Top 10 Hybrid Myths: # 10

MYTH # 10

10. Hybrid technology is only a fad.

Hybrid technology is often pitted against fuel cells, diesel engines, and/or hydrogen as the silver bullet approach to sustainable mobility. The greatest hope and investment has been placed in hydrogen fuel cells, which appear to be many decades away from commercialization. The failure of hydrogen-powered cars to materialize rapidly underscores the risk of focusing on a single solution.

The debate over the future of automotive technology has now turned toward finding the best ways to combine systems and fuels in a single hybrid vehicle. The experience of mass-producing hybrid gas-electric vehicles has given engineers the insight needed to develop complex systems needed to combine multiple sources of power.

In an Associated Press interview, Jim Press, former president of Toyota Motor Sales USA— and current vice chairman at Chrysler—summed it up this way: "I think everything will be a hybrid, eventually. It will either be a gas hybrid, a diesel hybrid, or a fuel-cell hybrid."

See the Hybrids available at RICK HENDRICK TOYOTA

Get in your Toyota Hybrid today! To schedule your test drive, all us at 888-208-9205 or email us: rhtsales@hendrickauto.com

Top 10 Hybrid Myths: # 9

9. Hybrids will solve all our transportation, energy, and environmental problems.

The hybrid car market is ramping up. In the past seven years hybrid sales in the US grew exponentially, from 9,500 in 2000 to 350,000 in 2007.

The numbers are encouraging but must be viewed in the context of the overall car market. The 350,000 hybrid car sales in 2007 represent only 2.5 percent of the 17 million new cars sold last year. If every new hybrid driver doubled fuel economy from 20 mpg to 40 mpg for 40 miles of daily driving—an optimistic estimate—then a gallon per hybrid car would be saved every day. That's a whopping 350,000 gallons per day saved by hybrid car drivers. But we've only reduced our daily US consumption from 400 million gallons to 399,650,000 gallons. Hybrid cars can only be viewed as a partial solution.

Follow up with us soon for # 9 in our Hybrid series!

Learn more about Toyota Hybrids at RICK HENDRICK TOYOTA

Want to test drive a Toyota Hybrid? Give us a call at 888-208-9205 or send an email: rhtsales@hendrickauto.com

Top 10 Hybrid Myths: # 8

MYTH # 8

8. Hybrids pose a threat to first responders.

Now that hundreds more hybrid cars take to our roads each day, some critics have wondered if public safety agencies should be concerned about all those high-voltage battery packs zipping along at freeway speeds. Yes and no.

A first responder is often in a mad race to save the lives of accident victims. In that rush, the responder has to make dozens of rapid technical decisions about how to safely remove the passengers from the vehicle. Adding the complication of unfamiliar hybrid technology can slow things down. So, it's the worry about potential dangers—primarily when and where to cut power—rather than the system itself that can cause a problem.

Turns out that a good amount of training—and, in case of fire, lots of water—should be most of what a first responder needs upon arriving at an accident involving a hybrid. Firefighters have coped with advancing automotive technologies for years, and they will skillfully deal with hybrid cars.

Follow up with us for Myth # 9 in our Hybrid series!

Look at Toyota Hybrids at RICK HENDRICK TOYOTA!

Want to test drive a hybrid? Call us at 888-208-9205 or email: rhtsales@hendrickauto.com

Top 10 Hybrid Myths: # 7

MYTH # 7

7. Only liberals buy hybrids.

The long list of celebrity hybrid drivers includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz, and Larry David. They zip around Hollywood in their Priuses and appear on talk shows extolling the virtues of hybrid vehicles. These celebrities, and other early adopters of hybrid technology, were primarily motivated by the environmental benefits. As a result, they created an easy target for naysayers to brand all hybrid drivers as tree-huggers.

In the ensuing years, Americans of all political stripes have become more aware of the economic and political costs of oil dependency. Conservative pundits claim that our petrodollars end up in the hands of repressive Middle East regimes and their patrons. As a result, we fund both sides of the war on terror. In addition, autoworkers have grown more interested in fuel-saving technologies, recognizing that they bear the brunt of Detroit's reluctance to abandon once-profitable SUVs.

Find your Toyota Hybrid today! Visit RICK HENDRICK TOYOTA

Email us: rhtsales@hendrickauto.com or call us at 888-208-9205

TRAVEL EXTRAVAGANZA

TRAVEL EXTRAVAGANZA

FORT BRAGG, N.C. - Start planning your summer vacation now. Ticket and Tours Travel Extravaganza Vacation Quest 2009 will feature vendors from some of the most popular vacation spots and attractions on the East Coast. Enjoy the opportunity to collect information and get questions answered about places of interest to you.

The Travel Extravaganza is February 26 at the Fort Bragg Officers' Club from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Prize drawings will take place throughout the day.

For more information, please call 396-TRIP.

RICK HENDRICK TOYOTA SCION

Toyota Car Maintenance Tips: Fuel Injectors

*Fuel Injection Service*

Today’s new fuel injection systems provide balanced power, lower emissions and improved drivability. However, they are very susceptible to clogging and sometimes becoming completely plugged.
Just as a garden hose nozzle can be set to spray a fine mist, your vehicle’s fuel injectors disperse gasoline in an even spray to all areas of the cylinders.
Problems arise when contaminants in automotive fuels becomes deposited into the tip of the injectors, thus creating an altered spray pattern and reducing fuel flow.

the common consensus for a fuel injection service is about every 12,000 miles to 15,000 miles.

So stop throwing your money away. Have the experts HERE at TOYOTA clean your fuel injection system today! It’s the fastest way to a smoother running engine and better gas mileage!

Lift Truck & 4x4 Gathering

Rick Hendrick Toyota is currently forming a 4x4 and lift truck club and we'd like to invite anyone with a lifted truck or 4x4 to come check it out!

We will be gathering at the dealership on Feb. 21 @ 8 PM

If you have any questions, please give Daniel Conger a call at 910-868-5071 or email him at daniel.conger@hendrickauto.com

TOP 10 HYBRID MYTHS - # 3 & 4

MYTH # 3 & 4

3. Hybrids are a new phenomenon.

In 1900, American car companies produced steam, electric, and gasoline cars in almost equal numbers. It wasn't long before enterprising engineers figured out that multiple sources of power could be combined. A young Ferdinand Porsche produced the first known hybrid gas-electric prototypes in 1900. In 1905 American engineer H. Piper filed the first patent for a gas-electric hybrid vehicle.



4. People buy hybrids only to save money on gas.

Hybrid cars top the list of the most fuel-efficient vehicles on the road. Going farther on a gallon of gas—and thus reducing a car owner's tab at the pump—is a logical advantage of a hybrid car. But car shoppers seldom buy based purely on a logical economic equation. Besides, as critics of hybrid technology frequently point out, those savings seldom add up to the extra cost of buying a hybrid over a comparable conventional vehicle.

So, if it's not to save money, why are more and more shoppers going hybrid? Many reasons: To minimize their impact on the environment, to help reduce the world's addiction to oil, and to earn technology bragging rights. Who was the first on your block to have a color TV? Who will be the first to drive a hybrid?

Check back for Myth # 5 in our series!

To test drive a Hybrid Toyota, visit us at RICK HENDRICK TOYOTA today!

Make Your Own Paths.... Toyota 4WD Lifted Tundras

Making Trails....

Ever wanted a lifted truck? Now is a great time to get yours now! With Rick Hendrick Toyota's 4 Ways To Save, you can get the lifted Tundra of your dreams today! We have suspension systems from 3" to 6", 35" radial all terrain tires, 18" rims, performace shock absorbers, step bars, and MUCH more! To see more trucks and their additions, please check out our Lifted Trucks.

Interested? Contact us now!

Email us at rhtsales@hendrickauto.com or give us a call at 888-208-9205 to test drive your truck today!

Rick Hendrick Toyota Scion

TOP 10 HYBRID MYTHS (series)

MYTH # 2

Hybrid batteries need to be replaced.

Worries about an expensive replacement of a hybrid car's batteries continue to nag many potential buyers. Those worries are unfounded. By keeping the charge between 40 percent and 60 percent—never fully charged, yet never fully drained, carmakers have greatly extended the longevity of nickel metal hydride batteries.

The standard warranty on hybrid batteries and other components is between 80,000 and 100,000 miles, depending on the manufacturer and your location. But that doesn't mean the batteries will die at 100,000 miles. The U.S. Department of Energy stopped its tests of hybrid battery packs, when the capacity remained almost like new—after 160,000 miles. A taxi driver in Vancouver drove his Toyota Prius more than 200,000 miles in 25 months, and after that time and mileage the batteries remained strong.

Visit us again tomorrow for Myth # 3!

Rick Hendrick Toyota Scion