CUSTOMER RELATIONSMemo To My Technician:
I'm Thinking Of Buying A HybridCHICAGO (Sept. 11, 2005) - Maybe you're considering the purchase of a hybrid vehicle. Perhaps, as a service professional, one of your customers is thinking about it and asks you for advice. Just what are you going to do when they come to you seeking your advice? What are you going to say that will help their
decision and continue to build your relationship with them?
There are a wide range of hybrid vehicles available from automakers today - from compacts to SUVs to pickups - with more models coming in the near future. Development isn't restricted to just passenger vehicles either. Automakers also are involved in the research, development and piloting of heavy use hybrids, such as buses and long haul trucks. According to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), more than 100,000 hybrid vehicles are in use in the United States today. Furthermore, more than 90 city, state and county governments, as well as some private fleets, use hybrids.
Be your customer's guide Certainly, a service professional wants to maintain and strengthen client relationships. Positioning yourself as being someone who not only understands, but is able to service and maintain a hybrid is a choice shops and technicians should consider and prepare for. Providing information to customers can help them understand the components of hybrids and how they interact. For instance, using graphics may well help them make a decision. One such example can be found at
www.eere.energy.gov/cleancities/hev/what_is_hev.html.
Hybrids need the same general maintenance as conventional vehicles, and likewise have warranty terms and conditions. Hybrids use additional electric motors not on conventional vehicles, and they use battery packs as part of the hybrid system. Those batteries have a limited number of charging cycles (the number of times a battery can be charged and discharged). Today's warranties include coverage on the electric motors and hybrid battery packs. Advising clients to inquire about battery life and warranties is prudent.
Hybrid vehicles are becoming more and more visible in our lives. As the price of gasoline rises and squeezes the pocketbook of Americans, new car buyers can consider other alternatives as one way to offset concerns. Weighing the purchase, incentives and operating costs of a hybrid vehicle is one such alternative. Professionals who are conversant with the providing assistance in comparing hybrids to conventional vehicles can help their client relationships as well. Yet keeping track of the growing amount of information is difficult, let alone having it at your fingertips when an impromptu conversation arises with a customer.
The initial cost of purchasing a hybrid can be substantially more expensive up front, often $3,000 to $9,000 more. The benefits of owning and operating a hybrid vehicle include direct impacts that include better fuel economy, cheaper operating costs, protected air quality, higher resale values and strong warranties. Indirect benefits include less dependence on foreign fuel supplies, reduced social costs resulting from emissions-aggravated medical conditions and eligible status in high-occupancy lanes. As well, federal and state tax incentives can help offset the purchase. A list of tax credit incentives can be found at
www.eere.energy.gov/cleancities/hev/.
That's a lot of words, and can be difficult to assess. People wanting an affordable alternative - whether for the purchase of an individual vehicle or for a fleet of passenger vehicles - have to weigh up front cost differences verses the savings that accrue over the time used. Unfortunately, the industry has lacked a viable tool to help make that assessment. But not anymore.
Here's the rub There is a new software tool available to help, one that anyone can use or refer someone to. The "Hybrid Electric Vehicle Fleet Cost and Benefits Calculator Tool" enables a prospective hybrid purchaser to compare both the costs of owning and emissions generated between a hybrid verses a conventional vehicle. The tool was developed jointly by the DOE National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) and the Center for a New American Dream, with funding from DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's Clean Cities activity. The free tool is available online at the following link,
www.eere.energy.gov/cleancities/hev/cost_calc.html.
The interactive tool can help individual consumers or fleet managers pre-assess potential savings from purchasing hybrids, rather than conventional vehicles. The tool guides users through four steps to arrive at the net results. Drop-down menus can be used to select from a list of choices, or the user can input their own values.
* Step 1 - Entry of the hybrid and conventional vehicles for comparison. Data includes make, model, powertrain and emissions values.
* Step 2 - Entry of customized selections for each car model or use of available default values. Data in this section includes purchase/lease price, tax incentives, city and highway mileage, annual mileage, gasoline prices, and percentage of city driving.
* Step 3 - Entry of estimated resale/lease end value and annual maintenance costs.
* Step 4 - Results are calculated. Users are informed of the cumulative costs of owning both the hybrid or conventional vehicle, the savings over the ownership/lease period of one choice over the other.
The tool also has built-in flexibility to facilitate "What if?" comparisons. For instance, one might use the tool with a preset gas price of $3.00 per gallon initially, and then redo the comparison with a "What if the price of gas rose to $3.50 per gallon?" Alternately, one could use the calculator with an ownership/lease period of five years, and then consider "What if the period was three years instead?"
"The cost calculator tool confirms that in most cases the higher purchase price of a hybrid is offset by fuel savings and better resale values, yet the greatest advantage of such vehicles remains the lessening of global warming gases and a reduction of our nation's addiction to oil," said Betsy Taylor, president, Center for a New American Dream.
For the service professional, the hybrid calculator tool can enhance one's reputation of being a viable resource for clients. Being their go-to person builds trust and loyalty.
Try it out. It's free. Then ask yourself: "Should the hybrid cost calculator be in my information toolbox?"
(Sources: National Renewable Energy
Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of
Energy)
