Hybrid Owners of America Launches

A new nonprofit – the Hybrid Owners of America – has launched to organize and advocate for the interests of the roughly 500,000 Americans who are saving money on gas, reducing America’s dependence on foreign oil, and reducing global warming pollution by driving hybrid cars and other gas/electric vehicles.

In addition to tracking federal, state, local and private sector incentives to keep hybrid car owners armed with the latest information, HOA is encouraging hybrid vehicle drivers to get involved by urging Congress and the White House to embrace a five-point “hybrid friendly” agenda:

1. Broaden the federal tax credit for hybrid vehicle purchases so that more vehicle types are eligible for the credit faster and so that popular hybrid credits do not fade out so quickly. The current federal tax cap on the hybrid tax break is arbitrary, confusing and will not work to promote the maximum number of hybrid purchases.

2. Create a new and additional tax incentive that provides further assistance to individuals who convert existing hybrids into plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) in order to further increase fuel efficiency and decrease oil consumption and pollution output.

3. Provide tax and other incentives to businesses that help employees to buy hybrids, particularly when such inducements are tied to corporate strategies to mitigate global warming pollution. Dozens of leading U.S. companies, including Google, Bank of America and Timberland, already reward consumers who buy hybrids. The federal government should encourage this practice through tax policy with a focus on large and small corporations that adopt such hybrid friendly policy as part of company-wide strategies to reduce their carbon footprint.

4. Provide U.S. automakers that commit to more hybrid vehicle research and production with major encouragement to do so, including aid with health care and other steep costs that make it tougher for American car companies to be competitive in today’s global marketplace. The federal government has a long history of using tax law to encourage research and investment that is beneficial to the U.S. economy, including the creation of new jobs and the preservation of existing jobs.

5. Set a target of switching over federal vehicle fleet purchases to hybrids of 10 percent for 2007, 20 percent for 2008 and 30 percent for 2009. According to the Federal Highway Administration, there are currently more than 109,000 cars and 384,964 pick-ups and other trucks in the federal vehicle fleet. A three-year target adding up to 30 percent for conversion to hybrids would put another 150,000 hybrids on the road – saving taxpayers money on fuel costs and supporting sales of U.S.-made hybrids.

With one million hybrids on America’s roads – about twice the current level – the nation could save one million gallons of gasoline a day, assuming a 40-mile commute with hybrid fuel efficiency of 40 miles per gallon (as opposed to fuel efficiency of 20 miles per gallon).

As of July 2006, there were about 550,000 hybrid vehicles on the road in the United States. The number of hybrids sold to Americans has roughly doubled every year since 1999. The 200,000 hybrids sold in 2005 accounted for only 1.2 percent of the 17 million vehicles driven off auto dealer lots in that year.

Hybrid Owners of America is a project of the Civil Society Institute and 40mpg.org. The nonprofit Civil Society Institute is a Newton, MA.-based think tank that serves as a catalyst for change by creating problem-solving interactions among people, and between communities, government and business that can help to improve society. CSI has conducted more than half a dozen major surveys since 2003 on energy issues, including global warming, renewable energy and vehicle fuel-efficiency standards. CSI is the parent organization of 40mpg.org.

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