Profile of Hybrid Drivers - Our Poll

Are we supposed to reply if we meet any of the criteria?

If so,

I am an environmental science major currently working as an EMT. So no degree here.

I am well below the average age of 50, at 19(20 on March 23).

I do enjoy hiking occasionally, but prefer riding my bike on the boardwalk or around the local lake.

 

Gotcha, when I posted my original response the poll was not up yet.

 

What is the question about Peak Fuel Price? The highest I think gasoline will ever cost? In what time frame - within the next 5 years or within my lifetime or beyond? Nominal or inflation adjusted dollars?

Sorry, I spend a lot of time thinking about economics.

Tim

 

I'm not sure I understand the options regarding "Opinions of Non-Hybrid Drivers" either... They both sound negative... Can you explain?

I just think that most of them value different aesthetics, performance, size, or reputation over the efficiency and costs of getting from A to B. Or they don't understand (or have misconceptions) about how to compute costs and don't realize why a Prius is a good deal.

As for those who actively go around bashing the hybrids, I think they are misinformed and wrapped up in what they (mistakenly) believe is a partisan political issue.

Tim

 

Oh, I see...

You aren't asking what I think about non-hybrid owners...

You are asking what I think their opinion is on the future of gasoline... whether I think they are blissfully ignorant or just wrong (believing that fossil fuels are infinite)?

Of course, both answers assume that we believe fossil fuels are running out. A hybrid owner could legitimately believe otherwise and like his/her hybrid for other reasons.

Tim

 

May I add that I earn WAAAAAY less than $92K or whatever it is. I'm like around $50K. I have a 2yr degree and working on 4yr.

 

Bob, here is how I would alter the survey...

Income: Under $60k, $60-100k, Over $100k
Age: Under 35, 35-54, 55+
Education: High school or less, Some college, 4-year degree, Post 4-year degree
In the last year: Participated regularly in outdoor sports or activities?

Let me break here and say that the technology question is really hard... First, our numbers are going to be very skewed by the simple fact that answering the survey already demonstrates comfortable use of a computer, the Web, and interactive content (forums). Second, in the original survey I would appear to be not very comfortable with technology despite having a B.A. in Computer Science and work experience as an IT consultant and software engineer. The reason is not that I don't like technology but that I'm young and focused more on getting financially stable than spending money on gadgets right now.

Politically: Those are fine
Fuel Price (within next 5 years, in 2009 dollars): $1.00-$2.99, $3.00-$4.99, $5.00-$9.99, $10.00+
Non-hybrid owners: Just aren't thinking very far ahead about gas prices?, Wrongly believe that gas will always be this cheap?, Have nothing to worry about regarding the price of gas?
Hybrid satisfaction: Those are fine

Tim

 

i had to laugh at the $92.5k/year question. i may have the postgrad education, but being a grad student doesn't pay well. that's many times my income...

 

The result of hybrid satisfaction was amazing. Given that the type of person that participates in Priuschat, the result was probably to be expected. The poll was interesting, I think that no matter what the imaginitive parameters used by the poll taker, the results are always going to be somewhat subjective. It's probably not possible for any poll producer to come up with real objective questions. Too objective takes the fun out of it.

 

$92.5k sounds arbitrary to me... where does that even come from? It's neither a round number nor a cut-off for an income tax bracket...

Tim

 

Is income gross, and is it household or personal ? I think the datum from other surveys tends to be gross household, but often it is not clear.

 

OK, as for texting, I have a tracfone and don't even know how to text.
I have this phone for emergencies and don't have it on.
Have had satellite for years, just got a DVR(actually duals) and am like a kid in a candy store as I am no longer stockpiling VHS tapes I may never get around to watch. I record shows like Lost, CSI(s), Fringe, Life on Mars, Top Gear, etc.
I have a expensive digital camera for pictures. Last video game I liked was "Pong".
e-bay Craigs list, buy and sell, classic car parts.
some of the categories shouyld have been separated and not grouped.

 

Yeah, this one kinda confused me too. Both answers are about the same, as far as I figure it. You can be both wrong and clueless.

 

I'm not sure how adaptable your salary question is to overseas; American workers seem to be better paid than UK workers, but then you have (very) large private healthcare insurance to pay for - you pay nearly as much tax as we do, but IMO get less for it.

Anyway, I'm in the top 20% of salaried workers if you cover both genders, top 30% of males. Female salaried workers get stiffed; were I female and earning the same amount, I would be in the top 10%. See the All Employees data from UK National Statistics (PDF, links to XLS). On a strict currency conversion at today's rates, I earn less than $60k. I'm a Software Engineer with seven years' experience, but working in a smaller business (under 30 employees, only 10 are developers.)

You'd have to be in the 90th percentile of male full-time salaried workers to earn as much as $90,000. The 90th percentile is actually only $77k at present.

(The House Price indices use the mean male gross annual pay, for salaried workers, to calculate their 'affordability index'. The vast number of non-salaried workers, and females, and the fact that the mean is skewed heavily towards better-paid workers, make this a poor measure. The current 'average' house price in the UK is still nearly 4.5x even this badly-selected 'average' earnings. A better average, median weekly pay for all employees, gives a multiple of nearly 8x yearly gross earnings.)