It still can be a gas to get behind the wheel of a hybrid

Wednesday, March 29, 2006 | 7:12 a.m.

The license plate on Judy Jenner's 2005 Toyota Prius reads "PLANETA," Spanish for planet - as in, something worth saving.

Jenner, Spanish content manager for the Web site VEGAS.com, is one of a small, but growing number of hybrid-vehicle owners in Southern Nevada.

"It's incredible. It's quiet, and it's pretty, and it gets about 50 miles per gallon," Jenner said.

The main reason she bought the little hatchback in November was that she "really wanted to do something to help the environment. Gas mileage was secondary. It really wasn't my primary motivation."

She pauses.

"But the gas mileage is great."

Despite their rising appeal in Nevada, hybrids aren't catching on here as fast as they are in California and other populous states where owners can take advantage of a federal law allowing them to drive in the car pool lane even if they have no passengers. Nevada will have its first car pool lane next year.

As of mid-February, Clark County had 2,357 registered hybrids, according to the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles. That makes hybrids the second-most popular alternative fuel vehicle after Clark County's 21,690 "flexible fuel" cars, which can run on either ethanol or regular gasoline.

Statewide, Toyota sold 838 Prius models last year, up from 98 in 2001. That tracks the national numbers, which were 104,112 coast to coast in 2005, and 15,099 in 2001.

John Iannuzzi, sales manager at Desert Toyota, said he sees increased interest in hybrids every spike in the cost of gasoline, now hovering around $2.50 a gallon of regular.

"It's all about the gas mileage," Iannuzzi said.

Since the beginning of the year, Desert Toyota has sold about 50 hybrid Toyotas, including about 30 Prius and 20 of the Highlander, the hybrid sport utility vehicle.

The Prius is officially rated by the federal government at 60 miles per gallon in city driving, 51 for the highway. Drivers report somewhat less impressive actual numbers, but still find that they can go 600 miles or so between fill-ups.

Iannuzzi noted that one of the distinctive features of hybrid vehicles is that they get better mileage in city driving, where frequent steps on the brake charge the hybrid batteries, than in highway driving - the reverse of gasoline-only vehicles.

According to national figures compiled by Web site hybridcars.com, Toyota's Prius dominates hybrid sales even as competitors bring other hybrids to the market. In the first two months of this year, Toyota sold more than 14,000 Prius nationwide. The next most popular hybrid model, the Honda Civic, sold fewer than 5,000.

In at least 20 states governments provide incentives to buy hybrids. In California, San Jose waives parking fees and Los Angeles allows hybrids to park for free at metered parking spaces.

Utah's incentives include a state income tax credit and the use of car-pool lanes.

Nevada doesn't have a program to allow hybrids in car-pool lanes, but that could change next year when sections of U.S. 95 in Las Vegas are to become car-pool lanes.

"When the Legislature looks at that, they'll look at HOV (high-occupancy vehicle) policies in other states," said Robert Mckenzie, a state Transportation Department spokesman.

An important nationwide incentive is a federal tax credit that helps recoup the cost of hybrid vehicles, which typically can be thousands more than equivalent traditional gasoline-powered cars and trucks. A complex formula provides a credit that ranges from about $600 to more than $3,000, depending on the model of car.

Under the federal rules, however, the tax credit will dwindle over time and could disappear altogether next year.

One Nevada incentive isn't coming from state or federal government, but from an insurance company. Travelers, a nationwide insurance company, is offering a 10 percent discount for hybrid drivers.

Jennifer Wislocki, a company spokeswoman, said Travelers has rolled out the discount - which typically would save $100 to $200 a year for an insured car - to 33 states, including Nevada.

The company's interest isn't in promoting environmentally friendly cars, but the company likes the kind of drivers who are attracted to hybrids.

"Our hybrid drivers have the characteristics that put them in a preferred category, having less accidents, a better driving record, the way drivers use their vehicles," she said.

Wislocki said Travelers expects hybrids to have about 15 percent of the car market within 10 years. As of August, there were 328,157 registered hybrid vehicles nationwide.

Marcia Boehm, an English instructor at the Community College of Southern Nevada, likes the incentives, but she said her affection for her 2004 Prius is based on the electric motor's power out of a dead stop.

"It has a lot of zip," she said. "I don't like to sit at stop lights. I like to get out when I see a green light."