By DON SHILLING

By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
SOME PEOPLE PAY EXTRA TO PUT LEATHER seats or a sunroof in their car, but Rebecca Dale opted for something more unusual -- electric power.
The retired librarian from North Lima is one of a growing number of area residents buying hybrid cars, which have a gasoline-powered engine combined with the electric motor.
"Everywhere I go, people talk to me," said Dale, 63.
First, they want to know if she has to plug in her sleek Honda Insight to keep it charged. The answer is no.
Second, they ask about gas mileage.
Dale is happy to point out that the automatic transmission Insight gets 55 mpg around town and almost 60 mpg on the highway.
And then she gets to the real reason she spent a few thousand dollars extra to get the car two years ago.
"I wanted to make an environmental statement. I wanted an opportunity to talk about issues of fuel economy," she said.
She said she's not trying to convert people to hybrids, just to get them thinking about this country's appetite for oil.
Enough area residents are interested in hybrids that the small number that arrive at area dealers are quickly snatched up.
"It's absolutely amazing," said Doug Wilt, a salesman at Taylor Toyota in Boardman. "Toyota can't provide enough of them this year."
The dealership often gets calls from residents of other states who are hoping to find a Toyota Prius hybrid on the lot, he said.
Cars sell fast
Toyota introduced a new body style, the Prius, this model year. Wilt said the dealership expects to receive and sell 14 of the hybrids this model year.
The dealership has a waiting list for '04 models and is taking orders for '05 models, which are expected this summer.
John Peluso, sales manager at The Honda Store in Boardman, said he orders one or two hybrid cars a month.
"We sell what we get in," he said.
Last year, Honda introduced a hybrid version of its Civic, which can seat five people. The car is more practical than the Insight, which seats just two, Peluso said.
The hybrid Civic costs about $20,000, compared to about $16,000 for a regular Civic. The Insight costs about $19,000.
Wilt said a Prius costs about $21,500, about $1,000 more than a Toyota Camry. The Prius is slightly smaller than the Camry, although it is larger than Toyota's subcompact, the Corolla.
Though Toyota and Honda are the only automakers offering hybrids, others are about to roll out models and are focusing on larger vehicles.
Ford plans to offer a hybrid version of its Escape sport-utility vehicle this summer, and DaimlerChrysler intends to offer a hybrid Dodge Ram pickup truck this fall.
Hybrids get better gas mileage and produce lower emissions than gasoline-powered vehicles because the electric motors help provide the power.
Honda and Toyota use different technology, however. Honda cars use the electric motor just as a boost to the gasoline engine, which always provides the main power.
When the car is going uphill or the driver tramps on the accelerator, the electric motor kicks in.
"I can pass trucks, cars, anything I need to going uphill," Dale said.
How it works
With the Toyota, the electric motor provides the power until the car is going 15 mph and then the gasoline engine takes over. The car gets a boost from the electric motor when the car accelerates hard, and it runs under a combination of both at highway speeds.
The batteries for the electric motors in both the Honda and Toyota models are recharged automatically under a process of regenerative braking. The energy from the slowing of the car is transferred to the batteries, instead of being lost as heat.
Gene DiVincenzo, a retired electrical engineer, said he is so taken with the technology of the hybrids that he ordered a Prius from Taylor earlier this month. He expects to receive it in May.
The gas mileage is nice, too, said the 68-year-old North Lima resident. He figures fuel savings will allow him to make up the extra cost of the car in a year and a half.
Dale, who bought her Honda mostly to stir up discussion, also enjoys how far she can go with the 10.5-gallon gas tank.
"You can go a long way on 10.5 gallons of gas," she said.
She said her small car isn't as comfortable as a larger, luxury car, but she's pleased with its performance.
"Everything about it is normal," she said as she drove the car along state Route 7 between North Lima and Columbiana. "You see, tree-huggers are normal people, too."
shilling@vindy.com