After years of being overshadowed by flashy electric cars from… Tesla In addition, the hybrid car – a gas tank containing an engine and an electric motor – is back in the spotlight again.
Electric vehicle sales have slowed in the United States, according to auto and data tracking site Edmunds, as the time it takes to sell a car once it arrives on a dealer lot rose from 25 days at the start of 2023 to 72 days over the course of just over a year. After one year. This metric, called “days remaining,” is a good measure of popularity.
The nearly three-fold jump in days switching to electric vehicles is huge, and does not match trends in other vehicle categories. Simple older internal combustion vehicles, which started 2023 at 34 days to turnaround, went to 52 days to turnaround in the same time period, according to Edmunds data.
But standard hybrids easily outpace other categories in popularity, ranging from 16 days in a push to 25 days in the same amount of time, data from Edmunds shows.
Hybrid vehicle sales grew five times faster than electric vehicle sales in February 2024, according to Morgan Stanley.
When the Toyota Prius arrived in the United States in 2000, the hybrid vehicle became an unexpected favorite among Hollywood stars and a popular choice among cash-strapped consumers looking to save money on gasoline. It was not flashy or luxurious, which made its popularity even more remarkable.
But shortly afterwards, Tesla It sparked the electric car craze with the sleek and fast electric Roadster and Model S, pushing the hybrid to the fringes. Almost every major automaker followed suit, keen not to be left behind in the electric car revolution – except for Toyota, which lagged behind its competitors. Toyota, by far the world's largest automaker, which owns Lexus, sells only two electric vehicles — the bZ4X and the Lexus RZ — and neither are sold in large quantities.
Pro-electric vehicle and environmental groups say Toyota is putting pressure to slow the electric vehicle revolution it has missed. Although it has previously experimented with battery electric vehicles, such as the RAV EV, the company has long claimed that the bridge to full electric will be a long one and that most consumers are not ready for all-electric vehicles.
But in late 2021, Toyota said in a press release that it plans to release 30 electric vehicle models by 2030, with an annual sales target of $3.5 million.
About two years later, sales of hybrids and plug-in hybrids are up about 28% over the previous year. They make up 30% of the Japanese giant's portfolio
Toyota isn't the only one benefiting from hybrid car sales.
Hyundai may add hybrid vehicles to a planned plant in Georgia originally intended to focus on electric vehicles. stronghold It said last year that it would phase out production of some electric vehicle models — including its F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck — in favor of more hybrids. General Motors, whose longtime CEO Mary Barra has said the company believes in an “all-electric future,” said earlier this year that the company would reintroduce hybrid vehicles to North America.
But the International Council on Clean Transportation said in a white paper published in 2021 that hybrid cars — just because they burn fuel — are not as effective as electric vehicles at reducing greenhouse gases.
However, advocates say it's a better solution in the short term.
Some, especially plug-ins, may pollute the environment more than expected, and even have downsides for owners: higher sticker prices, reduced selection, fuel costs, and all the costs of maintaining a complex powertrain that includes electric and conventional combustion elements.
Watch the video to learn more.
