Saturday, May 05, 2007

"You don't want to get obsessed watching that while you're driving," he said.

C'mon. Every new Prius owner must know exactly how much gasoline she is using at every minute!

I am here to report that the thrill of seeing the bar graph consumption monitor jump to 100 mpg lasts far longer than the new-car smell.

After a year of researching, debating and crunching numbers, my husband, Paul, and I decided to buy a hybrid.

We certainly had fuel economy on our minds, but if that had been the only factor, we could have purchased a subcompact gas-sipper for a little more than half the price.

We were also influenced by the fact that, as a Toyota brochure states, the Prius generates "70 percent fewer smog-forming emissions than the average new vehicle."

Friends and family members have been surprised by our choice -- and curious about the car.

Hybrids are still a rarity -- only 0.29 percent of the vehicles on the road use its combination of gasoline and electricity as propellant.

I do feel like I am driving something very different than I've ever driven before.

The car starts with the push of a button.

When it is stopped in traffic, the gas engine turns off automatically.

All is silent. I find it eerie, but satisfying.

I could even use a drive-through -- if I wanted to.

Then there's that fascinating computer screen. It monitors the car's current miles per gallon as well the gas usage over various periods of time up to a half an hour. It also displays the average mileage.

The instant readout often hits 100 mpg, usually when the car is going downhill. A typical average is 45 to 50 mpg.

Of course, we are fixated on the mileage because we want to justify our purchase.

But we've never cared so much before.

Paul and I are both veterans of the 1970s oil crises and had owned a succession of Toyotas before we bought a Dodge minivan in 1997. Gas was $1.37 a gallon at that time.

We squirmed at the thought of relinquishing our 30-mpg Corolla for a vehicle that was lucky to get 20 mpg. But the low gas prices enabled us to make a decision based on our cargo needs rather than fuel economy.

This time, we didn't give space much thought. If we need to haul stuff, we'll rent. The national average gas price is over $3, and poised to soar. Our planet is in trouble. We are fighting a war for oil. In the end, I could justify no other choice.

I am not resting on my laurels because I am a Prius owner. Many days, it sits in the driveway as I hoof it to work. It is stocked with cloth shopping bags since I learned that 12 million barrels of oil go into making the plastic carriers Americans use each year.

I know I could do even better and not have a car at all. But for now, this car represents my best effort.

I am saving fuel, but I'm also wasting it.

It's not a pretty sight -- yet I can't take my eyes from that screen.

Liz Soares is a freelance writer and the author of "All for Maine: The Story of Gov. Percival P. Baxter." She welcomes e-mail at Baxter24@aol.com.