Buying "GREEN" Cars

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Buying "GREEN" Cars Because We Are
pending Too Much "GREEN" on Gas

Erika Elliott Chelsea Elliott
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Introduction

• August 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina struck with
  powerful force on the coast of Louisiana
• 31 oil refineries in 2002, 17 in 2005
• In 1999 Honda Insight was the first hybrid car to
  hit the mass market in the United States.
• Mileage ratings of 61 mpg city and 70 mpg
  highway.
• August/September 2005 gas meets highest at 3.14

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Did the increase in gas prices caused by
Hurricane Katrina affect the sales of hybrid
cars?
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• We investigated gas prices all around the US.
• We hoped to find a relationship between the
  increasing gas prices and sale of hybrid
  vehicles.
• Our background information led us to find graphs
  supporting our hypothesis.

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Methods

• EBSCO
• Search Engines
• Gas Buddy
• Green Car Congress
• Created charts
• Reused charts

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Results

• We found that there was a DIRECT CORRELATION
  between National Hybrid Sales vs. National Gas
  Prices with few outliers. Following the months of
  Hurricane Katrina (August, September, and
  October).

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In 2002, there were 31 oil refineries in
Louisiana.
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Gas prices, 2005 in US (red) and Canada (blue)
Hybrid Sales in US
The circled area on the above graph shows the
time that Hurricane Katrina hit the US. At that
time gas prices AND hybrid sales were BOTH at
their highest peak.
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By 2005, the number of oil refineries in
Louisiana had been cut in about ½
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Conclusion

• Our hypothesis was CORRECT!!!!
• Few outliers, but had enough positive information
  to support our hypothesis.
• Graph on Slide 8
• Large increase in hybrid sales between
  August/September
• Largest change in gas prices between
  August/September

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Further Study

• Hybrid Vehicle Sales vs. NonHybrid Vehicle Sales
• Prices of Alternative Fuel vs. Petroleum Based
  Fuels

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Acknowledgements

• Mrs. Velvet Dowdy for providing research
  articles.
• Mrs. Christina Thurston for answering questions
  related to our topic.
• GCHS Library for providing laptops for our
  research.
• Graves County Public Library for the usage of
  their computers to finish our research.

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References

• "Current Gas Prices and Price History." Current
  Gas Prices and Price History. 02 May 2007.
  zFacts.com. Oct 2007
  . "Hybrid Cars and Alternative Motor Vehicles."
  Vehicles Purchased or Placed in Service. 12 Oct
  2007. Internal Revenue Service. 18 Oct 2007
  00.html.
• de Place, Eric. "Cascadia Scorecard Weblog Gas."
  Hybrid Hype Incentives Gone Wild. 14 Feb 2006.
  Sept 2007 og/gas/index.html.
• Diamond, David. "The Determinants of
  Hybrid-Electric Vehicle Adoption." Dec 2006 Sept
  2007 64/1/DiamondhybridworkingpaperrevDec06.doc.
  
• Dunn, Philip. "Hybrid Cars -- Pros and Cons."
  Hybrid Cars -- Pros and Cons. 19 Jan 2006.
  physorg.com. Sept 2007 s10031.html.

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References

• "Green Car Congress US Sales of Hybrids in
  October up 11 Year-on-Year." US Sales of Hybrids
  in October up 11 Year-on-Year. 03 Nov 2006.
  Green Car Congress. 18 Oct 2007
  of_hyb.html.
• "Louisiana Gas Plants and Total Capacity by
  Parish - LA DNR - Technology Assesum." Louisiana
  Gas Plants - 2002. 15 Mar 2007. Oil Gas
  Journal. 16 Oct 2007 /execdiv/techasmt/oil_gas/refineries/gasplant_map.
  htm.
• "Map Gas Prices." Map Gas Prices. 18 Oct 2007.
  GasBuddy Organization Inc.. Sept 2007
  .
• Numan , Matt. "Gas Prices - Every Car I Drive
  with Matt Numan - San Jose Mercury News automot."
  Gas Prices and Car Sales. 16 May 2007. J.D. Power
  Associates.). Sept 2007 m/blogs/nauman/category/gas-prices/.