American Hybrids or Fuel Efficient Cars....?

American carmakers do have hybrids.. Ford makes the Escape Hybrid, which I think is probably the one with the best drivetrain of all current American hybrids.

It uses a Power Split Device transmission, which is mechanically very simple and consequently very durable. It has just a single gearset to combine the power from the gasoline engine and electric motors, and the first of New York City's Escape Hybrids in its taxi fleet have withstood 200,000 miles of abuse at the hands of cabbies with no problems.

(the PSD geardrive transmission was developed by the American technology company TRW, and it's also used in the Toyota Prius and other Toyota, Lexus and Nissan hybrids).

Right now the 2008 Escape Hybrid 2WD qualifies for a $3000 Federal Tax Credit from the IRS too.

Escape Hybrid gets 32mpg combined city/hwy, easily the best fuel economy of all SUVs.

All 3 of them already build hybrids. Chevy Tahoe Hybrid, Chevy Malibu Hybrid, Chevy Silverado Hybrid, Saturn Vue Hybrid, Saturn Aura Hybrid, Cadillac Esclade Hybrid, Ford Escape Hybrid, Mercury Mariner Hybrid, Dodge Durango Hybrid. Nobody builds an affordable electric car because nobody makes a good enough battery yet that is affordable. They already build fuel efficient cars. Chevy Cobalt 25/37, Pontiac G5 25/37, Ford Focus 24/25, Pontiac G6 22/33, Chevy Malibu 22/33, Saturn Aura 22/33, Chevy Impala 19/29, Ford Taurus 18/28, Chevy Silverado 15/21, Ford F150 15/21

I guess it depends on what you mean by an "American car." Do you want it designed in the US, built by US workers, built using all US sourced parts, and sold by a company with US headquarters? That's difficult to find, even for a non-hybrid car. But you can find some hybrid cars that are at least built by US workers, or sold by a company with US headquarters...

The Toyota Prius did have some design work done in California, but I wouldn't classify it as an American hybrid. However, the Toyota Camry Hybrid is now being built in the Georgetown, Kentucky plant, so at least the TCH is made/built in the US. http://www.toyotageorgetown.com/01camryhyb.asp (Do check the VIN, though, as the first few TCH sold in the US were made in Japan, and I'm not sure if some still are for sales volume reasons...)

Sadly, most of the US headquartered auto companies are pushing the hybrid SUVs (Ford Escape Hybrid/Mercury Mariner Hybrid, Saturn Vue Green Line, GMC Sierra hybrid/Chevy Silverado hybrid, GMC Yukon/Chevy Tahoe hybrid)... But for cars there is the Saturn Aura Green Line: http://www.saturn.com/saturn/vehicles/greenline/in... and the Chevy Malibu hybrid: http://www.chevrolet.com/2008malibu/ But components often still are sourced from outside the USA.

However, for reliability (out for a few years) and for the better hybrid design, if looking for an "American hybrid" I would go for either the Toyota Camry Hybrid or the Ford Escape Hybrid, and avoid the GM products. You can find some used ones, too.

If all you are looking for is fuel efficiency, then you should just go to http://www.fueleconomy.gov/ , then just discount any models that are "foreign" (although you may have to do some further research (such as checking out VINs) to figure out which those are!).

I would say hybrids arent the way to go, because you dont know if they are reliable engines and if they will last long. Stick with fuel efficiency. A good American car, is probably a ford focus, chevy cobalt, chevy malibu, mazda 3, etc. I highly reccomend japanese cars, like honda, or toyota; because they are more reliable and their engines last practically forever. They are cheap, and great gas mileage. I would say civic, corrolla.

I would have to agree with the populas here and say that you should wait untill they are proven road worthy. also the technology is still evolving and much like computers will probably be outdated in a couple of years. The advancements are just coming to rapidly.

FYI: For those who doubt hybrid engines, we have two toyota prius's one with 175000 miles and the other with 125000 miles. No problems

you dont want to buy a hybrid yet.. they are still too new

but ford has a focus that gets 35 miles on the highway sooo

yea

good luck

99 civic

any civic really

any small car with a inline 4 engine and that doesn't try to compete with big benzes

wait a couple years...buy a old honda until u can afford something expensive

toyota pryus!!!

55mpg

and its a hybrid