A cheaper way to save fuel.
Nick Miotke/Roadshow
It’s very easy to become laser-focused on electric cars since that’s the direction so many major automakers plan to turn to as they work to meet emissions standards around the globe. However, no one can simply flip a switch and make every vehicle on the road electric. While some government regulations will push drivers in the battery-electric direction, it’s a change that will also happen over time.
And in the meantime, buyers are actually really starting to dig hybrid vehicles. According to a report from Bloomberg on Monday, hybrid sales rose 17% in 2019 and should grow further in 2020 once we have fresh data. If you want a glimpse at the popularity of hybrids, Toyota reported the RAV4 Hybrid outsold the standard SUV this past summer. With lower costs to build and lower prices than a full-blown electric car, hybrids remain a wonderful way to put drivers behind the wheel of fuel-efficient cars. And these days, they don’t need to be dinky, underpowered things, either. The Toyota RAV4 Prime, a plug-in hybrid, is the second-fastest car the automaker sells, behind only the Supra.
Meanwhile, EV sales remain a very small sliver of new cars sold. In China, the world’s largest market for electric cars, EVs accounted for just 6% of all vehicles sold last year. Six percent — that’s it. Meanwhile, hybrid sales shot up 30% in the country. Even with aggressive government incentives from the Chinese state government, car buyers aren’t exactly buying EVs en masse as automakers want.
While the transition slowly takes place, data from IDTechEx shows hybrids continuing to gain momentum through this decade. In total, all vehicles with a mix of a gasoline-powered engine and a battery with an e-motor could top nearly $800 billion.
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2021 Toyota RAV4 Prime: The second-fastest Toyota you…
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