Many consumers in the past few years have been desperately trying to do right by the environment. Those of us who live by excruciating day-to-day schedules all need a reliable source to get back and forth from work or handling personal necessities like grocery shopping. Car-pooling is an option that is always encouraged. It definitely eliminates the emission of gas from so many vehicles on the road. Public transportation such as buses and subways is another option but may not be the best choice for those of us who have to commute to long distances. Another alternative that many Americans are focusing on is buying and investing in hybrid vehicles.

These are some of the incentives for purchasing a hybrid vehicle. It is true that purchasing one these vehicles is a good investment in not only yourself but it decreases our dependence on foreign oil resources and reduces the depleting CO2 in the air and ozone. Having a car that can go up to 50 miles or better to the gallon is blissful considering the ever-increasing prices of gasoline. HOV (high-occupancy vehicle) or carpool lanes have also been opened to hybrid vehicles wherein a driver of a hybrid can travel in these lanes without having any passengers. Hybrid vehicles are energy efficient. The most common type of hybrid is the electric hybrid, which combines a gasoline engine with an electric motor, charging system, and battery/storage system. The two most popular forms of hybrids available today are called “series” or “parallel” hybrids. Series hybrids are “mild” or “partial” hybrids, while parallel hybrids are known as “full” hybrids.

Here are two examples of exceptional hybrids for 2008. The 2008 Toyota Prius had many wonderful features including an induction system that has a multi-point EFI with Electronic Throttle Control System with intelligence (ETCS-i), Advanced Technology Partial Zero Emission vehicle (AT-PZEV), and the average MPG for city/highway/combined is 48/45/46.

Another hot hybrid vehicle is the 2008 Mercury Mariner, which has a V-6 hybrid engine, and as you come to a complete stop the gas engine automatically shuts down and when running it recharges the battery pack. Another hot feature is the vehicle system controller, which is the heart of the Mariner that shuts down during coasting and at stoplights to save fuel. The FWD MPG is 34/30 and the 4WD MPG is 29/27.