Despite Kermit’s claim that it is not easy being green, it seems that drivers disagree.

Interest in the eco-friendlier automobiles continues to grow, with significant leaps in sales during the last couple of years proving the point. How far have we come? Recent reports have highlighted our metamorphosis:

• Hybrid sales totalled less than 1,000 per year up to 2004
• Annual sales jumped to 9,000 in the two-year period between 2004 and 2006
• Trends suggest this number will be blown off the lily pad. In the first 6 months of 2007 hybrid volumes reached about 6500 – a 90 per cent increase in volume over the same six months in 2006

Fully-charged, it seems drivers are embracing hybrid vehicles.

Hybrid auto insurance quotes at Kanetix.ca

The number of drivers getting hybrid car insurance quotes through Kanetix.ca showed similar growth trends to sales reports. Compared to the first six months in 2006, the first six months of 2007 showed a dramatic increase in the number of auto insurance quotes which included some form of hybrid vehicle—over 77 per cent.

What would these shoppers have found when comparing hybrid auto insurance quotes?

Quotes for the 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid, Ford Escape Hybrid, and the Honda Civic Hybrid were compared and there was no one particular trend when it came to the insurance rates for these fuel-efficient vehicles. When compared to their gas-powered alter-egos, the cost to insure a hybrid vehicle was neither consistently higher nor lower.

Hybrids are like any other vehicle on the road; one insurer’s experience is not likely to be the same as another. As a result, hybrids are rated differently among the various providers because each considers their own experience with how often the vehicles are stolen, how much it costs to repair after an accident, its propensity to be in an accident or the frequency and severity of injuries of passengers if in an accident.

There are positive trends for hybrid drivers that have emerged and continue to gain momentum. That trend is an insurance discount available to drivers of hybrid vehicles. Insurers seem to like the drivers of hybrids as a group and believe they are low-risk. While not all insurers have jumped on the bandwagon just yet, more are offering an insurance discount to drivers of hybrids – usually in the range of 10 per cent.

Auto insurance and your hybrid

If you are in the market to buy a hybrid, you’ll want to make sure that your auto insurance premium is the best price you can get. Don't pay more than you have to, compare hybrid auto insurance quotes through Kanetix.ca.

Looking for more on hybrid car trends, fuel efficiency, and auto insurance rates?

Over the years, Kanetix® has compiled a series of articles that you might find of interest:

• Hot hybrids: The 10 most popular hybrids
• Hybrid cars in Canada: Will going green save you money?
• Fact, fiction, rumour or reality? The scoop on hybrids.
• Autos that save you money: In gas and in your auto insurance premiums.
• Gas prices driving you to walk? You don’t have to park the car yet.
• Gas prices affecting your choice of vehicle for you next purchase?