Fact #324: June 14, 2004
Knowledge of Hybrid Electric Vehicles Continues to Grow

More people are hearing about hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), evidenced by the number of people in a nationwide survey that could name an HEV. In August 2000, 64% of survey respondents could NOT name an HEV, but by May 2004, that number dropped to only 45% of respondents who could NOT name an HEV. The Prius appears to be the most well-known HEV. However, the manufacturer Honda was a more popular answer for those who could not name a specific make.

Supporting Information

"Please name a hybrid electric car if you can."

	August 2000	November 2001	November 2002	December 2003	May 2004
Honda	15%	24%	24%	20%	15%
Insight	1%	2%	2%	1%	3%
Civic	n/a	n/a	2%	3%	3%
Toyota	4%	11%	10%	12%	10%
Prius	1%	2%	6%	12%	13%
Ford	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	3%
Escape	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	2%
General Motors	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	2%
Other	14%	6%	7%	5%	4%
Don't know	64%	56%	48%	47%	45%
n/a = not available at that time. Some respondents were unable to name specific vehicles, but could name manufacturers of hybrid electric vehicles, such as Honda, Toyota, or Ford. Respondents who answered with a specific make, such as Insight, are not included with respondents who answered Honda. Only one answer per respondent was allowed. Source: Opinion Research Corporation for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, December 2003 and previous surveys: 2000 (N = 953); 2001 (N = 999); 2002 (N = 999); 2003 (N = 781); 2004 (N = 1,036).

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