Hybrid car owners are not feeling the love of the environment anymore and showing it with their purchasing power. I remember the hysteria a decade ago if you didn’t buy a hybrid then you didn’t love Mother Earth. JustFactsDaily.com had this question up on their website for viewers to answer:

Thus far in 2015, what portion of the people who traded in a hybrid or electric car purchased another such car?

Once you answered, they provided documentation to research done by Edmunds.com:

Car buyers are trading in hybrid and electric cars for SUVs at a higher rate than ever before, according to a new analysis from car-buying platform Edmunds.com.

According to Edmunds.com, about 22 percent of people who have traded in their hybrids and EVs in 2015 bought a new SUV. The number represents a sharp increase from 18.8 percent last year, and it is nearly double the rate of 11.9 percent just three years ago. Overall, only 45 percent of this year’s hybrid and EV trade-ins have gone toward the purchase of another alternative fuel vehicle, down from just over 60 percent in 2012. Never before have loyalty rates for alt-fuel vehicles fallen below 50 percent.

Edmunds also provides analysis of how long it takes financially to justify paying the price of hybrid vehicles with gas price savings:

To underscore the point, Edmunds calculates that at the peak average national gas price of $4.67/gallon in October 2012, it would take five years to break even on the $3,770 price difference between a Toyota Camry LE Hybrid ($28,230) and a Toyota Camry LE ($24,460). At today’s national average gas price of $2.27/gallon, it would take twice as much time (10.5 years) to close the same gap.