Hybrids

Detroit auto makers have consistently said Americans will not buy hybrids. That thinking has bit them in their hind parts. Toyota is now the number one auto maker in the world. It looks like they may miss out on the trucking market too. The Christian Science Monitor has a good article about delivery companies buying hybrids. The companies are doing it for fuel economy and green cred. It now pays to spend more up front. I guess we will not see those articles about how it does not make economic sense to buy hybrids.

transition to hybrid trucks is part of a push by urban delivery companies to cut their greenhouse-gas emissions. As with the hybrid cars, demand for the green trucks is so strong that companies such as Coca-Cola are willing to pay a 35 to 40 percent premium over the cost of a normal delivery truck. Both FedEx and UPS are also building hybrid fleets in urban areas. In return, the companies cut their fuel consumption.

"You get a return on the investment, but more importantly, it's the right thing to do," says John Brock, president of Coca-Cola Enterprises in an interview at the company's giant distribution center in the South Bronx.[...]

The Coca-Cola trucks are made by International Truck and Engine Corp., and the hybrid system is supplied by Cleveland-based Eaton Corp. Eaton went into full production in July and says it's now ready to produce as many as companies want to order.

100 dollar a barrel oil is bringing emissions down.
Update: New link to article.