By Charlie Smith

Citizens are finally demanding electricity-powered cars—many years after David Suzuki bought Canada’s first hybrid.

As Vancouver’s “roving veterinarian”, Susan Krakauer sometimes does a lot of driving while making house calls for pets in distress. But Krakauer, who lives in East Vancouver, also happens to be a Buddhist with a keen concern about global warming. She knows that driving contributes to the problem, but she sometimes has no alternative, particularly if she’s taking equipment with her to do surgical procedures.

“It just seems completely factual to me that we are destroying our planet, and we all need to take some personal responsibility about it, so I do my best,” Krakauer told the Georgia Straight in an interview at her home.

To try to do her part for the environment, Krakauer bought a 2006 Honda Insight hybrid car about five months ago. It runs on gasoline and on electricity, travelling 100 kilometres on four litres of gasoline.

“I wanted to drive something that was more environmentally responsible,” Krakauer said. “It’s great on gas.”

She recognizes that the car probably cost $4,000 to $5,000 more than a regular vehicle but figures this will eventually be offset by fuel savings. Krakauer is one of a growing number of hybrid drivers in Canada and the United States. Three of this region’s most famous residents–singer Sarah McLachlan, Premier Gordon Campbell, and environmentalist David Suzuki–all drive hybrid cars.

According to company statistics, in the first seven months of 2007, Toyota and Lexus sold 5,651 hybrid vehicles in Canada–more than 30 percent of all Toyota hybrids sold in Canada since the Japanese auto giant introduced the Prius in 2000. J.D. Power and Associates, a California-based consumer-research firm that tracks car-buying habits, issued a news release on August 2 pointing out that hybrid-vehicle sales in the U.S. will increase by 35 percent this year over 2006. The company forecast that hybrid sales will go from 2.3 percent of the light-vehicle market in 2007 to 4.6 percent by 2010. more on hybrid cars

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