NREL says hybrids have saved 5.5 million barrels of gasoline
According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the eight years since the first Toyota Priuses and Honda Insights hit America's roads all the hybrids in use have saved about 230 million gallons of gasoline. That sounds like a very impressive figure until you consider that according to the Energy Information Administration Americans consumed almost 385 million gallons of gas per day. That means hybrids saved about 14 hours worth of gasoline.
Before hybrids have any real impact on our oil consumption we will have to have many, many more of them on the road and even more of nearly 250 million non-hybrid vehicles currently in use in the US taken off the road. That's something that isn't going to happen overnight and that's were the use of ethanol in all the flex-fuel vehicles we're getting on the road now can help during that transition period.
[Source: Consumer Affairs]
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