Driving Innovations

Remember when hybrid vehicles were considered exotic? All that it took to become the talk of a backyard barbecue a decade ago was to rattle the keys to your Toyota Prius or Honda Insight and boast about your car’s amazing gas mileage. But now electric vehicles (EV) and plug-in electric vehicles (PHEV) are the new kids on the block. At the same time, automakers are squeezing hybridlike fuel economy from some of their latest gasoline-powered models. As a result, the thought of buying a hybrid seems almost conventional these days.

But hybrid vehicles hardly have run their course. Federal fuel-economy mandates have forced automakers to place an even greater emphasis on building more hybrid models in the years ahead to compensate for their least efficient gasoline-powered models. Consumers should prepare for a second wave of hybrid (and electric) vehicles if things play out the way that experts tell Consumers Digest. In particular, you should expect to see automakers create larger hybrids and more luxury hybrids in addition to new hybrid versions of conventional models. In many cases, these new models won’t get the eye-popping gas mileage that the smallest hybrids do, but they will deliver double-digit percentage gains over the nonhybrid versions of the same models.

Manufacturers have their eyes on more than just improving fuel economy. You should look for new safety and technology features to be added to vehicles in the next few years. Automakers also are looking farther down the road by pursuing features that are based on Internet programs that are designed to help your vehicle to run more efficiently, depending on what your driving habits are. And even though manufacturers are getting closer to creating the first vehicle that drives by itself, you can’t afford to take your eyes off the road (or off automakers) just yet, because the latest automobile trends could have plenty of consequences for your wallet, for your vehicle’s performance and for how you drive.

HYBRID HIGH. The push for more hybrid and electric vehicles is driven by automakers’ sense that consumers want options in light of galloping oil prices. It’s also in reaction to federal regulations that force automakers to improve overall gas mileage for all models. In addition to having to achieve 35.5 mpg across their product lines by 2016 (up from about 27 mpg today), automakers basically will have to double down on fuel economy beyond that. Rules that were announced in August call for 54.5 mpg across product lines by 2025. Although that lofty target might seem like light years away, automakers know that they can’t get there overnight, so they’re figuring out how to achieve the new mileage requirements now. You won’t notice a difference in 2012, but new models that are aimed at these requirements will arrive in the next few years.

By 2015, you’ll be able to choose from as many as 50 hybrid models, according to Alan Baum, who is an auto-industry analyst. That compares with just 29 hybrids today, according to Department of Energy. Baum says he expects that the number of hybrid models will continue to increase at the same pace beyond 2015. Hybrids aren’t less expensive to build than are models that use more-conventional ways of improving gas mileage, such as improving vehicle aerodynamics or modifying conventional engines, but they still hold the biggest potential for fuel savings among various technologies, according to a June 2010 study by National Academy of Sciences.

But don’t expect to see new hybrids that get significantly better mileage than any hybrid that’s on the market today. And you won’t necessarily see any new hybrids that are less expensive than today’s models are.

But by 2025, the effect of the standards on automakers’ vehicle development could end up saving you as much as $8,000 in fuel costs over the life of a vehicle in comparison with costs for today’s gasoline-powered vehicle, according to the most recent estimates by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.