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Truckee Donner Public Utility District
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West River Design
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Driving a Hybrid...thank goodness
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Printed in Moonshine Ink | By: Aaron Revere
February, 2003
As Director of Environmental Initiatives for East West Partners I have the opportunity to help test some of the cutting edge products on the market today, from biodiesel for buses to recycled blue jean insulation. One product I fully endorse is my Hybrid gas/electric Honda Civic. It's great! Plenty of acceleration for interstate driving, cd player, huge trunk, and half the trips to the gas station. Here in Truckee, I average 42 miles per gallon (mpg). In less mountainous towns like Reno or San Francisco it gets better than 47 mpg.
Thank goodness I have it considering gas prices right now. We leased the Hybrid from Carmichael Honda last fall, and since that time I've saved over $570 relative to a typical SUV, accounting for gas prices and the miles I have driven. Plus the Honda Civic Hybrid, along with the Honda Insight and the Toyota Prius, is eligible for a "clean-fuel" vehicle federal tax deduction of $2,000. To date, approximately 150,000 hybrid vehicles have been sold in the US with the help of this tax break. Unfortunately, this incentive will be phased out over the next three years as the hybrid market matures.
The only downside to this car is that its two-wheel drive and I live in Tahoe Donner. But with the light snow fall this year, I've only had to chain up once to get to and from work. Not bad. One thing I'm looking forward to is the 2004 market introduction of Ford's Escape HEV. It's a mid-sized SUV, hybrid gas/electric, with 4wd that will average better than 40 mpg. That's pretty good mobility for Truckee with positive effects on our air quality too.
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