Survey: Americans believe alternative energy vehicles are here to stay


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Here in the green car world our ideas and thoughts are slightly skewed sometimes. You see, we think that alternative energy vehicles like hybrids and electrics will be around forever. If we didn't feel this way, we probably wouldn't be here. It appears the vast majority of Americans are finally warming up to these vehicles and understanding both their importance and staying power.

A recent survey conducted by Capital One Auto Finance shows that even though 96 percent of respondents don't own an alternative energy vehicle and 76 percent have never driven a mile down the road in one, a full 78 percent think that these vehicles are here for the long haul. We're quite impressed by the numbers, as we usually don't decide on the importance of a technology until we can sample it. The survey suggests that the general public believes in the staying power of these vehicles, unconditionally. This either shows a lot of trust in an automaker's ability to deliver exceptional products or it points to a belief that concern for the environment is, and will continue to be, paramount.

The survey delved even deeper and revealed that 23 percent of respondents believe that alternative energy vehicles will account for more than half of all sales within the next ten years. Now that's even more optimistic than we ever suggested before. Maybe this gives some credence to Japan's recently announced goal of making half of all its vehicles run on alternative energy variety by 2020.

[Source: Green Car Advisor]

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