Most Americans Support Hybrid Cars But Won't Buy Them

Should We Be Happy or Sad? Survey Finds Most Americans Support Hybrid Cars But Won't Buy Them
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 05.21.09


A new survey released by Johnson Controls contains some encouraging statistics about Americans, but also some discouraging and even puzzling ones (about 30% of people who answered think that hybrids should be less expensive than comparable gasoline-powered cars). The good news is that 90% of US adults are open to choosing a hybrid if they were in the market for a new vehicle, which shows that at least people aren't scared of them anymore. Read on for more details.

In fact, 90 percent of U.S. adults are open to choosing a hybrid if they were in the market for a new vehicle. However, they also perceive major obstacles to such a purchase today, most notably cost concerns: Four in five adults (80%) think financial barriers such as purchase price and/or insufficient cost savings prevent people from buying a hybrid car. At the same time, most see incentives and tax credits as an effective way to encourage consumers to purchase hybrid cars (84%). Among adults who do not already own a hybrid, more than one in three (35%) would buy a comparable hybrid vehicle as long as it was priced the same as the gasoline-powered equivalent, and more than one in five (23%) would be willing to pay more. However, one-third would expect to pay less.
One interesting thing to note: Reducing our impact on the environment comes third among reasons why the US should be a leader in hybrid cars (with 64%). First is "reducing the nation's reliance on foreign oil (81%)" and second is "creating jobs (67%)".

While the current crop of hybrid cars are far from being truly green, the most fuel efficient of them are better than current gasoline-only cars and their acceptance into mainstream culture is paving the way for the next step (plug-in hybrid cars, battery electric cars, etc).