pool, as well.
Four or five years ago, the WYDOT Transit Program leased a Prius. Three years ago, it leased a Honda Civic hybrid.
"We use Federal Transit Authority funds in the operation, and we thought it was prudent to learn something about hybrid power and the economies that go along with it," WYDOT Transit Program coordinator John Black said.
"We have found them to be a pure delight," Black said, even if coworkers aren't convinced.
The Prius cost about $20,000, and the Honda Civic, which is nearing the end of the lease period, was a little more.
On a recent trip to Rawlins, Black said he registered 39 mpg driving west and 47 mpg returning to Cheyenne.
"It depends a lot on the wind and how fast I get going," he said.
Black's boss, Rich Douglass, developed a report on the costs of operating the hybrids and forwarded it to the director of the department.
One roundtrip from Cheyenne to Thermopolis in the Prius in October 2000 saved an estimated $18.57 on the 692-mile trip. At that time, the average price for a gallon of fuel in the Rockies was about $1.60, according to historic figures from the Energy Information Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy. On that trip, the Prius logged 43.5 mpg.
There wasn't much response to the report, but perhaps that's understandable: WYDOT gets its operating funds from gasoline taxes.
Even so, Black said he'd buy a hybrid in a minute.
"I was talking to a car salesman the other day, and he said you could never justify the cost, but I don't know if I believe it," he said.
For one thing, with gas creeping toward $3 a gallon, stretching out a tank of gas might make owning a hybrid pay its way sooner.
The other is the substantial tax credit that was written into the National Energy Policy Act of 2005.
The incentive, which went into effect on Jan. 1, ranges from a modest $650 for a Honda Accord hybrid to $3,150 for a Prius.
Some incentives are just estimates, as the Internal Revenue Service has ruled on tax credits for Toyotas and Fords, but it has issued no figure for hybrid cars from other carmakers.
In 2004 and 2005, hybrid car buyers could claim a one-time $2,000 deduction, the value of which varied with the taxpayer's tax bracket.
"I was doing my taxes for 2005, and if I had bought the new one a few months later, the tax advantages got considerably better," Barbre said.
Popular, a little odd? In Wyoming, no one is keeping track of how many hybrids are on the road, but more and more are showing up on state roads, bearing the temporary license plates of newly-bought vehicles.
Marsha Allen, executive vice president for the Wyoming Auto Dealers Association, said that's not something her organization does here.
But nationally, published reports say, sales more than doubled in 2005. Even at that level, hybrids only accounted for 1.2 percent of 16.9 million vehicles sold in the country last year.
Their availability in Cheyenne is an issue of supply and demand.
"We had one Ford Escape," Spradley Motors general manager Bob Womack said. "We sold it, and we didn't get any more for a couple of months."
But automakers are cranking out more hybrid vehicles than they did before.
Womack said Toyota's first run of Priuses was about 20,000; production is now at 150,000 annually.
Interest, Womack said, is increasing daily. On Spradley lots, people can choose from the Ford Escape, Mercury Mariner and the Toyota Prius and Highlander.
"If you had asked me two years ago if we would be selling any of them, I would have said no," Womack said.
His customers have undergone a change in mindset.
"I have a couple who are good customers. They have a Ford F350, which they use to tow a boat and a trailer, but during the week they wanted something different," he said.
The wife traded in a Ford Expedition, one of the largest SUVs, for a Ford Escape hybrid.
"They doubled their gas mileage, and they wanted to be eco-friendly," he said.
But not all Cheyenne-area dealerships are registering the same level of interest.
At Halladay Motors, no one is asking for them, President Tim Joannides said, because he doesn't have any models to sell.
General Motors doesn't have any gas-electric models ready for market, but it does have flexible fuel vehicles that can use E85 fuel, which is mostly ethanol.
Nissan has no models now, but that could change soon. Nissan is among the automakers with plans to launch a hybrid model in the next year or two.
"The Nissan CEO said he's kind of glad they waited because they needed to work some of the kinks out."
And the question, Joannides said, is whether hybrids are worth the $5,000-$6,000 upfront cost premium.
Purchase price and the cost of gas are two considerations; maintenance is another that cost-watchers will take into account.
Barbre said he's had few problems with his cars. The only exception was the pricy replacement of a faulty computer module.
Consumer Reports, the consumer product testing company, has found the first-generation Prius to be among the most reliable in its survey; the 2003 Honda Civic also rated well.
Going green?
Because of their technology, hybrids such as the Prius show better mileage results in city driving. Vehicles with gas-only engines tend to get better mileage on the highway.
Because of the better city-driving results, hybrids have been selling better in cities, especially those with air pollution problems.
"They are really selling much better in metro areas," Joannides said.
Clearly, a hybrid is not a car for all uses.
The Barbres, who like to go camping, own a motor home, which gets about 7.5 mpg.
"We made a conscious decision to get that rather than a travel trailer," Barbre said.
A trailer would require a truck to haul it.
"We crunched the numbers to know that we would be saving more driving two hybrids and using the motor home for camping. We couldn't afford to have a big old truck," he said. "We would have burned a lot more gas using it, so we suck it up when we go camping."