Top Hybrid Areas in 2004

[Tempus]

By State

1. California 25,021
2 Virginia 5,613
3 Washington 3,441
4 Florida 3,272
5 Maryland 3,238

By City

1 Los Angeles 10,399
2 San Francisco 8,051
3 Washington DC 6,473
4 New York 3,779
5 Seattle 2,857

Source: R. L. Polk & Co.

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2005/04/hy...ds_up_81_i.html

I can't find the Polk Press Release yet. Apparently they haven't posted it up.

But, a couple of things jump out here at me.

Why isn't Washington DC a state yet

If NYC registered 3,779 hybrids, why isn't NY State third on the list? Did NYC secede and I missed it?

I bet Per Capita Washington DC Kicks All Others Butt.

DC Population is about 575,000. I don't think any other comparably sized jurisdiction comes close in Hybrid Penetration, not even Hollywood

[pkjohna]

They must be talking about City Metro areas. Another article in USA Today (Hybrid car sales rose 81%...) shows New York state as 6th with 3123 registered hybrids; that just doesn't make sense if New York city has 3779.

You're probably right about market penetration...the population of the DC area pales in comparison with LA.

[gschoen]

You're right, the numbers don't make sense. Perhaps they're doing metro areas, in which case NYC numbes would include people living in CT & NJ, and DC include people from VA and MD, and maybe SFO including San Jose?

[NCNyrk]

Tracking back to the original press release at http://www.polk.com/news/releases/2005_0425.asp , the article says that the City numbers are for DMAs (Media Markets)

New York--15 million 'adults' (12+)
Los Angeles--11 million
Chicago--8 million
San Francisco--6 million
Washington DC--4 million

(http://www.arbitron.com/radio_stations/mm001050.asp)

So, using those numbers, DC had the highest *new* registration rate per capita for 2004, at 1 hybrid per 635 adults, followed by San Francisco (1:725), and Sacramento (1:800) close behind. LA was at 1:1000, while NYC is at the other end, 1:4000.

[bookrats]

Interesting! Thanks for posting this info, Tempus & NCNyrk.

[DaveinOlyWA]

that "Washington" is Washington State... not DC.

[Tempus]

There are two lists and two Washingtons.

The Washington in the State list is Washington State.

The Washington in the City List is Washington DC.

Of course some of us feel that Washington DC should be in both lists.

[NCNyrk]

I imagine that Washington DC is eligible for inclusion in the state list, but didn't make the top 15 as a State. Since the Washington DC DMA (Metro)has 4 million people, but the district itself has only 550,000 people, the fraction of those 6,473 registrations from the DC DMA that are actually in the district is probably not enough to rank DC very high on the State list...

Continuing for the numerically inclined, the district proper represents about only 13% of the DC Metro. So, if the hybrid registration rate is uniform across the DC Metro, that would mean that there were only about 865 registrations in the District itself. Even assuming that the District had twice the rate as the rest of the Metro area would only yield 1,531 new registrations...not enough to knock Arizona out of the top 15 states.

[DaveinOlyWA]

there was a HUGELY different list that was published in the paper yesterday locally here and it makes sense. what has been published here is ludricrious and no more accurate than articles written by detroit areas writers bashing the Prius in reverse.

[DaveinOlyWA]

this article from green whatever website has told me that i will have to look at everything with a very critical eye from here on out. here is another article citing the same sources written by the AP and published locally. now we have the power of the press. you will have to choose for yourself whom to believe but at least the numbers in this article are not subject to easy debate

http://www.theolympian.com/home/news/20050...es/132376.shtml

Hybrids continue to make inroads in new car market

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

DETROIT -- Hybrid vehicle sales nearly doubled in the United States last year as gas prices soared and a variety of models attracted consumers.
Click Here
New hybrid vehicle registrations were 83,153 in 2004, an 81 percent increase compared with the year before, according to data released today by R.L. Polk & Co., a Southfield-based firm that collects and interprets automotive data.

More than 25,000 new hybrids were registered in California, a 102 percent increase over 2003, making it the top state for growth in hybrid vehicle registrations.

Virginia, Washington, Florida and Maryland rounded out the top five states for hybrid registrations, the same as in 2003.

Hybrids represent less than 1 percent of the 17 million new vehicles sold in 2004, but the U.S. hybrid market has grown by 960 percent since 2000, when 7,781 were sold, according to the Polk data, and major automakers are planning to introduce about a dozen new hybrids during the next three years.

Lonnie Miller, director of analytical solutions for Polk, said federal and state tax credits for fuel-efficient vehicles have helped spur hybrid sales.

Japanese automakers continued to control the vast majority of the U.S. market, Polk said. Japanese brands accounted for more than 96 percent of the hybrid vehicles registered.

Toyota Motor Corp., which was the first automaker to mass produce and sell hybrid cars, continues to dominate the market. The Toyota Prius, which went on sale in the United States in 2000, has 64 percent of the U.S. hybrid market last year, with 53,761 new Prius cars registered, Polk said.

Top 10 states

Top 20 states for hybrid vehicle registrations in 2004:

1. California, 11,425

2. Virginia, 3,376

3. Florida, 1,996

4. Washington, 1,972

5. Maryland, 1,851

6. New York, l,653

7. Texas, 1,651

8. Illinois, 1,502

9. Massachusetts, 1,335

10. Pennsylvania, 1,217

Source: R. L. Polk & Co.

What's a hybrid?

Hybrid vehicles are primarily powered by internal combustion engines. But hybrids come with batteries that recharge while driving and an electric motor to assist with power. They typically cost $3,000 to $4,000 more than traditional models.