Costlier gas, new hybrids spur more to go green

When Mike Reinhardt first started driving, gas cost 25 cents a gallon.

"I expect it will be easily $15 a gallon, if not higher, in my lifetime," said Reinhardt, a retired attorney who lives in Seattle's Meadowbrook neighborhood.

So two weeks ago he bought a 2008 Toyota Prius.

"It was time to get a more fuel-efficient vehicle," he said.

For him, getting a gas-electric hybrid wasn't about reducing greenhouse-gas emissions or climate change. It was an economic decision. Reinhardt estimates he will save thousands of dollars in gas a year since he gave up his minivan.

Whether their motivation is environmental or economic — or both — a growing number of buyers are going the same route as Reinhardt. U.S. registrations of new hybrid vehicles rose 38 percent in 2007 to a record 350,289, according to data to be released today by R.L. Polk & Co., a Southfield, Mich.-based automotive marketing and research company. Washington was one of the top five states.

Hybrids made up just 2.2 percent of the U.S. market share for the year, but they were growing steadily even as overall sales declined 3 percent.

Lonnie Miller, director of industry analysis at Polk, said rising gas prices may affect some buyers, but they're not the main driver of hybrid sales. Instead, he thinks sales jumped in 2007 because buyers had more options, including the new Nissan Altima, Saturn Aura and Lexus LS600h hybrid sedans, and hybrid versions of the Chevrolet Tahoe, GMC Yukon and Mazda Tribute sport-utility vehicles.

"The gas-price thing is a constant that is keeping consideration in their minds," Miller said.

Another important factor is that hybrids have been on the market long enough for consumers to trust the technology, Miller said. The Prius, the second mass-market hybrid after the Honda Insight, went on sale in the U.S. in 2000.

The Prius remained the best-selling hybrid in 2007, commanding 51 percent of the hybrid market, up from 43 percent in 2006 despite the influx of new hybrids.

"My decision is a very political decision. I want to get people in this country off their dependency on foreign oil," said Kim Fenske, 48, a bus driver and longtime environmentalist who lives at the Copper Mountain ski resort near Frisco, Colo.

Fenske's previous vehicle was a van, which he bought to move his belongings from the Midwest to Colorado.

But Miller said most buyers appear to stay within the vehicle category they were in previously when they opt for a new hybrid. For example, more than half of those who bought the Lexus LS600h had a previous vehicle in the luxury segment. Miller said that's why it's important for automakers to have hybrid SUVs, even though some drivers like Fenske argue that big hybrids don't save enough fuel.

"It's a good call on automakers' parts to not make their hybrids so funky and out of body style than what's already out there," Miller said. "People have requirements for what they need."

California remained the top state for hybrid sales in 2007. Twenty-six percent of all hybrid registrations were in California. Florida, New York, Texas and Washington followed.

Miller forecasts more of the same this year, despite warnings from automakers that U.S. car sales could be at their slowest pace in more than a decade due to high gas prices and the weak economy. Miller predicts hybrid sales will rise 30 percent or more.

"This segment has still outpaced what the rest of the industry has done. I can't see the hybrid category totally chilling out," Miller said.

Reinhardt, the retired Seattle attorney, says his hybrid has changed his driving habits.

"Because it has a display in the dash that shows you instant by instant the gas mileage you're getting, it has affected my driving ability," he said. "I'm less of a leadfoot than I used to be."

As for the rumors about hybrids being slow, he said they're not true, noting that former Vice President Al Gore's son was stopped last summer after going 100 mph in a hybrid.

Reinhardt calls his car a "little rocket ship."

People often don't know how fast they're going because the electric motor is so quiet, he said. His daughter was testing out the car and remarked that the acceleration seemed weak.

Reinhardt said he looked at the dashboard and said, "Slow down. You're doing 70 miles per hour on an onramp."

This report includes material from The Associated Press and Seattle Times staff reporter Sharon Pian Chan.