literature

A Possible Future for Hybrids

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Literature Text

How many cars does your family have?  No, this isn't a question designed for environmental guilt.  In fact, let's forget about the environment, just for now.

My family has two cars, two people.  Even so we don't have a good option for taking a road trip.  My car is eleven years old and has over 170,000 miles on it.  My husband's truck eats over $100 per tank.  You see our dilemma.  You may even have a similar one.

What if there were a better option, not only for you and me, but for everyone?

Here's what I would like to see: hybrid rental cars.  What if the rental companies had an incentive to have all hybrid models in their inventories?

It would make it easier for people to afford travel.  Business people and vacationers alike could afford more and longer trips if they didn't have to spend as much of their travel budget on gas.  No, it's probably not a cure for what's ailing our tourist based economies, but it could decrease the severity of the symptoms.

Still not convinced?  Think about the last time you flew to a major airport and rented a car.  Each rental company has a parking lot full of cars.  A particularly large airport may have all eight nationally known rental companies represented.  That means hundreds of car serving a single airport.

Next,  you drove that rental car.  Remember what you liked or disliked about it?  If you really liked it (or really hated it), you made a mental note of what car it was.  Rental companies get discounts on their vehicles not only because they buy in bulk, but also because of the chance to get people into a car who may not otherwise test drive it.  If renters are all driving hybrids, they are more likely to consider one the next time they need a car.

"But hybrids are really expensive," you're thinking.  The national rental companies replace their fleets every year.  Right now, relatively few families can comfortably afford a hybrid, even with incentives.  The people that do buy them may not be as likely to trade them in every two years, if their concern is environmental impact.

If the rental agencies were selling hundreds of one year old hybrids all over the country each year, they would be more available, and at prices more families could afford.

Now it's time to go back to the environmental stuff.  

In the short term, this idea may only make a small dent in America's total emissions.  Think of the possibilities, though, if this creates a long term trend toward hybrid use in general.

Could we make our air easier to breathe again?  Could we lessen our dependence on Middle Eastern oil?  Would we be more accepting of future "green" technologies?

Do we dare to imagine a city sky without smog?

For now, my argument is all hopes and questions.  But wouldn't it be great if we find these dreams to be the answers?
My very first blog.
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FlamingHilt's avatar
An interesting argument.

I actually drove a Prius when visiting the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA.