I was giving a buddy of mine a ride this weekend (I had been talking about it so much he had to see what it was like) and he made the comment when I was at a stop light that "Its so quiet it sounds like the engine isn't even on!" To which I responded, "Its not on."

This comment wasn't much after the question, "Where do you plug it in?" (We park our cars at our school's stadium, no outlets there!) I had to tell him I don't...To which he had to ask, "How do you charge the batteries then?" I had to do some more educating!

The questions were typical, however I was surprised he asked them becuase I had already explained the whole process to him before I even gave him a lift. He must have just blocked out all I had said earlier, because I was just another "hybrid nut."

He was very enlightened by the time we got back to school, and I think much less anti-hybrid. I think most people just don't understand whats going on and get a preconcieved notion in their head causing them to block out any new information...

Absolutely!

I've had two similar experiences. Get 'em in the car, and they start to see that it's a pretty normal experience, just with some extra "features", and they start to see the potential of the concept. They start to realize that the hybrid is not really compromised much at all, and all of a sudden, they lose the "hybrids are for oddballs" opinion. It's very refreshing.

And I don't think it matters much, sex nor age. If they are unfamiliar, most really don't have a clue. The regenerative braking always throws them, because they think somehow we are capturing the heat-loss while braking. Using the engine as an electric generator is good to demonstrate and explain. Now, as hybrids evolve (plug-in, please!) those lacking in knowledge will be closer to correct than they knew - and we'll all be better off for it!

Steve

STOP terrorism - Drive a HYBRID

Vehicles:
350 miles a week ------------ 2006 HCH II, Magnetic Pearl, w/NAVI (born on May 25, 2006)
350 miles a month ---------- 2003 Mazda Tribute ES-V6
350 miles a year (for now) - 1986 Mercedes 560SL

Many of us have the same experience -- mainly how they think it has performance characteristics similar to an oversized Golf cart but give a quick step on the throttle and they realize it actually DOES have a gas motor behind all the tricks. My best feature is the 120-volt 3-prong plug i have dangling out the front (for the Block Heater) so I use that to my advantage with my friends with my "plug-in" Hybrid -- they get a kick out of it.

--> Averaged 685 miles/week and 49.0 mpg in first year (35.7k miles from Aug 7, 2006 to Aug 7, 2007)

owlmaster- I think it's fantastic that you were so patient with your friend. The thing about being a hybrid driver is that you are really a spokesman for this technology. If we don't educate our friends, no matter how they start out (anti-hybrid, or not paying attention, or curious but uninformed, or with all kinds of wacky misinformation at their fingertips courtesy of the media), then the public won't change its views about hybrids. I just take it one conversation at a time, and if people are truly interested, I can go on and on and on... but some people don't really want to know a lot of details- I list my average mpg or my current mpg, and they're satisfied. It depends.

Whoo hoooo for hybrid education!