Hybrid cars offer choice to consumers Carlos Valdes, a car salesman at Mike Harvey Honda in Burlingame, said the Honda Insight gets up to 68 miles per gallon. Hybrid cars provide a new alternative to the conventional vehicle by using the internal-combustion engine and the battery and motor of an electric vehicle.
Hybrids are available to United States consumers through two car companies.
The Toyota Prius has been available for sale in Japan since 1997 and in the United States since June 2000. Lakin, a Trinidad resident, ordered her Prius from Midcity Motorworld in Eureka. He test drove one and said it was great. Before she could get her car, Lakin was required to take a one-hour training session from a trained Prius mechanic. Toyota requires all Prius buyers to take a training session because driving a hybrid is so different from driving a conventional vehicle.