Still, when husband Kent suggested she should buy a Honda Civic hybrid, she balked.

"I always thought hybrids would look funny on the inside, that they would not have enough room because of their batteries," she said.

But Kent Ogaard had done his homework, which is what most hybrid purchasers do because automakers devote relatively few dollars to marketing their clean-fuel vehicles.

The bottom line -- and the feeling it was the right thing to do -- ultimately convinced the Ogaards to buy their 2006 Civic hybrid.

That put the Sandy residents among a growing number of consumers in Utah and nationally who believe they can reduce their greenhouse gas emissions through their driving choices. Automakers' sales reports show that U.S. drivers are turning to clean-fuel cars in record numbers.

Global automotive information purveyor R.L. Polk reported http://usa.polk.com/News/LatestNews/2007_0226_hybrid_growth_rate.htm that nationwide, the total number of hybrid cars registered in 2006 rose to 254,545.

That was a 28 percent increase over sales in 2005, a banner year when hybrid registrations, borne aloft by high gas prices, grew by 139 percent. Polk analysts say the slowdown perhaps can traced to cautious "second-wave" buyers who are waiting for the next new thing.

Utah auto dealers say they are seeing an uptick in sales on 2007 hybrid models, along with those of fuel-efficient conventional cars and light trucks -- so much so that buyers who are seeking respite from fuel cost increases soon might be disappointed.

"We will see a shortage of the high-gas-mileage vehicles in the summer," predicted Wayne Petersen, sales manager for Ken Garff Honda in Salt Lake City. "We especially of late are seeing a surge in Accord and Civic sales," as well as a resurgent interest in natural-gas fueled Civics.

The Utah Tax Commission reported 2,287 hybrids were registered in 2006, out of a total of 1.8 million passenger cars and trucks.

Tell a friend

As in the rest of the nation, word-of-mouth is the biggest boost to hybrid sales in Utah, said Dennis Ashley, sales manager for the Saturn dealership in Salt Lake City. Hybrids generally cost $4,000 to $4,500 more than comparable conventional models. That's why federal tax incentives as high as $2,600 for 12 models of hybrids -- the credits decline based on the number of models sold -- help sell the cars.

Conscience led Salt Lake City resident Martin Beumer to buy a used 2001 Prius five years ago.

"My wife and I bought it because we felt compelled to try to do something to help the environment," said Beumer, a computer engineer who said four of his co-workers also are Prius owners.

The urge to take personal action to stem climate change was documented in a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll conducted at the end of March www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20070419/1a_cover19_dom.art.htm. The poll found that 60 percent of those surveyed believe global warming is affecting the climate, with most individuals believing they should take more steps -- on their own, without coercion -- to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Layton resident Mark Kleinfield said he looked at the Prius, but decided on a 2003 Honda Civic hybrid because his family has owned several Civics, including his 1992 basic model that had 270,000 miles on the odometer when he sold it.

"You can't really tell [the hybrid] from any other Honda on the road," Kleinfield said. "The Prius tries to look like some futuristic thing."

But the Prius sells. The International Herald Tribune tagged www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/28/features/design29.php the Prius "Ugly Betty" yet the "coolest car around." Polk data show the Prius accounted for 42.8 percent of all hybrid registrations in the United States in 2006. The sleek hybrid gets an EPA-estimated 55 miles per gallon overall and about 40 to 42 mpg in city driving,

The Toyota Highlander hybrid SUV, which is rated at a combined 29 mpg for its two-wheel-drive version, came in second in 2006 among hybrids at 12.5 percent of new registrations. Overall, 75 percent of hybrids registered last year were Toyotas, Polk said.

The Auto Alliance, an industry group, says the Polk data show that, as of last year, 650,000 hybrids were on the road nationwide. The automakers' group also points to diesel and ethanol-capable vehicles as alternatives to the conventional internal combustion engine.

As of 2006, there were about 5 million diesel and hundreds of thousands of vehicles on the nation's roads capable of burning E85, a fuel that is 15 percent gasoline, 85 percent ethanol, the Auto Alliance says. Last year, about 1 million E85 vehicles were sold, roughly 5 percent of all new cars registered.

According to the group's web site http//:www.autoalliance.org, carmakers are forming partnerships with industry and the federal government to develop hydrogen, biomass and ethanol fuels.

Fueling controversy

At the Saturn dealership, Ashley's sales staff doesn't have to turn buyers toward their "green line" VUE and Aura models; the buyers already are savvy by the time they hit the lot.

"Their homework is done," he said.

Buying a hybrid "is a pay now or pay later situation," Ashley said. "You're ensuring that future fuel prices won't impact you that much."

The question is, which fuel?

The Bush administration is a big supporter of ethanol as a way to become less reliant on foreign oil. But the fuel, now largely made from corn, may not yield enough net energy gain to be fruitful. And a Stanford University study released online in mid-April in the journal Environmental Science and Technology found a high blend of ethanol such as E85 creates ground-level ozone, the key ingredient of smog, at or above gasoline levels.

Ethanol is a bad bet, said Felix Cramer, founder of the Palo Alto, Calif.-based CalCars, http://www.calcars.org/, a nonprofit group of entrepreneurs, engineers, environmentalists and consumers including Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison, the California Air Resources Board and the California Energy Commission.

"We need 140 billion gallons of ethanol to fuel our vehicles every year. We currently have 4 to 5 billion," he said. "There are plans to get up to 15 billion in the next few years, but the disparity is so huge."

CalCars is pushing public policy makers to explore the potential of plug-in hybrids -- PHEVs -- that get more than 100 miles per gallon.

The organization likens PHEVs to regular hybrids with extension cords. PHEVs can be filled up at a gas station and plugged into a normal household electric outlet. Unlike hybrids, which use their electricity to boost the gas engine, PHEVs use the electricity first.

Using battery-pack prototypes, CalCars engineers have converted 2006 Prius to plug-ins, calling the modified hybrid a Prius+. The specs for the conversions are on their Web site www.calcars.org/conversions-factsheet.pdf

Other companies are getting into the act. CalCars predicts that when conversions become more generally available, they most likely will be geared toward 2004 to 2007 Prius models and the Ford Escape hybrid. Toyota Highlanders and Lexus RX-400 hybrids also are candidates, but because of Honda's unique engineering, conversions of Insight, Civic of Accord hybrids are unlikely.

Critics have questioned whether PHEVs would just require construction of more coal-fired power plants, canceling out their greenhouse gas benefits. But Cramer said most of the cars would be plugged in overnight, when demand is lowest.

General Motors appears ahead of the automaker pack with PHEV development, using technology left from the ill-fated EV1 featured in the 2006 documentary "Who Killed the Electric Car?"

At the Detroit Auto Show in January, the company displayed the Chevy Volt concept car, which the automaker www.chevrolet.com says can drive about 40 miles on a charged battery, a distance that encompasses most people's daily driving needs.

The car can be plugged into a household outlet to charge up. Gasoline, E85 or biodiesel automatically is used to recharge the battery to extend the range. Chevrolet says the driving range between fuel fill-ups could reach 640 miles.

GM also says it is considering a Saturn VUE green-line PHEV. But the automaker won't say when the cars might come into production, citing the high costs of batteries and their limited lifespan.

Drive smart

Mike Knaub, an auto engineering expert with the downtown Salt Lake City Saturn dealership, saw the Volt at the January auto show. But he's far less enthusiastic about PHEVs than Cramer, and like Don MacKenzie, a vehicles engineer with the Union of Concerned Scientists, sees hybrids as transitional vehicles to better technology.

MacKenzie, however, said hybrids are not for everyone. It would be better to improve conventional internal combustion engine drive-train technology.

"Our lifestyle -- people are forced to drive. If they're going to drive, they need to be getting better fuel economy," MacKenzie said.

MacKenzie believes technologies already within reach could raise the average fuel economy of cars and light trucks to 40 miles per gallon within a decade, a 60 percent increase from today's average. But motorists can do better, too. Here's how:

Moderate speed on the highway; generally, you lose 10 percent of fuel efficiency between 55 mph and 65 mph. Keep your tires properly inflated. Don't use your trunk as a storage locker. Don't let your car idle unnecessarily.

Layton resident Kleinfield is a big fan of those techniques plus others, including some not exactly legal, like taking his car out of gear and coasting whenever he can. His personal best came when he drove from Layton to North Platte, Neb., on a single tank of gas and had about a half-gallon left when he rolled into town.

Sometimes Kleinfield kicks himself for selling his 1992 Civic, especially when winter cold hinders the effectiveness of his Civic hybrid's electric battery. And even with the hybrid, he practices "high-miler" driving habits, keeping his speed at the sweet spot of 60 mph, where he gets 60 miles per gallon.

"You become addicted to trying to squeeze every inch of mileage," he said. "If gas was dirt cheap again, I'd be driving a big Chevy and racing up and down hills. But now I've got better things to do with my money."

More information on the web

* R.L. Polk: usa.polk.com/News/LatestNews

2007 0226 hybrid growth rate.htm]

* USA Today/Gallup Poll: www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20070419/1a cover19 dom.art.htm

* International Herald Tribune on the Prius: www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/28/features/design29.php

* The Auto Alliance: www.autoalliance.org

* CalCars: www.calcars.org

* Chevrolet/Chevy Volt: www.chevrolet.com

* Union of Concerned Scientists: www.ucsusa.org