A new survey from Mercedes-Benz USA shows that Americans are confused about alternative fuel vehicle (AFV) options and may be delaying purchasing such vehicles because they don’t understand them.
The new research from Harris Interactive conducted on behalf of the car maker, finds that the additional choices over fuel types make the process of a car more complicated than ever before and add a burden of options to the conventional car buying process when motorists focussed on making decisions on such things as colour, horsepower and size.
The online survey found that nearly one in two US adults (48 per cent) would be interested in purchasing an alternative fuel vehicle, such as electric, hybrid and even diesel (which seems strange to us consider as an ‘alternative fuel’ as diesel savvy Europeans) but are not sure about what type to get. Meanwhile only about one in three (35 per cent) say they know which types of AFVs are best for various driving situations (e.g. city, suburban, highway). In fact, more adults claim to be knowledgeable or very knowledgeable about the causes of the global financial crisis, the difference between good and bad cholesterol and the amount of oil that has spilled into the Gulf of Mexico, than they are about the difference between various types of alternative fuel vehicles.
A vast majority of US adults (71 per cent) say they are not at all or only somewhat knowledgeable about the difference between various types of alternative fuel vehicles.
"The end game is zero-emissions driving that doesn’t simply transfer the problem. And, while that is still in the future, each alternative fuel vehicle we introduce is a step in that direction, providing key findings and helping acclimate consumers to new technology," said Sascha Simon, head of advanced product planning at Mercedes-Benz USA. "Our goal at Mercedes-Benz is to provide a portfolio of options for our customers so they can choose the vehicle that best suits their lifestyle and to further the understanding and, ultimately, the adoption rate for these new technologies."
Detailed information on each option is available on the "Thinking Green" section of Mercedes-Benz’s US website at www.mbusa.com/mercedes/innovation/thinking_green/overview. The site also includes information on Mercedes-Benz’s BlueTEC clean diesel vehicles, hybrid vehicles and prototype hydrogen electric vehicles (such as the B-Class F-Cell), as well as tips for driving green.
