The simplest way is by reading consumer reports on hybrid cars.

There are lots of information available about hybrid cars. Data from the manufacturer’s website are good sources of needed preliminary knowledge on hybrid cars. However, we may be able to glean a much more honest report on the ins and outs of this new revolutionary vehicle by consulting consumer reports.

What consumer reports say about the reliability of hybrid cars

“These hybrid systems have been very reliable,” according to Consumer Reports’ senior director for auto test centers David Champion. Mr. Champion said that around 94% of Toyota Prius owners would definitely buy another Prius and are very happy and satisfied.

Findings like this one can prove valuable to a consumer, because aside from taking individual consumer reports on certain hybrid car models, it also provides comparison on certain features.

However, this doesn’t really show that consumer reports agree with other opinions, as some automobile experts and analysts have criticized the hybrid car as flamboyant because of the fact that two engines are being used for one purpose. Several consumer reports argue explaining that the electric motor adds power to the engine.

Consumer reports often say that they are for the protection of environment, asserting that they are supportive in the burning of less fossil fuel. This is in lieu of opinion from experts that hybrid drivers are paying too high for an automobile that offers only marginally better fuel efficiency than the other economy cars already on the road.

At one point, consumer reports compared the 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid car, which consumes 36 miles per gallon and worth $21,000, with the 2003 Honda Civic EX, which consumes 29 miles per gallon and worth $18,500 a unit on the average. Interested to know the results? The tax break excluded, it would take a consumer 21 years in fuel savings to cover the earlier expense for buying hybrid.

So many information, right? The fact of the matter is, consumer reports only serve as a healthy guide for people planning on buying hybrid cars. It takes rigorous tests on the products itself, using the expertise of its well-appointed staff and crew, and hopes that the consumer will be able to discern for himself if the product is worth buying or not.

In the end, after all the consumer reports that have been released and published about hybrid cars, it is still the buyer’s decision that will prevail.

Some consumer reports say hybrid cars are practical; some don’t. Some say only specific models are recommendable; others argue against them and sing praises about others. The bottomline is, consumer reports are exactly what they are: consumer reports. Their findings are based on their experience and opinions of the their own set of experts. How you respond to them, however, is a different story.

While it isn’t likely that you’ll save the same amount of gas as when you get a hybrid car like a Civic or a Prius, getting an SUV will still afford you a similar advantage.

Consumer reports say that the most efficient SUV out in the US market today is the Ford Escape. Observers also recommend the Toyota Highlander hybrid SUV, because of its wider seating and storage capacity, though it has been found to be less fuel efficient that the Escape.

The Toyota Highlander has also been observed to be more powerful than the Escape. If you have a huge family, the Highlander SUV might be a better choice. But if you’re more into the fuel efficiency factor, then go for the Ford. Don’t take this article’s word for it solely, though. It’s better if you go see for yourself which hybrid SUV type suits your needs better.

Other hybrid SUVS out in the market include the Lexus RX 400h Hybrid SUV and Mercury Mariner Hybrid SUV. The Lexus is more pricey and fit for the affluent car consumer, while the Mariner is simply a more upmarket version of the Ford Escape. These two models are for those people who want fuel-efficient SUVs but are still hesitating how much of style and class they want to forego.

Next year, new hybrid SUVS are expected to be out, including the Toyota Sienna Minivan, The Chevrolet Tahoe and the Saturn VUE Hybrid. The Tahoe Hybrid is expected to be 25% more fuel-efficient than the traditional Tahoe car.

Also in the works, but likely to come out at a later time, are the Ford Edge Hybrid, the Cadillac Escalade, the Mazda Tribute, the Honda Pilot, the GMC Yukon, the Porsche Cayenne and the Lincoln MKX.

More people are turning to hybrid cars these days because of their promise of lesser fuel consumption and environmental friendliness. Hybrid SUVs, because they run on both fuel and battery-powered engines, eat up less fuel, thereby sparing the consumer the pain of falling prey to price pressures in the world oil market. In addition, it also emits significantly less smog pollutants in the air, compared to traditional fuel-operated cars.

Some critics say that it is not the time to buy hybrid vehicles because they are expensive. However, when you consider the advantages, you really shouldn’t think twice.

While you must be discerning in choosing the right model for your needs, this doesn’t mean you start hesitating. After all, when more people patronize hybrid cars and hybrid SUVs, manufacturers will see the need to produce more and eventually bring its price at very affordable levels.

Maybe one nice sunny day, we could all drive up to the pump and put some interesting chemical in our car that would make it run forever. Maybe we could gas up on some cooking oil or even oxygen. But for now, we have hybrids. Maybe they are the answer to our dilemma. Are these cars the wave of the future?

It seems like they are for many reasons. These cars are electric. “Electric” is a word that is linked with innovation and imagination. Electric signals “power.” That means the power to run and the power to run for miles and miles. That’s what a hybrid car is all about. When you get in one, you’ll know you’ll get to where you need to go and you won’t have to stop at ten gas stations on the way.

Remember when Edison came out with the electric light bulb? Everyone thought it was a great invention, and it has changed the lives of all of us. So a hybrid car is also changing all of our lives. It’s new, and very technologically advanced. Hybrid cars should get the same kind of recognition Edison did. However, hybrid cars do take some fuel to run them, but that doesn’t mean we should applaud them for being able to run on both electricity and fuel.

With all of the above reasons, hybrid cars seem to be the wave of the future, but there are a couple of reasons why that may not be true. For instance, there must be some reason why hybrids are not selling more than conventional cars. That’s because the average customer who looks at the sticker price on a hybrid car is stunned. It’s just too much money for the average car buyer. And how can a car be the wave of the future if it scares people away every time they come to look at it on the dealers’ lot?

Since the cost possibly overrides the benefits of the hybrid car, a hybrid car may just be a transitional car, and the actual wave of the future might be a car that is fueled by something other than “fuel.” Whatever that “fuel” is, I’m sure we will all like it and then we’ll be calling that fuel the wave of the future.

Some people today are already fueling their cars with cooking oil, but that doesn’t seem to have caught on world wide like hybrid cars have. Therefore, cooking oil does not seem to be the solution for us. But, maybe some day, people will start fiddling with their hybrid cars and come up with something much better than the design that is before them.

Be it known that the gas-powered cars were also an improvement to horse-run carts in the decades before 1880s. After more than a century, the time is really ripe for the gas-powered cars to further advance and embark on another evolutionary stage to mount a different and more modified version.

Cars are more widely used around the world right now, that people from every corner of the world would find it hard to live by without owning one.

Cars have become a necessity and n important part of the everyday living of man. That is why, if there is one machine or device currently in use to mankind that needs or deserve further modification and improvement, it would definitely be the car.

Electric cars

But the usage of cars comes with different and varying setbacks and accompanying issues and concerns. The most grievous among these is the issue on gasoline consumption.

Traditional and conventional cars, being run by oil or gasoline, make up or require astronomical or higher gasoline consumption bills, which to many are enough reason to trigger a looming and fatal heart attack.

Because oil prices are constantly rising almost every week due to the volatile and unstable political and civil condition in the Middle East, the principal oil exporting region, gasoline prices have reached a point when ordinary people may find purchasing it almost a luxury.

The environmental concern that has been tagged on the gas-powered cars also invoked serious consideration and steps on the part of the car makers.

Because the phenomenon called greenhouse effect or global warming has started to show its wrath through climate changes around the world in the past decades, people are becoming more and more concerned about environmental degradation.

Thus, the electric cars were developed by several car manufacturers. Electric cars were the first attempt of car makers to address the rising and evoking concerns over environmental degradation and soaring oil prices.

Because electric cars are run by electricity, which is stored in batteries, there is no need for the car to undergo or process spontaneous combustion of gasoline on its engine. Thus, smoke or carbon monoxide emissions are eliminated.

The owners of electric cars would also not need to frequently visit gasoline shops and stations for refill. All they have to do is to deal with their batteries through recharging, which can be done at home or at recharging shops, which previously was also aimed by gasoline stations.

However, the electric cars had greater setbacks, so humungous that the adverse shortcomings and product limitations were offset at greater levels by its uses and advantages.

For one, the speed and mileage of electric cars are inferior compared to those by the traditional and conventional gas-powered vehicles. The required time or duration of charging of batteries is also one source of setback for the electric car.

The hybrid cars

Because of its limitations, the electric car was considered a failure and car makers did not proceed to fully roll out and launch the product to the market.

But the research and effort made to develop electric cars were not to be put in absolute futility. The car makers were really determined enough to come up with better cars that would address the issues revolving from pollutants and oil consumption.

The electric cars provided the templates that were used to develop another type of car—the hybrid cars.

The hybrid cars were crossovers or integration of the traditional gas-powered cars and the disappointing electric cars.

The hybrid cars were principally made to use the best features and qualities of each of the two types of cars, and cancel out their respective weaknesses.

For one, hybrid cars combine the use of electricity and gasoline in running and mobilizing the car. The gasoline consumption is this lessened, along with the high oil bills and air pollutants produced.

But the hybrid cars are still evoking a greater room for improvement. Because the industry is still in the experimental and initial phase when it comes to hybrid cars, expect to see more developments and modifications in the coming years.

Hybrid cars are better than electric cars and gas-powered cars because it got the best features and characteristics of the two types of cars.

Perhaps, you have not attempted to challenge or even doubt claims that hybrid vehicles are fuel efficient and environmentally friendly. Have you asked yourself why you did not even bother to ask the validity of such unfounded claims?

True to its name, hybrid vehicles are the modern and improved modifications of the conventional and traditional car. Because the costs of gasoline are almost always on the rise, manufacturers and consumers alike aim for cost savings and efficiency to maximize money’s worth.

But is it really true that hybrid cars or vehicles are fuel-efficient? The idea that the hybrids are run by gasoline and electricity from batteries will logically set up the mindset and thinking that these cars are reducing overall consumption of gasoline.

It can be true, but remember, only minimal amounts of savings are at stake because the electricity provided by built in batteries in cars will almost always fall short of the cars’ requirement for power.

It means, running the car will still rely on the power and energy to be provided by the gasoline. Experts and physicists have long argued that proposition, but did anyone really get to focus and consider them?

A Scam?

So is it to be considered or called a scam because if the argument is valid, then car makers have misled and deceived consumers and car buyers.

But experts say the claims can be misleading, but are also based on practical knowledge and application. The claims are still true that gasoline consumption are less compared to consumption by conventional and non-hybrid vehicles.

So the notion would be considered a scam, relative and depending on the outlook and view of the user or the opinion-maker.

The issue on mileage

The mileage issue is another aspect that raises concerns and arguments over the efficiency of the hybrid vehicles. Experts and car professionals have asserted that the hybrid cars do not really promise to outpace and provide greater speed travel than the traditional cars.

There are also cases and complaints filed and raised by buyers of the pioneering hybrid vehicles over their disappointments over the speed capacity of their acquired hybrid cars.

That can be true because basically, the hybrid technology is still in the advancing stage and further improvements and upgrades are yet to be unrolled or seen.

Upon their launch, many consumers were misguided and thought the cars were faster than the traditional and fast cars models out in the market today. But the fuel efficiency comes with sacrifices and unfortunately, the speed capacity and mileage is the principal casualty on the hybrid vehicles’ front.

Environmental impact

They say hybrid cars emit less carbon monoxide because the car is not entirely run by gasoline. True, but the greenhouse gas emission reduction is not as significant as projected or advertised.

Experts attest that the carbon monoxide emissions of hybrid cars are less but not significantly compared to the traditional cars.

If more and more hybrid cars are to be purchased and used across the country, the difference in environmental impact would surely disappoint fanatics and admirers of the car technology.

Prices

The most sensitive and substantial issues around the hybrid vehicles revolve around its pricing and costs.

On the average, hybrid cars are priced at premium rates or significantly higher than even the most expensive traditional car of today.

That is why hybrid cars are still considered luxury and not basic nowadays. The affluent citizens are surely the only people to be able to purchase the cars, considering the astronomical and heart-pumping tag prices that come along with them.

Thus, before buying a hybrid car, experts advise consumers to first consider their options and thoroughly go through the figures over hybrid cars’ features and advantages.

A hybrid car is a means of transportation using two power sources; it uses a rechargeable energy storage system found on board and a fuelled power source as the vehicle’s driving force. The hybrid car pollutes less and uses less fuel.

Back in 1899, Ferdinand Porsche have developed and led the way to the very first working hybrid-electric vehicle. Other people followed suit in Ferdinand Porsche’s invention. Many people who became interested in the hybrid-vehicle concept have been continually making hybrid cars. However, there was no major car manufacturer who invested in the hybrid concept and mass produced hybrid cars until the late twentieth century. The hybrid technology was mainly utilized in developing diesel-electric submarines during that interim period.

The diesel-electric submarines mainly operate very much the same as a hybrid car. However, the submarines main goal was to conserve oxygen rather than spend less fuel. During the later years, submarines have evolved and have begun using the nuclear power as a substitute for diesel.

During the 1990′s, the Toyota Prius and the Honda Insight were the first successful hybrid cars available in the market. It was two of the pioneers in the hybrid car concept which virtually changed the way the world thinks about cars.

An idealistic inventor, Victor Wouk, manufactured a hybrid electric and gas motor vehicle that siphoned fuel at half the amount as practically all the other cars being built then. He built the hybrid car thirty years before the Toyota Prius got the attention of the U.S. as an energy-anxious nation.

The account about the hybrid car and its inventor, who died in May, 2005, at age 86, is unfamiliar among even the most avid fans of the growing hybrid car association. In terms of hybrid car knowledge, it is in fact America that should have led all other countries. Wouk said that the government program that he developed about hybrids was unknown to everyone.

Victor Wouk founded and sold two successful electric industrialized companies in the late 1940s and 50s and in 1962 he was approach by Russell Feldman, one of the founders of Motorola, who recognized the pollution from the automobile as one of the biggest problem of the environment and he wanted to discover the possible solutions with regards to this problem. But his experiment did not work much for the possible solution.

Having an idea, Wouk pondered the problem throughout the 60s and ultimately reached a clever solution. He combined the low-emission benefits of an electric car with the power of a gasoline engine to produce a hybrid vehicle. But Wouk did not get any response to his ideas for creating a hybrid car; in fact he was heavily criticized for not believing in a full-electric system.

With the help of his colleague, Charlie Rosen, who shared his belief about hybrid cars, gave him the chance to prove his ideas of creating the hybrid car as one of the solution to the rapid health cost of auto-pollution. And now the impressive capabilities of the invention of Wouk, the hybrid cars, can now be a very great help in terms of less fuel consumption and less air pollution.

Wouk and Rosen put up a new company particularly to developed their hybrid car idea and make it possible to be in the market and be used as an everyday car that belched far less harmful vapors than contemporary vehicles.

The Prius

Ever since the Toyota Prius was released in the market, it has been able to remain as the premier choice of hybrid cars available. It is true that old hybrid cars looks more like an alien car and cost far more than the conventional car. However, because of the latest technology installed in newer versions of hybrid cars, it looks more like a conventional car and is far cheaper than its predecessors. It is a fact that hybrid cars today looks very much like conventional cars. However, it will enable you to cut fuel consumption in half.

For example, the Honda Civic Hybrid car looks very much like its conventional version. However, when you look at it closely, the hybrid version of the Civic is able to conserve fuel much better than its gasoline counterpart. The Civic Hybrid can get you 50 miles in just one gallon of gasoline.

During the year 2004, Ford has developed and introduced the very first hybrid SUV, which is the Ford Escape Hybrid. A year later, Toyota also introduced their line of hybrid SUV called the Highlander Hybrid.

Because of the growing demand for hybrid cars, other car manufacturers are now following the footsteps of the other companies who already released a version of their hybrid car in the market. For example, Nissan is now planning to develop and introduce a hybrid version of the Nissan Altima.

Nowadays, over 300,000 hybrid cars are running on American roads wherein 95 percent of them are Japanese made. The hybrid vehicles are truly very different technology that can both save money and our environment.

The development of interior ignition engine vehicles, especially in automobiles, is one of the supreme achievements of modern technology as a new rising energy saving and environment -friendly vehicle, that’s why the hybrid-electric vehicles were created to give convenience to every human.

In the process of creating the hybrid electric car, the most important is the energy saving and the environmental protection. Wherein nowadays this are the common problems faced by the society.

Having the hybrid-electric car evolved from the electric car. However, the main disadvantage of the electric car is that it is mainly dependent on the batteries. Therefore, has limited range.

First of all, the hybrid electric car was supposed to be an electric vehicle with batteries for power storage and is also equipped with an on-board heat engine-powered generator. This means that this type of hybrid has an extended range.

The heat engine power and the battery power are specifically intended as an important scheme that constantly modulates the excess between the heat engine and the battery power systems. This will also depend on the driving schedule.

Since the beginning of the use of automobiles, electric cars have been already recognized and conceptualized. Even though the electric power train is better in various aspects, as an energy source, the battery was unequal to the superior-energy content, easiness in terms of the handling, and inexpensive and profuse supplies of motor fuel.

Now, it has almost been a century since the electric car has been popularly discussed, but recent developments in the HEV technology and the growing concerns for the environment has revived the drive for an HEV and this has become a realization today.

We can consider the personal means of transportation as a very important bond in the economic chain of today’s modern societies and that a private vehicle appears to be the popular choice.

Electric vehicles are more energy efficient than the contemporary vehicles wherein the electric vehicles operates at approximately 46 percent of effectiveness, while a contemporary vehicle operates at about 18 percent only.

There are studies that generally concludes that electric cars with batteries are approximately 10 to 30 percent more efficient with energy than the usual gasoline cars, depending on the exact assumptions of the vehicles energy usage and energy chain efficiency.

Certainly, the comparisons of the electric vehicles and the conventional vehicles are comparisons between an extremely developed power system that is nearly in the end of its research and development, and the innovative power system in the beginning stages of the development wherein important development can be expected as the new technology evolves.

Furthermore, the advantages of electric powered modes of transportation extends beyond the true outlook of economizing energy. Electric generation plants can use substitute fuels that are not adaptable to portable power systems.

Electric vehicles are the definitive alternative fuel vehicles because their power is taken from the source fuels utilized to produce electricity. Aside from that, the flexibility of the fuel alone can offer important useful and economic advantages especially in relation to a variety of energy resources.

The electric car is truly a promising technology that could transform one’s means of transportation into a far more environmentally type of commodity. Through this innovation emission controls become more important, effective and economically beneficial.

Consequently, consumers around the world feel the domino effect of the phenomenon. Rising oil prices mean they are up for harder times along the way.

That is why as much as possible, people will always find ways to cut their reliance on gasoline and oil.

Traditional cars are now on the hot seat because consumers and users are starting to complain about high gasoline consumption bills.

The increasing environmental concerns that has been tagged on the gas-powered cars also invoked serious consideration and steps on the part of the car makers.

Because the phenomenon called greenhouse effect or global warming has started to show its wrath through climate changes around the world in the past decades, people are becoming more and more concerned about environmental degradation.

Hybrid cars

Thus, hybrid cars, as manufacturers claim, are the cars of the future. That is because those cars are considered the answers to people’s prayers over the past years for vehicles that would not necessarily run on gasoline, which has prices that are so volatile due to emerging conflicts in the oil-producing countries every now and then.

Nowadays, car owners are being forced to just commute or take the public vehicles on their way to work everyday instead of using their cars because the gasoline prices are so high, that everyday use of the car would be unsustainable and most often, becoming a luxury.

In those cases, the purpose for buying or purchasing a car is breached, overlooked, neglected and unattained. For sure, cars are bought to give the buyer the convenience of going to destinations without the hassle of a public transport, which usually are tormented by delays, accidents and unlikely incidents.

No wonder, the launch of hybrid vehicles not so long ago was bombarded by promising and higher than expected sales of the cars. It is understandable that people have long awaited and anticipated the market launch of hybrid cars.

Hybrid car models

There are a number of hybrid car models available in the market today. The major companies are almost all claiming that their hybrid cars are the best hybrid cars ever produced in the market.

But are there serious proofs or implications from such claims?

The Japanese car makers have started the race for the best and most-patronized hybrid car models of today and the future.

Thus, from Toyota Motors, the market is now bombarded by the robust sales and increasing demand for hybrid car models that include the Camry hybrid and the Toyota Prius hyrid.

The Camry hybrid is termed the best hybrid car in terms of exterior features, designs and overall functionality. The claim is supported by the hybrid car model’s robust sales figures in the past couple of years.

The Prius hybrid car is tagged the best in terms of environmentalism. Toyota said this hybrid car is designed with zero-emission features, that bids goodbye totally or significantly to gasoline combustion processes in engines, which make up for the pollutants in the air.

The Honda hybrid car

For its part, Honda Motors will not take the competition for hybrid cars just sitting closely by. The Japanese car making giant has its famous Accord and Civic models spun-off in hybrids.

That is right. The hybrid models for the Honda hybrid cars are as efficient and as beautiful as the company’s old, traditional and reliable car models.

Honda claims that its hybrid cars are the best in the market today because the feel of driving them would be nothing different from driving the best car models from the company, namely the traditional and gas-powered Accord and Civic.

Picking up the best

So how do you pick the best? All of them are the best in their own respective rights. The best is a relative term. What can be the best for one person might not be the best for you.

So in picking up for the best hybrid car model for yourself, just rely on your instincts and the best things the best hybrid car models would be put in front of you.

In 2004, some 80,000 hybrid vehicles (cars and trucks included) were sold, reaching a some 17 million USD in total sales, in the US alone. In 2005, about 200,000 hybrids cars, with different models, were sold. This singular sale represented the total of 1.2 percent of all cars sold in the US, in the same year. Some authorities believe that that by 2007, some 400,000 hybrid vehicles will be sold in the US.

The Toyota Prius, however, rules supreme over other hybrid car models. With 107,897 units sold for the year 2005, which represented 52% of the total hybrid market, Toyota Prius is currently unbeatable. The next most popular hybrid was the Honda Civic Hybrid, which sold over 25,000 vehicles.

Here’s a look at different models of hybrid cars

2005 Honda Civic Hybrid. This is a 4 door/5 seat sedan, with automatic or manual CVT for its transmission. MPG is 47city/ 48 hwy, while the range per fillup is 650 miles. Base on 2005 pricing, this model is worth $19,800 per unit in the US.

This model boasts of such features as full climate control, a Micron air filtration, and built with an Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS). It has Cruise Control, Power windows, mirrors and door locks, together with AM/FM/CD audio system with 4 speakers.

2005 Honda Accord Hybrid. This one is4 door and 5 seat midsize sedan. Transmission is 5-speed automatic, while the mileage (mpg) is 29 city/ 37 hwy. Range per fillup is 600 miles (1000 km). Based on the 2005 Base Retail Price, this car worth $30,000 in the US.

This hybrid car model’s notable features are its unique hybrid air-conditioning system, Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS), Grade logic control, a Driver’s seat with 8-way power adjustment, and a Satellite-linked navigation system. The last feature, though, is optional for the owner.

Another hybrid car model from Honda that made it to the list is its 2005 Insight. It has 3 doors and two seat coupe. Transmission is CVT automatic or 5-speed manual. Mileage (mpg) is 60 city/ 70 hwy (3.2L/100km), while its range per fillup is 600 miles (1000 km).

Retail price is pegged at 2003 Price: $19,080 – $21,280 in the US.

In terms of features, this hybrid car model has full climate control, a CFC-Free Air Conditioning, with Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS), and an Electronic instrument display. It also has a tachometer, power windows and mirrors; door locks; and AM/FM Stereo/Cassette System.

2005 Toyota Prius. Of course, the first among the hybrid car models to successfully reached the US market is included among the best. This one is 4 door and a 5 seat sedan with a liftback. Transmission is CVT automatic, while mileage (mpg) is 60 city/ 51 hwy. range per fillup is 566 miles. Based on the 2005 Base Retail Price, this model is $20,875 per unit, in the US.

This one has a full climate control, a CFC-Free Air Conditioning and an Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS). Also comes with central instrument display, LCD energy monitor, power windows and mirrors, door locks with deluxe AM/FM ETR/Cassette with 4 speakers.

2005 Ford Escape Hybrid. The Ford answer with Japanese cars is this 4 door/5 seat SUV unit. Transmission is CVT automatic with a mileage (city/hwy) of 2wd 31/36 | 4wd 29/33. Range per fillup is 400 to 600 miles. It has manual Air Conditioning, with Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS), a roof rack with 2 horizontal bars and also comes with power windows and mirrors, door locks, and AM/FM stereo with 6-disc in-dash CD system. The price based on 2005 $26,970

2006 Lexus RX 400h. This hybrid car model is a 4 door/5 seat SUV unit. Transmission is ECVT automatic, a 31city/ 27hwy mileage (mpg), and the range per fillup is 450 to 530 miles. The retail price is $48,500

This one has dual-zone automatic climate control, and an exclusive Lexus 8-speaker sound system, 6-disk CD, power tilt and slide moon roof, transceiver to operate garage doors, lights, and part-time all-wheel drive (AWD).

The 2005 hybrid car models include some of the best and ingenious ones. Car experts believe that other models in the future will just take their improvement from this most productive year in the history of hybrid cars.

Why? Well first of all, the Toyota Prius is a great kind of hybrid car. The model I speak of is Toyota’s petrol and electric hybrid model. It’s sharp, stunning, and is a best seller among hybrid cars. This car is so good that it was voted car of the year in Europe for the year 2005. Furthermore, in the United States, the Toyota Prius got an award that was very comparable to the car of the year award given in Europe.

But the Toyota Prius hybrid car isn’t selling off the lots because it is the fastest car around. Some Toyota Prius’s have some pretty high profile owners. Among them are Leonardo Dicaprio, Harrison Ford, and Susan Sarandon. With these people driving this particular hybrid car, off course it’s selling like a hotcake. And the stars are doing a world of good for the sales of hybrid cars in general.

But while the success of the Toyota Prius is good for Toyota, it isn’t so good for its competitors who have yet to manufacture a hybrid car. Now Nissan, GM and other popular car manufacturers are trying to quickly get their act together and come up with their version of the hybrid car.

Some of these other manufacturers just did not believe that people would put their faith in the hybrid car as a solution to the constant fluctuation of oil prices. But the number of sales for the Toyota Prius hybrid car has certainly caused a change of tune for competing car manufacturers. So soon you might here of a best-selling Nissan hybrid or GM hybrid. And Toyota Prius buyers shouldn’t get too comfortable with their car because before they know it, something else will come out that they would like to have.

But as far as Toyota goes, claims have been made that in the near future, all Toyota engines will come with hybrid options. And Toyota also believes that it’s only a matter of time before all cars are hybrid cars or at least have hybrid engine options.

Next year, Toyota should be making Prius’s in China, and there, sales are also expected to boom. Toyota doesn’t want to leave anyone behind. Soon it may expand its manufacturing plants to locations in places like California. Surely, there are plenty of movie stars there who can be persuaded to buy this hybrid car.

The Toyota Prius is certainly making a name for hybrid cars, and hopefully the buck won’t stop with the Prius. Toyota probably has some other models of hybrids cars that are fast making there way to having top sales as well.