These days, we’re all a little concerned when it’s time to fill up the gas tank. Our concerns may be about having to refinance our home to pay for a tank of gas, or may be more altruistic concerns regarding the effect of our gas-guzzler on the environment. Whatever the concerns, many of us have become interested in hybrid vehicles.
What exactly is a hybrid car? Any vehicle that uses two or more sources of power to make it go is a hybrid. Most hybrid cars on the road right now are gasoline-electric hybrids. The hybrid vehicle has two main benefits which are tightly interwoven; they reduce tailpipe emissions and improve mileage. What’s not to love about saving money at the pump and helping the environment?
While we think of hybrids as a new trend, the truth is that they’ve been around as long as cars. The trend is that consumers are becoming more interested. Toyota’s Prius has been around for close to a decade, and we’ve become accustomed to seeing more and more on the road. Honda introduced its Civic Hybrid in 2002, and Ford followed in 2004 with the release of the Escape Hybrid, the first American hybrid and the first SUV hybrid.
I recently test-drove a Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid. In the interest of full disclosure, I will acknowledge that this test drive occurred on a fantastic and beautiful stretch of highway between Las Vegas, Nevada and Death Valley, California. I was driving, alone, with nothing but my satellite radio to keep me company. I was kind of predisposed to love any vehicle I was in!
I had the opportunity to drive a regular fuel-engine Chevy Malibu and the Malibu Hybrid. Since I never had to fill-er-up, I was warned that the only time I’d notice anything different about the Hybrid was when I stopped. The engine would start charging and things would get very quiet. If I hadn’t been warned, I’d have thought I stalled. This quiet was at first disconcerting, but became quite reassuring.
Other than that, the Malibu Hybrid was a very sweet ride. There are some technical reasons that Malibu makes a great family car; it has a longer wheel base, giving it a more spacious feeling interior. Malibu’s interior and exterior styling looks great for any price. It felt like a very sophisticated car and exceeded my expectations of styling and comfort. Malibu is quiet and offers XM satellite radio (with AUX input for your iPod or other media player) and OnStar Gen 7 with remote diagnostics (reassuring when I was so…well, remote).
Hybrids are still a slightly more expensive option at the dealership than single-powered cars (the Malibu Hybrid, for instance, starts at around $26,000, while the regular Chevrolet Malibu LS, has a pricetag of just $22, 995), but the better mileage and benefits to the environment are making them more and more popular.