A Prius and a Pickup Truck

I was sort of looking at the writing on the wall in regard to suburban and country living. Now that California is leading the way as far as hybrids, plug-in hybrids and all electric plug-ins with up to 9% of all new cars in the San Francisco Bay area being Prius' and other hybrids and electrics the rest of the U.S. and the world will notice. One of the best effects of almost 10 percent of new cars in some areas of California being hybrid and electric cars is that this likely will also help the price of gas also decrease in price around the same amount in regard to the gas used by newly purchased cars and pickup trucks.

I was thinking about the longer term effects and how this will tend to lead to "A Prius and a Pickup Truck" as the two vehicles that will be the most common in families in Suburban and country lives in the U.S. The pickup truck (gas, diesel, or hybrid or 4 wheel drive or all wheel drive) is necessary for some things families do in work, play and travel. However, often times, taking kids to school, driving to work, and sometimes even vacations might be better served by Plug-in hybrids where you aren't even turning the gas engine on because you are just plugging it in at night into your electric system at home. Also, it IS theoretically possible to drive for free (literally) if you have solar cells or wind power where you live at your home. So, you are driving for free unless you want to consider the cost of installing the solar system or wind power that generates your power to charge your vehicle over night or whenever you charge it.

For example, because my father was an Electrical Contractor and I know a great deal about electricity and because I have heart problems (low heart compression) I don't want to expose myself to Electrical Coronas as powerful as are generated by Hybrids or Electrics because this might hasten my death or immobilize me. But, for people who don't have heart problems or neurological issues that might be made worse by Electrical Coronas generated by generating electricity or expending the electricity from batteries, maybe hybrids and Electrics are a good choice in being patriotic and reducing by up to 10% (because of the number of people buying new hybrids and electrics in California) the cost of gas (at least in regard to new car use in California).

So, I think you will soon see this trend moving throughout the western states of up to almost 10% of new cars being Prius' or other hybrids, plug-ins and electrics. We are already seeing this in areas like Eugene, Oregon and Portland, Oregon. Also, now many pickup trucks and SUVs also are hybrid all wheel drives or 4 wheel drives as well so this is something to think about in regard to being patriotic and reducing gas prices as well. However, I would read up on how well hybrids actually do that are 4 wheel drives, especially if it gets really cold where you live or the roads are bad and bumpy. Electrical connections really don't usually do well on really bumpy roads. At that point you might need a regular Gas or Diesel pickup Truck with big wheels to survive the shocks both to the engine and to the suspension.