Many Americans like myself, prefer a pickup truck to a car for driving and hauling purposes. With most Americans thinking fuel economy and using green thinking I thought for sure a hybrid pickup truck would be easy to find.

I found 2 models right away, both from GM and both full size. The Chevy Silverado and the GMC Sierra are large and dependable pickup trucks. The improved fuel mileage and reduced emissions is good but I prefer a truck that is a little smaller.

If you look to Japan for the answer you will get the same answer from Toyota. There are reports they too are planning on offering a hybrid model of their full size pickup. They even unveiled a concept version the FTX.  This is one great looking truck but the fuel mileage is still not there.  Honda is also tinkering with a hybrid version of their popular Ridgeline pickup. There has been no public announcement and no info can be found.

I did find if you leave the hatch open on the Toyota Prius it could haul small loads. So I continued my search. This eventually led me to pickup truck that was built in America and had fuel efficiency at 45 mpg.

Unfortunately it was 25 years old and the whole idea was abandoned in America soon after its creation. Do you remember the 1982 Volkswagen pickup? This pickup truck had reliability and was fuel-efficient. Remarkably this truck is still in production in South Africa. There are no plans to reintroduce it to the American market.

This means if you want a hybrid pickup you have only two choices. A good point about the two is that they are dependable, reliable and American.

If you are looking for hybrid vehicle information for a way to go green, then first you must decide what is important to you. With 20 different models to choose from, the hybrid vehicle is coming of age. Hybrid sales have grown dramatically since their first introduction in 2000. There were 9,367 vehicles sold that first year. The number has grown rapidly to be over 330,000 sold in the year 2007.

The best selling hybrid for the year 2008 was the Toyota Prius with 158,884 cars purchased. The Toyota Camry was the second best seller at 44,384. This places Toyota as leader in sales by far with over half of all hybrid sales going to this one company. But not surprising, the third, fourth, fifth and sixth place goes to manufacturers from Japan also. But what are American companies doing?  We are still waiting for that answer but a hybrid Tahoe/Yukon was seventh in sales with 3683 vehicles sold. This is a hybrid with a fuel economy hovering around 20 mpg.

Good news for Americans is that there is a cooperative agreement from the Electric Power Research Institute and the Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority to develop and put in place an information collection program on the operations of electric and hybrid buses and infrastructure.  This will be an electronic database to share the wealth of information on the subject that will be used for the public good.

With a mass transit system using electric and hybrid vehicles, A large portion of the emissions generated in all of the cities of America will be reduces. This is a positive step and has already been expanded to include buses that use alternative fuel sources.

This is a great step forward for America. Now I hold my breath when I am near a bus as it pulls away from a stop.  If only the car manufactures of this country could share hybrid vehicle information and start competing with the Japanese.

In the year 2008, hybrid cars came of age. In America for the first time in 16 years, a car was the top seller, not a truck. But that is not all that the year 2008 will be remembered for. The roller coaster ride for consumers and investors that came from wide fluctuations in the price of oil and Wall Street instability left us all wondering what was next.  The biggest surprise of all was “Green Car of the Year” was awarded to a V-8 full size hybrid SUV with a combined fuel mileage of 20 mpg

A milestone was also achieved by Toyota last year. The announcement came on May 15, 2008 that more than 1,000,000 Prius have been sold worldwide. With the U.S. Congress approving an increase in the Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency to 35 mpg by the year 2020 with a benchmark of 31.5 mpg to be achieved by 2015 the Big Three must respond soon.

GM introduced 6 new models to their hybrid fleet. All but one was a full size vehicle. Chrysler also made 2 new hybrid models, but just like GM, they were full size hybrid models. From the Japanese manufacturer Honda, the announcement came that the all-new Insight will be reintroduced into the American market to compete with the Toyota Prius.

Looking back on the year, one could see a pattern. The American consumer purchased small fuel-efficient vehicles from Japan. The U.S. Government is mandating better fuel efficiency for the future of the automobile industry in America. Investors and consumers are worried about the instability and weakening of the U.S. economy. The Big three from Detroit still think the American consumer wants a big vehicle.

There was a bright sign that the boys from Detroit have finally received the message. Unlike the previous trip in corporate jets that were used as transport to capital hill, this time the CEO’s arrived in hybrid vehicles with their hands out to ask for more bail out money from the U.S. taxpayer. I think they finally understand that the 2008 hybrid cars are the turning point and this trend should continue.

For the year 2009 there is a wide variety of new hybrid cars to choose from. There are different ways to put all the models in categorically form for comparison. The following is by fuel mileage.

For the consumer that is looking for the best fuel economy from their hybrid car, there are two models to choose that rate between 40 and 50 mpg:
1) Toyota Prius is equipped with a 1.5L engine with fuel economy at 45-city, 48-highway, and retail price of $22,000 – $24,270.
2) Honda Civic is equipped with a 1.3L engine with fuel economy at 40-city, 45-highway and retail price of $23,650.

If the consumer would like more choices but still receive relative good fuel economy there at 4 different models to choose from that rate between 30 and 40 mpg:
1) Chevrolet Malibu is equipped with a 2.4L engine with fuel economy at 22-city, 30-highway, and retail price of $21,605 – $26,880.
2) Nissan Altima is equipped with a 2.5L engine with fuel economy at 33-city, 35-highway, and retail price of $26,650.
3) Saturn Aura is equipped with a 2.4L engine with fuel economy at 26-city, 34-highway, and retail price of $26,240.
4) Toyota Camry is equipped with a 2.4L engine with fuel economy at 33-city, 34-highway, and retail price of $26,150.

This class still provides an increase in fuel economy but size and performance is not compromised to achieve it. These cars get between 20 and 30 mpg:
1) Lexus GS450H is equipped with a 3.5L engine with fuel economy at 22-city, 25-highway, and retail price of $56,400.
2) Lexus LS600h is equipped with a 5.0L engine with fuel economy at 20-city, 22-highway, and retail price of $105,885.

All of these hybrid cars come with a variety of options and accessories. But from looking at the cars above and the engines offered, except for the Toyota Prius, there is a direct correlation between engine size and fuel mileage. The Toyota hybrid system statistically has the advantage. So chose your new hybrid car with what you feel is your priority.

Considered the best hybrid car by consumers is the Toyota Prius. This is based on sales and a satisfaction rating of nearly 98%.  Since its introduction in 2003, this gas-electric hybrid has found a solid market in United States with being third in overall sales of all cars.

New for 2010 is the third generation version with an increase in power. The engine displacement was increased from 1.5L to 1.8L. This translates to an increase of 50hp to 160 over the previous model. Unlike conventional cars, the larger engine delivers an increase in fuel mileage. All this with an additional increase in over size of the vehicle shows that smart engineering is in demand and doable.  Also new this year is the bragging right of the Prius to claim to be the only vehicle today that can deliver over 50 miles per gallon in combined city/highway driving.

The smart engineering was utilized when the engineers keep the overall weight of the vehicle down and has the best aerodynamics of any production vehicle being produced anywhere in the world. For those that wish to have zero emissions, there is also a situation during driving that offers all electric propulsion. The only two draw backs appears that the Prius still lacks plug-in capability and the electrical side is still powered by nickel metal hydride batteries.

With his year’s model being longer, taller and wider, occupants will feel more comfortable and relaxed while riding or driving this vehicle. With a new optional moon-roof that is fitted with solar panels that provides the power to the ventilation system, this car is truly green. This is the best hybrid car and in our opinion the best vehicle in production the world has ever had a choice at purchasing.