In 1973, the OPEC oil crisis started. It nearly brought America to its knees. Jimmy Carter started a large amount of reforms focused on clean energy and reducing America’s reliance on foreign oil. He installed solar panels on the White House and lead a push for wind and solar energy. However, as quick as it started, the crisis ended, and Reagan entered the White House. Once gas prices fell, pretty much everything Carter had set up was slowly dismantled, and 30 years of inefficient cars and reliance on oil began.

Over the last 10 years, the steep rise of gas prices has led to a resurgence of sustainability and hybrid cars, most prominently represented by the Toyota Prius. However, it’s important to note that many of those driving the Prius are not driven by it’s sustainability-minded marketing, but by the economy of having the electric option, especially when city driving. This exists in much the same way that Tesla sells more often to luxury and design-oriented markets despite how sustainable of a vehicle it is. What this has led to is a culture where people are only driving hybrids because of economy and convenience, and now that gas prices have dropped below $2 a gallon in much of the US, it’s as if everyone has forgot the lessons of the past.

The New Prius: Redesigned to target new markets

Toyota is learning this the hard way. Within the last 3 years, almost a quarter of US Prius purchasers no longer exist. Now they’re redesigning the car to focus on performance and style, and going all-in on an expensive Super Bowl ad to showcase the new vehicle. While some think that it will be hard for the Prius, long known as the representative of the hybrid and green driving category, to reposition to target those who are now focusing on brands like Nissan and Tesla, it remains to be seen. Toyota itself thinks that the Prius is so iconic that in essence it doesn’t need to mention being green in order to be seen that way. I think, that this is just another representation of how consumers are more focused on economy and convenience over sustainability and being green, and getting consumers to change their mindset with smarter marketing or focus on those two factors are really the only ways to create long term change and prevent people from switching back to Hummers and trucks as soon as gas price lowers or water becomes more plentiful or any other sort of social or environmental change.