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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
Everyone from stars to greens to President Bush seems to be hyping gas-and-electric cars. So why do we keep buying SUVs?
Mar 11, 2002 | "I love my little car!" Cameron Diaz bubbled.
It was December, and Diaz was on the "Tonight Show" with Jay Leno. Leno's notecard mentioned that Diaz wanted to talk about her brand new "lavender-y" Toyota Prius, a hybrid gas-and-electric car classified as a super ultra low emission vehicle. "It gets 52 miles per gallon," Diaz squealed to Leno. "In the city. Isn't that exciting?"
But however good her intentions, Diaz's description was surely not what Toyota's marketing director would have liked. She struggled to explain one of the energy-conserving features of both the Prius and the Honda Insight -- the two hybrid cars currently available in the United States. In both cars, the gas engine shuts off and the electric battery kicks in when the car is stationary, a feature that actually enables the Prius to get better mileage in the city than on the highway -- 52 mpg versus 45 mpg -- since it's not wasting gas or spewing pollutants at stop signs or traffic lights.
"The craziest thing is, 'cause all of a sudden you just, like, you're sitting at the stop sign? And you can't hear anything? And you're like 'Omigod! My car has died!'" she said. "But you know what? It's just like a golf cart, Jay. You know how guys love golf carts."
And Leno, given the opening, quickly jumped in to mock the Prius with common enviro-mobile stereotypes that certainly contribute to the car's low sales.
"Oh, man, yeah," Leno yukked, dripping with sarcasm, "you want to impress a guy with a car, you say 'It's just like a golf cart! Man, this thing goes like a golf cart! Whoa!' Yeah."
"It, like, shuts down and then all of a sudden you just step on the gas and you're going again!" Diaz continued. "It's unbeliev -- I'm thrilled. I'm so excited, 'cause it's, like, our future. That's our future." She said that her Prius was fast and generally "drives like a regular car," but she jokingly added -- with Leno's encouragement -- that the one exception is that "it has the extraordinary features of a golf cart!"
Diaz and Leno perfectly captured the flighty, rich do-gooder vs. mainstream skeptic dynamic that has kept hybrid cars -- which have been available in this country since December 1999 -- still largely the elite feel-good toys of the limousine liberal set.
But now, suddenly, Washington seems to be jumping on the hybrid hatchback. The Senate has taken up debate over the energy bill in recent days and Democrats have pushed for tougher fuel efficiency standards that could end up being great news for hybrid technology. Fueled by the post-9/11 realization of our nation's vulnerability due to energy dependence on Arab countries like Iraq and Saudi Arabia, even conservative Republicans have made an effort to support hybrid technology, with President Bush -- an oilman and usually an oilman's best friend -- posing with a small fleet of hybrids and hyping tax incentives for hybrid buyers.
Madison Avenue is dubious, but Washington seems determined. Will that be enough to create a major shift away from American's love for big ol' autos?
Toyota lent me a Prius (Latin for "to go before") last weekend and I have to say: It's nothing like a golf cart. It's actually pretty cool. My buddy Chris, a Buffalo, N.Y., Republican with blue collar roots who drives a BMW, even agreed. It tools around like any other high-performing Japanese car, it feels just as sturdy as your average American automatic, and the one I borrowed came with a very nifty "information system" computer screen with a GPS and a screen that illustrates for you when you're using gas and when you're using electric power.
With its round backside and streamlined design, the Insight is more of what we've come to expect electric cars to look like, as though it would fit in just as well hovering over a city in "Blade Runner" or cruising underwater for giant squid. I test drove the Insight, too, and while the Prius feels slightly elevated and seems to have something of a pug nose, the Insight is the one that turns heads in the street, the one several eager greens gave me the thumbs-up for driving.
