When Christina and Nick Vazquez moved to Forest Hills from
“I like to think about and investigate how much money I’m spending when I get into my car,” Vazquez says. “A lot of people take that for granted; they just get in their car and go.”
To ease their worries, the couple decided to invest in a more fuel-efficient car, and they traded in their Honda Accord for a Civic.
How much fuel-efficiency could that possibly have saved them, you might ask? A lot, because they didn’t buy a regular Civic; they bought a Honda Hybrid Civic, released to the American market just last year.
And how has it worked out so far?
“It’s been great. I’m averaging about 47-51 miles to the gallon,” Vazquez says. “So I can drive over 600 miles to the tank. I have absolutely no complaints.”
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Hybrid cars … given the facts, it’s a wonder more people aren’t driving them.
They’re affordable, at around $20,000, conserve hundreds of dollars worth of gas each year, and grant their owners a $2,000 federal tax deduction.
They also emit less smog-forming pollution (up to 90 percent, say their advocates) and, if ever mass-produced, would reduce our country’s consumption of fossil fuels.
But to date, only two car companies have introduced hybrid vehicles into the American market:
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• Honda’s Insight and Civic Hybrid, sold for the first time in 2002.
During the next three years, however, American car manufacturers are boosting options. Up to six more hybrid vehicles are planned for release in the by Ford, General Motors, Chevy and Dodge, including a minivan, multiple sport utilities and a pickup.
Among those in the neighborhood who’ve already purchased a hybrid vehicle are David Hileman. And, though he jokes that the only reason he bought his Honda Insight was because “the wife said to,” he admits that he’s now a permanent convert.
“Our plan is to always at least have one,” he says.
Part of the reason he and wife Yvonne chose the Insight is because of its looks: Hileman calls it his “little spaceship capsule.”
“We wanted to call attention to the car, not ourselves,” he says. “With the Insight, it’s such a different-[looking] car. When we first bought it, we had people coming up to me saying, ‘What is that?’ It’s really good to educate people about it, and we’ve had really positive response from it.”
Vazquez, on the other hand, chose her hybrid Civic specifically because it doesn’t look different from any other car on the road. But that still hasn’t stopped people from asking her about it, she says.
“The question they always ask me is, ‘Do you have to plug it in at night?’ And the answer I always give them is, ‘No, I don’t.’ When you turn the ignition off, you can hear it recharging the battery, and I haven’t ever heard it run for more than about 15-20 minutes.”
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Which brings up an obvious question: Just how does a hybrid vehicle work?
The hybrids have both a gasoline engine and an electric motor powered by a battery. The electric motor aids in quicker acceleration, and the gas supplies power for top speeds.
While the gasoline engine is powering the car, the battery is recharging, and, when the car comes to a stop — say, at a red light — the gas engine shuts down, eliminating idling pollution.
While the Hybrid Civic is rated an “ultra low emission” vehicle, the Prius and Insight are rated “super low emission.”
Though both Hileman and Vazquez say their main motivation for buying the car was fuel economy, the “green” effects of the vehicle are added bonuses.
“At the time, I was specifically looking at gas mileage and how it would get me to my job,” Vazquez says. “But since I’ve been finding out more about the vehicle and understanding how it works, I’ve realized I’m doing two good things: helping my commute and saving the environment.”
Adds Hileman: “It takes five Insights to make the pollution that one regular car does.”
There are, however, a few downsides to owning a hybrid car. The Insight, a two-seater, has a maximum weight capacity of 400 lbs. Hileman and his wife, who take two to three road trips per year, have had to keep their Honda Accord for those excursions.
“You can’t load it up and haul a bunch of stuff,” he says.
Even with the Hybrid Civic, a regular four-seater, buyers can’t purchase certain options available with a regular Civic because the vehicle weight has to be kept down.
“You have to not want a luxury vehicle to buy this kind of car,” Vazquez says.
Certain maintenance aspects also are more expensive. Oil changes cost more, around $40, because the vehicles require a purer synthetic blend, and replacing the battery can run between $1,500 to $2,000.
But, Vazquez says, it all evens out.
“The maintenance schedule is a lot slower on this vehicle. I change the oil every 5,000 miles in comparison to 3,500 that most people do. And you also have to compare it all with the amount of money you’re spending on gas. This car even requires the lowest grade possible [87 octane], so even the type of gas you put into this vehicle is cheaper than regular grades,” Vazquez says.
Still, even with all its advantages, there aren’t many people out there driving hybrids, a scenario that’s unlikely to change much in the near future. Studies show that Americans rank fuel economy low — 25th, to be exact — on their list of things to consider when buying a car.
Texans might be even less likely to invest in them, Hileman says: “It’s the
Still, he remains optimistic.
“I think the technology will just get better. And I really do think there’ll be more and more of them before it’s over with.”
