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The 2000's
Caring for Earth
 Hybrid Cars Update

Hybrid Cars Update
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 6 to 8
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   8.59

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    automakers, gasoline-powered, mainstream, sedan, tested, better, leading, successful, power, popularity, economy, sales, environment, production, market, mass
     content words:    Henry Ford, Honda Insight, Toyota Prius, Civic Hybrid, Ford Escape Hybrid, Camry Hybrid, Highlander Hybrid, And Honda, San Francisco, Santa Barbara

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Hybrid Cars Update
By Sharon Fabian 		  
1     Hybrids are cars that run on two or more power sources - usually gasoline and electricity. Hybrid cars are recognized for their fuel economy and their low emissions. They also produce less noise pollution.
 
2     Cars that get at least part of their power from electricity aren't something new. In fact, since the time of Henry Ford, automobile makers have tried to create electric-powered cars. Until recently, none of the attempts have been very successful.
 
3     Then in the 1990s, the push for a car that was better for the environment led to renewed efforts toward a hybrid gas-electric car. By 2000, there were two hybrids in mainstream production - the Honda Insight and the Toyota Prius. The two-door Insight was the first mass market hybrid, and it won many awards. The Prius was the first four-door hybrid sedan.
 
4     Gradually, more car makers entered their own hybrid models into the market. In 2002, Honda came out with the Civic Hybrid. In 2004, there was the Ford Escape Hybrid.
 
5     Toyota continued to produce the Prius, but the Honda Insight went out of production.
 
6     Each year there was more and more demand from consumers for hybrid cars. Although the prices were higher than for gasoline-powered cars, buyers were willing to pay the price for a car that got up to fifty miles per gallon and was good for the environment, too.
 
7     In 2000, about ten thousand hybrids were sold. By 2004, the number had jumped to nearly one hundred thousand. By 2006, the number of hybrids sold was over two hundred thousand, and in 2008 the number sold was estimated to be around four hundred thousand.
 
8     And the numbers might have been even higher. In several years, the number of hybrids sold was limited only by the number that could be produced. Auto makers were not geared up to produce hybrids in large numbers. Waits of as long as six months for a Toyota Prius were not unusual.
 
9     Meanwhile, many other car manufacturers were jumping on the hybrid bandwagon. By the 2008 model year, hybrids were being produced by Toyota, Saturn, Nissan, Mercury, Mazda, Lexus, Honda, GMC, Ford, Dodge, Chrysler, and Chevrolet. Some makers produced one hybrid model, and others produced two.

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