Fact #101: October 11, 1999
Consumer Preferences for Fuel Efficient Vehicles
In two separate surveys conducted for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Opinion Research Corporation asked a random sample of U.S. adults about their interest in fuel efficient vehicles. The figure below shows the percentage of the 981 respondents who said they would be willing to spend more than $1000 extra for an advanced diesel vehicle that achieved 30 mpg compared to a conventional vehicle at 20 mpg. The results from the second survey show the percentage of the 1008 respondents who said they would purchase a hybrid vehicle that had both an electric motor and a small gasoline engine and achieved 50% greater fuel economy at a cost of 10-15% more than the comparable conventional vehicle.
Supporting Information
| Percent Willing to Buy | ||
|---|---|---|
| Hybrid | Diesel | |
| Small Car | 45% | 15% |
| Large Car | 42% | 19% |
| Minivan | 42% | 13% |
| SUV | 51% | 21% |
| Pickup/Van | 34% | 24% |
|
Sources: Diesel survey: Opinion Research Corporation for NREL, February 19, 1998. | ||
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