Will hybrids lower demand for gasoline?

Question

im going to be honest im really ignorant on economics. Even if gasoline demand is inelastic, if the majority of vehicles got double the avg mpg of today wouldnt demand of gasoline go down? So by that logic if the price of gasoline stays high demand for hybrid vehicles goes up. As more people get hybrids the gas demand (and price) goes down. Win win?

Answer 1

Not enough people have them to make that big of an impact on demand besides Hybrids still use gas they are only a step towards something better we need to work our way further away from oil it won't last forever five years from now we will be reminiscing about how we could fill our car for under $100.

Answer 2

Well actually, "no"....  as I understand it, the cost of oil and hence gasoline is being driven (sorry for the pun) by demand in China and developing nations as they strive for a more "American" quality of life.

with that said... if every American had a hybrid car, the American usage would probably go down, but the cost of oil would not b/c it is based on world wide usage and availability.  So Americans would be saving money by not using as much "oil" for gasoline, electricity, etc, but the cost per gallon will still remain high.  sorry.

Peace

Answer 3

The problem is that hybrids are expensive. And USA and the west is only part of the oil consumers. China and india are also sucking up oil supply and they cannot afford hybrids.

Good Luck....