Would the hybrid cars affect world demand for petroleum fuel?

Question

Would the hybrid cars affect world demand for petroleum fuel?

Answer 1

well if every car was hybrid, then less fuel would be used. however most hybrid cars today still use some petroleum as a fuel source.

Answer 2

Yes.  Even if just by one person!

The more people that buy hybrids, the less demand will be for gasoline.

Current problems causing demand to rise:

1 - For 20 years Gas mileage has remained about 20-25mpg

2 - People are driving more miles each year - using more gas

3 - People are living/driving longer - using more gas

4 - Population is increasing - using more gas

5 - New economies quickly developing are getting rid of bicycles and getting cars - China/India - using more gas

6 - The past decade was hip for SUV sales - using more gas

Oh and the big problem, the world is passing it's peak in oil production (producing less and less each year)

As demand surpasses supply for the first time in history for gasoline, prices will continue to rise each year.

Everyone, go buy a hybrid or E85 flex fuel vehicle

Corn sucks for making ethanol, but very soon ethanol will be a lot cheaper than gasoline as technology improves making it from cellulose wood fibers.

Good luck everyone, and may good gas mileage be with you!

Answer 3

At first yes. But as the population grows, we will have more and more people driving. So no matter what happens we will eventually be back to this same point and with a bigger dilema w/ a larger population.

Answer 4

Any change in fuel consumption affects demand.  So, if every auto got higher gas mileage, demand would drop, at least temporarily.

However, lower cost per mile has also led to the tendency for people to actually drive more than they did before.  So that would increase demand.

In places like China, which once had virtually no private no autos at all, demand increases with every vehicle put on the road, hybrid or not.  In fact, hyrbrids and high mileage vehicles make it appealing to millions of Chinese to buy a car.  So the lower effective cost of fuel actually is part of the increased demand.

The gasoline saved in the US by conversion to hybrid could actually be more than offset by the millions of new drivers in places like India and China.  Not that that is a bad thing.  It doesn't seem quite fair that only the US should consume gasoline, does it?

If we don't move to reduce demand in the US, worldwide demand has the potential to overwhelm us all.

Answer 5

Yes

Answer 6

The hybrid car would affect the world demand of oil only if the automobile companies would stop being "buddy buddy" with the oil companies and start using alternative fuels, every car being a hybrid car, and every country used hybrid cars. That would pretty much shut down the demand for petroleum fuel.

Answer 7

It depends,

If every body bought a Prius or similar hybrid, then demand would go down.  Of course, if every body bought a Civic or similar car, demand would go down as well.

But, not every hybrid is designed to give high fuel milage.  Many are designed to give performance with somewhat better fuel economy than you would get at the same level of performance with an all gasoline engine.  For example, the hybrid RX400 is said to give the same performance as you would get with a 4.0 liter engine, but only has a 3.3 liter engine.  The all gasoline RX330 has the same engine so I would suspect that it gets about the same milage but with less performance than the hybrid.

Answer 8

In a word - yes.

The more efficient vehicles are on the road the less fuel that is used assuming driving habits remain the same.

For real change, the government has to put stricter mpg standards on vehicles and make a strong push for mass transit systems.

Answer 9

absolutely! think about this...my ride gets 19mpg...a hybrid gets, say 50mpg (they vary, but some do get this much)...look at how much less gas i would have to buy if i had a hybrid...then multiply that by however many billion people drive, and look at how much less gas nationwide (or worldwide) we would have to buy for cars. it would make a huge difference in demand.

Answer 10

Well think about this. I got just over 52 mpg on my last tank of gas in my Prius. My previous car was a Mazda 929, which averaged about 20 mpg. The average car sold in the United States gets 23 mpg. The average Prius gets about 46 or so. So if 50% of all cars driven were Prius's our national gas consumption would fall by 25%. That is a very big number.

The short answer YES!

Answer 11

I think all cars manufacturer now a day will be required to produce car more fuel efficiency such as hybrid vehicles. I think it will be a major impact to fuel consumption demand but still may not lower our fuel cost since our world natural resources will not last forever.