From the San Jose Mercury News

Anatomy of a hybrid owner
TYPICAL OWNER/DRIVER
By Matt Nauman
Mercury News
Article Launched: 12/05/2007 01:36:19 AM PST

More than just a way to get around town, owning a hybrid car helps define a lifestyle, new research seems to suggest.
Besides some predictable findings that hybrid owners are wealthier, better-educated and tend to vote for Democrats, a report from Scarborough Research released Tuesday says they also:
• Eat organic food more often;
• Golf more regularly; and
• Vote in presidential elections at a higher rate.

What does it all mean? "My first reaction," said Tod Fitch, who has a two-Honda Civic Hybrid household, "is that I feel like a stereotype."

Still, the findings make sense to Fitch, a software architect for a start-up who lives in Sunnyvale. It "may explain why there are so many Hybrid owners in Silicon Valley. Relative wealth, environmental awareness, desire for a healthy lifestyle and the love of technological solutions are endemic here."

The information comes from Scarborough's survey of 110,000 adults conducted from August 2006 to March 2007.

It found that 42 percent of hybrid households make $100,000 a year or more, compared with about 20 percent nationally. Thirty percent of hybrid owners list themselves as Democrats. Only 14 percent say they're Republicans, so obviously GOP isn't the Grand Old Hybrid party.

Elaine Lee, a happy Honda Civic Hybrid owner in San Jose who gets 52.4 mpg, acknowledges most of the findings are true.

Her husband has a master's degree. They make a good living, although "as anybody who lives in the Silicon Valley knows, it's an expensive place to live." She's a manager of quality assurance at Gilead Sciences, a biopharmaceutical company. She's a registered Democrat, a recreational bicyclist, and someone who brings her own shopping bags to the grocery store.

Her bottom line? "I love my Civic Hybrid - 47,000 miles, 2 years old and going strong."
Hybrid sales continue to grow in the United States, and will pass 300,000 vehicles for the first time in 2007, according to thehybridcars.com Web site.

The growth comes despite the end of federal tax incentives for Toyota hybrids.

Hybrid hot spots
Mercury News
Article Launched: 12/05/2007 01:39:38 AM PST

Most 2007 hybrid sales¹
1. California 62,733
2. Florida 12,736
3. New York 12,137

Most hybrids per 1,000 residents¹
1. California 1.736
2. Oregon 1.662
3. Washington 1.448
U.S. average 0.746

Metro areas with highest hybrid sales¹
1. Los Angeles 28,153
2. San Francisco 18,316
9. Sacramento 5,462
12. San Diego 5,020
¹ Through August

OVERALL HYBRID SALES
Sales of gas-electric cars are on track to pass 300,000 this year:
• 2007: 288,034¹
• 2006: 252,636
¹ Through October

Demographics: Who hybrid owners are
Mercury News
Article Launched: 12/05/2007 01:36:27 AM PST

Scarborough Research compared hybrid owners with other Americans. It found that people who drive gas-electric hybrids, such as the Toyota Prius and Honda Civic Hybrid, differed in the following ways:

Exercise
• More than twice as likely to practice yoga or pilates.
• More than twice as likely to have gone on a hike in the past year.
• More than three times as likely to snow ski.
• Almost twice as likely to belong to a health club.

Education
• More than twice as likely to have a college degree.
• Three times as likely to have a post-graduate degree.

Eating
• More than twice as likely to have eaten organic food in the past month.

Political
• 38 percent are self-described Democrats.
• 14 percent say they are Republicans.
• 34 percent are independents.
• The rest did not provide their political affiliation.
• They vote more often in presidential races than the average American.

Good article. I enjoyed reading folk's comments too - seems to be quite a bit of 'ego' (and jealousy) involved!

I live in North San Diego and there are a LOT of hybrids (mainly priuses) I'd say way more than 1.736 per 1000. At about 60% of the lights I'm stopped at there is another hybrid.

We are so great!

http://greenhybrid.com/compare/mileage/car/3686.html

http://greenhybrid.com/compare/mileage/car/4955.html

Well, at least they didn't come back with:

Hybrid drivers are generally antagonistic SOBs who like to pick the wings off of flies and hurt small kittens. They are 3x more likely to beat their spouses. They frequently eat at KFC and shop at flea markets. Most have been to the shooting range at least once in the last month.


All in all, I wold say the hybrid drivers sound like a pretty good group of people based on the stereotypes!

K (does not intend to offend anyone who has participated in any of the activities above [except maybe the spouse beating and kitten hurting parts])

Commuter car, grocery getter, and summer road tripper--average 10k miles per year.


Winter road trips and ski trips, bad weather commuter and my wife's "daily" driver--expected average 4k miles per year.

LOL! You've certainly excluded our police force

Nope! Several metro area Police Forces in Seattle have Prius fleets, and I suspect the same thing is probably true in Portland (OR). Virtually ALL city governments in Western Washington have them in one department or another. My local county Sheriff has HIHYs.

It is the ignorant among us that will eventually destroy us all.

Those political stereotypes are so....stereotyped. I have only one bumpersticker on my HCHII:



http://goats.com/store/item/sticker_rfv-1.html

(This presupposes that the reader is familiar with Harry Potter...)

additional hint: My wife and I use old calendar magnet sheets, stick the stickers to them, trim the magnets to fit, and slap 'em on our cars. Voila! No paint damage.

That's Lord Voltemort to you!

"My local county Sheriff has HIHYs."

Woah, woah. Wait a second.

Exactly what is a HIHY ???