Hybrid and Electric Vehicles Struggle to Maintain Owner Loyalty, Reports Edmunds.com

[Bill USA]

Earth Day Analysis Shows Car Buyers Trading in Alternative Fuel Vehicles for SUVs More than Ever Before

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — April 21, 2015 — Car buyers are trading in hybrid and electric cars for SUVs at a higher rate than ever before, according to a new analysis from car-buying platform Edmunds.com. The analysis offers a surprising look at how today's gas prices are drawing hybrid and EV owners toward gas-guzzling vehicles at a much more accelerated pace than in recent years.

According to Edmunds.com, about 22 percent of people who have traded in their hybrids and EVs in 2015 bought a new SUV. The number represents a sharp increase from 18.8 percent last year, and it is nearly double the rate of 11.9 percent just three years ago. Overall, only 45 percent of this year's hybrid and EV trade-ins have gone toward the purchase of another alternative fuel vehicle, down from just over 60 percent in 2012. Never before have loyalty rates for alt-fuel vehicles fallen below 50 percent.

"For better or worse, it looks like many hybrid and EV owners are driven more by financial motives rather than a responsibility to the environment," says Edmunds.com Director of Industry Analysis Jessica Caldwell. "Three years ago, when gas was at near-record highs, it was a lot easier to rationalize the price premiums on alternative fuel vehicles. But with today's gas prices as low as they are, the math just doesn't make a very compelling case."

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Edmunds' analysis comes at a time when overall sales of alternative vehicles have continued to slide. EVs and hybrids accounted for just 2.7 percent of all new car sales in the first quarter of 2015, down from 3.3 percent during that same period last year. The share of SUVs, meanwhile, has increased from 31.8 percent in Q1 2014 to 34.2 percent in Q1 2015.

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[font size="+1"]... Knowledge is power[/font]

[hatrack]

1. And gas prices will stay low . . . FOREVER!!!!

Total cost of ownership, y'all.

[Bill USA]

2. it obviously, is very difficult to forecast oil/gas prices. But this shows how gas prices - and

recessions affect the public's buying behavior.

Lately, petroleum analysts are waiting to see what happens with the Iran deal. Will the GOP succeed in scuttling it? IF not, the oil industry analysts are expecting Iran to put a lot more oil on the market and drive down gas prices more than we have seen happening in the last few months. As of now, oil prices are down about 56% over the last year.

REcessions are unfortunate realities which do occur every decade or so (unless, the GOP gets too much power in Washington, in which case you should count on a Depression). Recesssions impact how much people have to spend with the effect being seem especially with higher ticket items.

THese are realities one ignores at one's peril, when making forecasts or anticipating certain developments in the future.