Online car insurance news
30/07/2009
Cheap policies for all hybrid drivers? Yes or no.
Since the innovation of hybrid cars, running on supposedly more environmentally friendly fuel systems, speculation has been rife about whether or not they should be eligible for cheap car insurance rates.
A recent US study carried out by San Francisco Quality Planning (SFQP) has found that the driving habits of hybrid owners may have some bearing on this very question.
The SFQP survey questioned 360,000 vehicle owners from 2007-2008 and found that although the owners of hybrids use their cars for commuting similar distances to conventional cars, hybrid owners covered an average of 2,000 many more miles a year in recreational driving.
The study also found that US hybrid drivers received more penalty tickets than drivers of non-green cars. For example, Prius owners received 38 tickets per 100,000 driving miles as opposed to 23 tickets per 100,000 miles for drivers of conventional engined vehicles.
Further, in the event of an accident claim, hybrid cars are more expensive to repair than petrol or diesel engines - the study revealed that the Toyota Highlander Hybrid costs approximately 45 per cent more to repair than the regular Highlander.
A spokesperson for duck2water, specialist provider of online car insurance, commented, "Whilst many customers may think their environmentally friendly hybrid car should garner them a cheap car insurance policy, it may not always follow that this is the case, especially if these statistics are borne out over several years."