Is America ready for cars that run on electricity? The pollsters seem to think so for years, surveys have found that a majority of drivers in the United States are interested in gas-electric hybrid vehicles. And in a J.D. Power and Associates poll conducted in the summer of 2008, 46 percent of those who responded would consider buying a hybrid, even after being informed that they can cost at least $5,000 more than equivalent gas-burning models. Fewer polls have been conducted for all-electric vehicles (EVs), but the lesson seems clear: Hybrids are in demand, and electric cars could be next in line for the national zeitgeist.
Get on the highway, however, and it's another story. Although hybrids have been available since 1997, and GM introduced its battery-powered EV1 in 1996, gas and diesel vehicles currently make up more than 97 percent of new automobile sales. There isn't a single reason for that buried in those poll numbers are thousands of individual stories, with drivers picking a car or truck for reasons as pragmatic as cargo space, or as ephemeral as engine noise.
To get a more detailed snapshot of the nation's attitude toward hybrid and electric vehicles, we surveyed regular people from around the country, and asked them what they're looking for in a car and what it would take to put a battery-powered vehicle in their driveway. We were expecting to be surprised, and we weren't disappointed. Here are just some of their answers, but they all point to a country not ready or willing to make the leap to electricity.
Hybrids: Too Few, Too Much
It's no surprise that Americans are put off by the high price of hybrids, especially in today's economy. Almost no one we spoke with would be willing to pay a price premium of more than a few thousand dollars for a hybrid with roughly the same performance and features as a similar gas-guzzling vehicle. But for Christopher Manley, a general contractor who lives in Vinings Lake, Ga., with his wife and three sons, the problem is more complex.
When Manley was shopping for a new vehicle last year, hybrids were a serious consideration. "We recycle; we want to do our part," he says. "But we don't fit in a sedan anymore." So the Manleys bought a 2008 Chrysler Town & Country minivan, primarily because of like Stow 'N Go seats and a dual-monitor rear-seat entertainment system. "I've never heard of a minivan hybrid," Manley says. "The closest thing would have been a Chevy Tahoe Hybrid, but the price would have been outlandish something like $20,000 more."
The same is true for the Ford F-150 pickup that Manley uses for work. Finding a hybrid with equivalent towing capacity would have meant upgrading up to a much more expensive model. "If there had been an F-150 in the lot, and a hybrid F-150 right next to it for $5,000 more, it would have been a done deal," he says. The hybrid would win hands down. But that option is not available.
Discuss:
Do you think hybrids and electric vehicles are the future of transportation in America? If so, are you willing to pay more for one?
For Paula Ridley, who co-owns an auto body shop in Brockton, Mass., the bigger deal-breaker for hybrids is maintenance. "The parts are big money," she says. "We serviced a hybrid that was vandalized, and the headlights were $1,000 each to replace. Another car would have been a couple hundred dollars. But these lights had computers in them." While stripping parts from the hybrid, the vandals snipped electrical cables, forcing the owner to replace the vehicle's entire wire harness essentially its electrical nervous system worth more than $1,000.
"It's just a complicated car," Ridley says. "Mechanics have to be schooled in them. If it's not something basic, like changing the oil or replacing an air filter, you're taking it to the dealership. And then you're really just at their mercy." Ridley's hands-on time has clinched it even if there were no price difference between the gas and gas-electric versions of a given model (like the Toyota Camry she drives), she can't imagine switching to a hybrid or EV.
