cool runnings

Sarah Roth (left) and her mother-in-law
Susan Roth both drive a Toyota Prius,
billed to get 60 miles per gallon in the
city and 51 on the highway.

Shhhhh.

Going green never looked so good.

BY BILL CARROLL

hen Matt Roth brought home his new Toyota Prius, the
Huntington Woods attorney had no intention of sharing his
new toy. Turned out, he didn't have to. "I liked driving it so
much," says his wife, Sarah, "that I took it over as mine."
The Prius is a popular version of a hybrid gas and electric car that runs on
an electric motor in city driving and a gas engine on the highway, explains
Dave Hermance, executive engineer for Toyota Advanced Technology Vehicles
in Torrance, Calif. It will also run on a combination of both if the driver keeps
an even speed with a steady foot on the pedal, achieving the highest level of
fuel efficiency — the ultimate point of a hybrid. Although early electric-only
vehicles required the driver to stop and recharge the battery every 60 miles or
so, today's hybrids have nothing to plug in and no buttons or switches to push
for the electric motor.
In addition to getting great mileage out of her Prius, Sarah, a Rochester
school system teacher who used to drive a Volvo, says the car "is so quiet, I
can hardly tell if it's on." Her mother-in-law, Susan Roth of Bloomfield Hills,
agrees — she's been driving a Prius since 2005. Mainly, though, "I want to do
my part to help clean up the environment," explains the former Oldsmobile
driver. "Now I get 52 mpg in the city and 46 on the highway."
The hybrid idea goes back to 1905, in the infancy of the automobile, when
American engineer H. Piper filed the first patent of a car to be powered by
a combination of gas and electricity. "But fuel economy and the environment
weren't big issues at that time, so the gas engine alone was deemed sufficient

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JANUARY 2007 •

platinum

for vehicles," says Hermance. "All of that changed with the gas shortages of
the 1970s, and work began in earnest on the hybrids we see today."
Among them is the Toyota Highlander SUV hybrid that Dr. Rick Kovan
of Franklin turned in his BMW for. He didn't even mind paying a $5,000
premium for the hot seller, calling the experience a "more socially responsible
alternative" to driving normally fueled vehicles. "I like the Highlander's very
responsive performance," he says, in addition to the great gas mileage he gets
traveling to a hospital in Grand Blanc almost daily.
And Barbara Osher of Franklin also chose the Highlander because, she
explains, "I wanted to make a green statement by driving a vehicle with low
emissions," while at the same time achieving good fuel economy.
These environmentally minded Metro Detroiters have joined the ranks of
thousands of drivers across the country, including politicians and celebrities
(Cameron Diaz and Larry David, among others) making the switch to the
environmentally sound hybrids. Toyota dominates the hybrid market with the
popular Prius, operated by its Hybrid Synergy Drive System, which debuted
in 1995. Toyota has sold more than 425,000 total hybrid vehicles since '95,
and expects about 123,000 Prius sales this year, according to Hermance. And
Consumer Reports magazine points out that Prius owners rank highest among
satisfied vehicle owners, with 92 percent reporting they would buy that car
again.
Other hybrids include the Lexus and the Camry, America's best-selling car,
which launched a hybrid last year. And there are more: the Honda Civic, the >