More Than Half of Car Buyers Want to Go Green? Not on This Planet

(MoneyWatch)  Autobytel's "What's Hot" survey has some good news for green carmakers: 57 percent of respondents said they have "an interest" in buying an alternative fuel vehicle in the next year. But since more than 50 percent put "economics" at the top of their list of considerations in buying a green car, the number seems high. EVs will be more expensive, and that may deter some would-be customers at the point of purchase ?€" the showroom.

I love surveys, but I don't always trust them. What people tell pollsters and what they actually do (buying a car, voting, watching TV) are sometimes far apart. People are amazingly green on paper.

The people who cited "economics" as a reason for considering a green car add the phrase "better gas mileage" as a prime motivator. Green cars certainly offer that but, especially with battery cars, people will have to adjust to getting their payback down the road. It might take five years to offset the higher purchase price, and delayed gratification is not a hallmark of the American consumer.

A recent Accenture survey shows that people love the idea of green cars (65 percent approval) as long as they have to sacrifice practically nothing that's already there's with gas vehicles. But the fact is there are sacrifices in many of these technologies. For battery EVs, they include shorter range and the need to plug in. People also love higher fuel-efficiency standards from the federal government (no sacrifice required), but they don't want to give up big vehicles to help out on that front.

The crunch point for high gas prices is $3.50 a gallon: At that price or above, 34 percent say they'd be more likely to buy a green car. But higher fuel costs have a way of settling in -- we get used to them, as onerous as they seem at first.

Of the 57 percent thinking about an electric, hybrid of very frugal gas car, nine percent are "definitely" considering, 17 percent are "seriously" considering, and 31 percent says "maybe." But "definitely considering" doesn't reach the level of a firm commitment.

In a longer two-to-five-year time frame, a whopping 75 percent of respondents say they either "intend" to buy a green car (19 percent) or might consider (56 percent) it. Again, everyone says they're going to lose weight, write the great American novel and cure cancer at some vaguely defined point in the future.

The Autobytel report is particularly bullish on young drivers under 25. One out of four of those buyers say they are "definitely" considering buying an alternative fuel or high-mpg car or truck in the next 12 months.

With more vague "actively considering" language, an impressive 73 percent say they might get in line over the next year. More than half say environmental factors (including global warming) are a motivator. Only 44 percent of older drivers say the same thing.

Sure, this is an encouraging survey, but it doesn't clear up the essential mystery of what actually happen in the showrooms when these cars go on sale at the end of the year and early next.

Related:

• Car's Big Weight Hurts Fuel Economy, Survey Says
• Dear Jim Letters: The Electric Car Future

Photo: Flickr/Calvin Kim