Posted by Todd Zywicki: HYBRID CARS: Awhile back [1]I noted an article in the Washington Post that observed that a major reason why many people bought hybrid cars was the same reason that many other people buy a Corvette or Mercedes--because of the image the car projects to the world. "The Prius and Civic have similar new technologies, so it's not just fuel efficiency that's causing drivers to flock to Toyota's hybrid. 'The Prius is a fashion statement,' said Art Spinella, a consultant with CNW Marketing Research who surveys car-buying trends. 'It looks different. Other people know the driver is driving a hybrid vehicle. It clearly makes a bigger statement about the person than does the Civic, which basically looks like a Civic.'"
But that only explains why people buy a Prius hybrid instead of a Civic hybrid. An [2]article in today's Washington Post explores the larger question why do people buy a hybrid car in the first place. I don't doubt that some people do so because they believe that it is better for the environment. But the Post observes that, at least in the DC area, the primary impetus for rapid sales of hybrid cars is that they are allowed to use HOV lanes during rush hour. From the article: "'I'd say 95 percent of the people who buy a Prius say it's to get into HOV,'" said Jay Taye, sales manager at Ourisman Fairfax Toyota. "'They talk about the tax break and the HOV, and once in a while they say they prefer it for the gas mileage as well.'" In fact, single-occupant hybrids are becoming so commonplace that they are clogging the HOV lanes. "'For every two cars, there's one hybrid,'" said Cora Seballos, who carpools daily from Springfield to the District. "'Since September, usually the regular lanes have less traffic'" than the carpool lanes. Seballos said she has to leave home a half-hour earlier because of the increased congestion." As for the "environmentally friendly" effect of hybrids, note that in the Post story the hybrid exception is for HOV-3 lanes on I-95. To justify the exception, therefore, a hybrid would have to be three times more environmentally friendly than a standard car to justify the exception. So leaving aside [3]questions that have been raised about whether hybrid cars even are more environmentally-friendly than standard cars, I am not aware of any argument that they are three times more efficient. An interesting test of the economic hypothesis would be the prevalence of hybrid cars on I-66 (HOV-2) versus I-95 (HOV-3). If the environmentalist hypothesis is correct, then people will have an economic "taste" for hybrid cars, meaning that the decision to buy a hybrid car should be largely independent of the practical benefit that a driver derives from ownership. If the economic theory is correct, then there should be a greater prevalence of hybrid cars on I-95 than I-66 because of the greater tangible benefit in terms of HOV travel. To the best of my knowledge, no one has tested this proposition, but I have my own hunch as to which would likely fare better. References 1. http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2004_08_21.shtml#1093381605 2. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54561-2005Jan6.html 3. http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com//editorials/1100027274/ _______________________________________________ Volokh mailing list [email protected] http://highsorcery.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/volokh
