Are Prius Owners Really Eco-Snobs?
A Monday feature on FoxNews.com, Green With Envy: Prius Owners Smile as Neighbors Fume, is just the latest in a long string of articles that equates owning a Toyota Prius with being holier-than-thou. An excerpt:
"Studies conducted by J.D. Power show that the typical hybrid purchaser is better educated and wealthier than the average car buyer. Furthering the exclusivity is the fact that available hybrids are hard to find... Toss in the tax breaks and access to highway HOV lanes that hybrid drivers get in many locales, and it's no wonder old-school drivers can get irritated."
To which the non-profit 40mpg.org, which encourages hybrid ownership says, "Enough already!" with all the hybrid owner bashing.
But is there some truth to the idea that Prius owners are eco-snobs?
It's a pretty common belief around here that the owners of a Toyota Prius (and other hybrids) enjoy making a statement about being eco-friendly. (See our newly updated, Why We Buy Hybrids.) But why are hybrid owners taken to task more than those who wear earth-friendly slogans on T-shirts, forward electronic petitions against global warming, or change to flourescent lightbulbs? Do Prius owners really deserve dirty looks because they put their money where their mouths are? Or it simple jealousy of those who are "better educated and wealthier"?
People who are the first to go out and get the latest technology have always been more affluent and better educated. (Those two factors are causally related, anyway.) If you look at the classic Technology Adoption curve pictured here, it's clear that only a small percentage of people will have either the inclination or the means to adopt new technologies, including all the bugs that sometimes come with them.
How many people do you know who plunked down $500 for the first-generation iPhone, for example? It's a lot less than the number of people clamoring for the current generation, which is half the price. Yet, our friends who are gadget geeks are called exactly that, not snobs.
Now that gas prices have shot through the roof, people who otherwise wouldn't care about new technology are clamoring for a Prius simply because it has better gas mileage-- a lot better. People are even downsizing from large luxury vehicles -- the types of vehicles that used to be known for their snob appeal, but because of the current zeitgeist, are now practically seen as counter-cultural. (Well, maybe that's a bit of a California bais right there.)
And while I hate a snob, if Prius owners are eco-snobs, I'm kind of OK with that, at least by comparison: With all that people choose to be snobby about -- wealth, appearance, social position, for example -- isn't buying a car that proclaims your affection for the environment and/or desire to reduce dependence on foreign oil the kind of peer pressure that has positive consequences? Sure, it's "chic" to be green now, but so what? Isn't that a good thing in the long run?
- Posted by
- Joanne Helperin August 27, 2008, 6:00 AM
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- Categories:
- Car Buying, Fuel Economy, Hybrids and Alternative Fuels
- Technorati Tags:
- Gas Mileage, Gas Prices, Hybrid Cars, Toyota Prius
"And while I hate a snob, if Prius owners are eco-snobs, I'm kind of OK with that, at least by comparison"
Me too! The only Prius owner I know has all the money he needs to own any car he wants. I don't think he is a "snob" just because he is concerned about the environment.
Jay Leno: So what are you driving these days?
Celebrity: Oh (feigning surprise at the question), I just bought a Toyota Prius. (Pause to wait for applause). Yep, just trying to do my part for the environment.
Jay Leno: I hear you and your family just got back from vacation.
Celebrity: Well, my pet Chihuahua was really stressed out, so we hopped on the Gulfstream and flew to the Seychelles. We landed on Diddy's private aircraft carrier. It was fabulous!
"A Monday feature on FoxNews.com, Green With Envy: Prius Owners Smile as Neighbors Fume, is just the latest in a long string of articles that equates owning a Toyota Prius with being holier-than-thou."
Consider the source of the article...
Yeah, vaca, I knew someone would say that! Believe me, I do! But FoxNews is hardly the only one playing the Prius (owner)bashing game.
Karjunkie -- Right on. I have a sister-in-law who has owned an Audi, a BMW, and a Land Cruiser, but now she drives a Prius and loves it. I think that proves she's NOT a snob, at least not in the traditional sense.
Most of us (and especially enthusiasts) are car snobs about something. I wouldn't by a Prius because I'm an "0-60" -- I just couldn't hack the 10+ seconds it takes a Prius to reach 60 mph.
Prius bashing is like saying Al Gore's house wastes electricity. We love pointing out what we see as hypocracy because we want to bring these people down to our level.
In my experience, some (not all) Prius owners have something in common with some (not all) politicians:
It's frequently more important to look like you're doing something about an issue than it is to actually do something about an issue.
Norcal -- Don't you think driving a hybrid is doing something about it?
I do think that many people choose the Prius because it's instantly recognizable as a hybrid instead of the Civic or others. That's okay with me though - if someone chooses to do something positive for whatever reason at least it's still a positive choice in the end. Harping about eco-snobbery is like complaining that Bill Gates only donates billions of dollars to charities because he wants to be remembered positively (which isn't true, just an example). In this case the ends make up for the motivations in my opinion. If it's another Prius on the road instead of an Escalade because someone wants to look cool, I'm 100% okay with that.
Honestly I believe that a good percentage of Prius drivers, especially here in LA, fall into the category of Eco-Snob. They love to roll up to a Hollywood club in them so everyone knows how much they care for the environment. Out here they are more of a fashion accessory than anything else.
But then there are the people that buy them because of the gas mileage. These poor, unfortunate, un-informed people more than likely used to drive big, gas-guzzling cars and were freaked out by high gas prices. What makes them so unfortunate, is that they immediately dumped their car/suv to jump into a $25,000+ (depending on dealer mark-up) hybrid with the thought that they were going to save tons of money on gas - enough to offset the cost of the vehicle.
These kinds of people really need to check out Edmunds' gas-guzzler calculator http://www.edmunds.com/calculators/gas-guzzler.html . If their car/suv was worth $16,000 at trade-in, and assuming a 16 mpg average, it would take them around 3 years to make up the cost of the Prius in fuel savings. And if you assume they probably still owe $10,000 on that car/SUV because of how bad the residual values on "gas-guzzlers" have dropped lately, then it could take nearly 8 years to make up the cost of the Prius!
So yes, there are a good amount of Prius (and other hybrid) owners/drivers out there that are Eco-Snobs but there are probably even more that have just panicked over gas prices and jumped into the most fuel-efficient car they could think of.
Hmmmm, I think this thing of Prius owners being eco-snobs is just a myth. Most owners buy it because of the high fuel economy and the geeky Civic-like nature of the dashboard. Of course, there are a fey econsnobs but they are a minority......it's kinda like saying most BMW owners are car enthusiasts....
Besides, I think the eco-snob thing is in California alone. Here in Texas hybrids get little attention, so I doubt there is any snobbery or prestige in driving a Prius. They don't even advertise them on TV! And in Vancouver, Priuses are very common, often used as taxis, so I would reckon driving one there will not gain any snob appeal.
Joanne,
It's doing a very little something about it. Each person's motivations for buying a hybrid are different, but I get the impression from many people I know who drive a Prius that they want to "make a statement" regardless of whether or not they actually like the car or have crunched the numbers.
Is a new car buyer better off buying a hybrid than not? Probably. Is that purchase going to make a big difference in terms of the environment or their wallet if the buyer still drives 15,000 miles per year and lives in a large house in a suburb laid out so that you have to drive everywhere? Probably not.
Refer to the South Park episode, "Smug". And yes, I've run into more that a few of those types.
If it wasn't important to show off one's eco-credentials, the Honda Civic Hybrid would be selling in number close to the Prius, not the 1/3rd to 1/2 that it's been selling.
Honda, having learned its lesson in show-off marketing is bringing out a hybrid-only model next year. Gotta show how environmentally correct you are, you know.
Thank you syke, for saving me the trouble of saying that.
The folks who *really* buy these cars because they *care about the environment* are most likely a very small minority. The rest do it thinking to save money because of the returned fuel economy (falsely, see the Edmunds calculator linked above), or do it because of the 'perception' that they care.
While it's certainly not a bad thing for the environment, it doesn't keep them from truly being 'eco-snobs'. Snobbery is still snobbery, regardless of the end benefit or lack of it. (I'm better than YOU- see what I'M doing to help the environment..)
Clarification- I don't classify those buying these cars to save money in with the snobs. Just misguided. Those folks would probably buy cars like the Civic Hybrid as quickly as the Prius, assuming they even realized there was a Civic Hybrid. Despite the advertising by Honda, the Prius is so visible mostly because of the high-glam Hollywood types that I do mostly categorize as snobs, so the average everyday Joe has a greater chance of thinking Prius when he starts to even shop hybrids.
Well, I'd say that there are plenty of people who would consider buying a Prius and not a Civic hybrid just because the Prius has more room. The Prius is still classified as a midsize car, the Civic as a small car... though I get your point.
My point was that when the Prius first started getting big, more people bought it for it's "eco-image," but today, with gas prices near or above $4/gallon, people are clamoring for them because they really do get unbelievable gas mileage. (Whether they could do better financially by buying a different car is kind of irrelevant, because most people don't know how to crunch the numbers... that's part of why Edmunds exists!)
It's also too easy to say that what car you drive doesn't make a difference if you have a big house, etc. First, we can't assume that most of the people driving Priuses are wasting natural resources everywhere else. Second, cummulatively, everyone who chooses a fuel-efficient car contributes positively to the environment.
I think it's easy to hate Prius owners, more so than any other hybrid owner, because SO MANY Prius owners wear their mpg on their sleeve.
Everyday I commute through ~12 miles of two-lane canyon road. God help me if I get stuck behind some Prius that feels the need to hyper-mile the whole way. For that, I hate Prius owners a little extra.
ps-
"Studies conducted by J.D. Power show that the typical hybrid purchaser is better educated and wealthier than the average car buyer."
-Of course it's easy to make comparisons to the 'average car buyer' and come to this conclusion. But so what? Way to go after the low-hanging fruit, JD Power. I can just as easily say that luxury vehicle buyers are wealthier and more educated. I'd bet my right eye that there's no significant demographic difference between Prius buyers, and buyers of competitive non-hybrids. I think the people that shop for a Prius, and then buy something else, are just as smart - or maybe smarter.
Joanne,
I guess what I'm trying to say is that as long as it's a voluntary act to buy a high-mileage car, any beneficial environmental impact is going to be small. Cars didn't start having catalytic converters because people ordered them as an option; they appeared because they were required by government agencies. If we as a country want to save fuel and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, we'll have to address the issue in a similar systematic way. The easiest ways to do it would be to start slowly increasing the CAFE standards over time, and/or slowly increase taxes on fuel. Both are unpopular with the majority of voters, so there hasn't been a lot of action on these issues.