Shocking? Many Buyers Aren't Quite Sure What a Hybrid Car Is

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

The first mass-market hybrid in the Western World, the Honda Insight, debuted while we were still worrying whether Y2K would lead us back into the Stone Age. Some days, I wonder whether we’d be better off if it had.

Regardless of my personal feelings about humanity and societal progression, we’ve had nearly two decades to familiarize ourselves with the gas-electric powertrain, but apparently not everyone got the message. A recent survey of 1,000 drivers shows there’s still plenty of confusion over what a hybrid car is actually capable of.

While the survey, conducted by UK publication Autocar and market research firm Simpson Carpenter LTD., centered around fuel types and driver preferences, it’s the hybrid question that interest this writer.

Let’s go out on a fairly sturdy limb and assume that British drivers have a similar level of access to product information as their North American counterparts. The UK is a wealthy, worldly, connected, technologically advanced nation with a sizeable motoring press and no shortage of cutting edge European car offerings. Frankly, they should know what’s up.

Instead, the survey found that “a third of respondents cited concern over driving range as a reason not to consider buying a hybrid model, despite this only being an issue that affects pure electric vehicles,” Autocar writes.

It’s easy to forget that most drivers do not spend their free time reading about the latest new vehicle in the online pages of whatever. For over a century, gasoline and diesel ruled the roost, and shoehorning a new propulsion type into the conversation means it’s going to take some time before the information sinks in. The thing is, though, everyone knows what an electric car is. These existed over a century ago, only to reappear roughly a decade after the first hybrids hit the market.

Autocar notes that while nearly a quarter of Brits claim they plan to purchase a hybrid or electric vehicle as their next car, only 5.1 percent vehicles sold in the first quarter of 2018 fell under the label of “alternatively fueled vehicles.” That’s a little more than double the take rate in the United States.

“Potential hybrid buyers are confused by the technology and are being deterred by [perceived] barriers,” said Tom Simpson, managing director of Simpson Carpenter.

The technology, at least for a consumer, is not difficult to understand. A hybrid vehicle — depending on type — operates on electric power in some situations, but always has a gas tank and internal combustion engine on board. Maybe it’s the latter part of the description that’s not getting across. And who’s to blame for that? Automakers, their marketing agencies, and the media, mainly, as these are the entities that furnish the public with information.

Calling a hybrid, plug-in or otherwise, an electrified car doesn’t help this confusion, but it does help automakers burnish their green cred. While technically accurate, to the uneducated driver’s ear it sounds too much like electric. So much time and effort goes into touting a hybrid’s (limited) gas-free driving abilities — and avoiding any mention of gasoline or emissions or any of that nasty stuff — that a barely-listening buyer can easily become confused. It’s a communications problem that’s not getting better, either, even as sales of electrified vehicles rise (ever so slowly).

Sure, this is just one survey, but it’s revealing nonetheless. I’d be very interested in seeing an identical one conducted on this side of the pond.

[Images: Honda, Kia Motors]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • Brandloyalty Brandloyalty on May 09, 2018

    The only explanation I can think of for hybrids not being on car buyers' minds is inertia or habit. Despite being aware of how suitable my hybrid is, not one of the people I know who has bought a car in the meantime has bought a hybrid. There is no shortage of choice in hybrids. Price differentials on new hybrids have come down to minor or zero compared to equivalent non-hybrids. Used or new. They do indeed get considerably better mileage. The reliability records are excellent. The batteries do not need replacing. I met a couple with a hybrid like mine. I asked them why they opted for a used hybrid. They said they were looking at several used Ford Escapes, and the one they chose because they liked the color and condition, happened to be the only hybrid. They said they didn't care then, but would never again buy a regular gas car. Maybe the key is to just get people to test drive them. A test drive in a Prius is how I "got" that hybrids work and make sense. But pushing test drives of hybrids would require enthusiasm from dealerships and sales staff, and I think that enthusiasm is lacking.

    • See 4 previous
    • Scoutdude Scoutdude on May 10, 2018

      @brandloyalty Yes there were tax credits for Hybrid vehicles between 2005 and 2010. Here is the archived page of what they were for the different qualified vehicles. https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/summary-of-the-credit-for-qualified-hybrid-vehicles Some states also had some sort of subsidy, my state, which doesn't have an income tax, exempted Hybrid vehicles from sales tax, which with it bumping up against 10% was not insignificant. Of course for the income tax credit you do have to have some tax liability and I believe that there is a limit as to how many years you can carry that credit. However I will go out on a limb and say that the vast majority of people purchasing a new car have some tax liability.

  • Brentrn Brentrn on May 09, 2018

    I bought my 25 yo daughter a 2012 Prius as a graduation present last year. She knows little about cars and does not care about driving. She does care about MPG. She has been very happy getting around 50mpg and trouble free this past year. I can't stand driving it myself but she is happy.

    • Ktm Ktm on May 09, 2018

      Show me ANY other car as reliable as a Prius. My wife had a 2008 that she drove for 8 years before giving it to her father (who, along with his wife, lives with us) 4 years ago. Not one issue in 10 years and 150k miles. She now drives a 2014 plug-in Prius that she loves. The Prius packaging is genius. It is like the Tardis, more room on the inside than the outside projects. The rear hatch area is voluminous, even more so when the rear seats are laid flat. She is also averaging around 65 mpg to date. People also tend to forget that the hybrid is primarily for emissions benefits; the fuel economy is the means by which they are achieving said emissions. I am a fan of hybrid's and EV's. I am very open-minded about all vehicles unlike a few posters in this thread. I own (and have owned) a number of sports and performance cars (350z, S4, WRX, M3, Mustang GT, LS1 powered 240z) and appreciate hybrid's and EV's all the more for what they offer.

  • Ronin It's one thing to stay tried and true to loyal past customers; you'll ensure a stream of revenue from your installed base- maybe every several years or so.It's another to attract net-new customers, who are dazzled by so many other attractive offerings that have more cargo capacity than that high-floored 4-Runner bed, and are not so scrunched in scrunchy front seats.Like with the FJ Cruiser: don't bother to update it, thereby saving money while explaining customers like it that way, all the way into oblivion. Not recognizing some customers like to actually have right rear visibility in their SUVs.
  • MaintenanceCosts It's not a Benz or a Jag / it's a 5-0 with a rag /And I don't wanna brag / but I could never be stag
  • 3-On-The-Tree Son has a 2016 Mustang GT 5.0 and I have a 2009 C6 Corvette LS3 6spd. And on paper they are pretty close.
  • 3-On-The-Tree Same as the Land Cruiser, emissions. I have a 1985 FJ60 Land Cruiser and it’s a beast off-roading.
  • CanadaCraig I would like for this anniversary special to be a bare-bones Plain-Jane model offered in Dynasty Green and Vintage Burgundy.
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