July 25, 2007

The Prius, Car of the Creative Class

by Alex Morrison

SvpriusThe inhabitants of Silicon Valley, the heartland of the so-called “creative class”, have opted for the Prius as their collective car of choice. This past June more of Toyota’s hybrids were sold in the high-tech metro area than any other vehicle, far surpassing the national standards. The Creative Class Group reports:

“Are we ahead of the curve, or what?” asked Rod Diridon, executive director of the Mineta Transportation Institute at San Jose State University, and a Prius owner.

The Prius’ newfound status reflects the continued greening of Silicon Valley. Diridon listed sustained higher gas prices, the availability of carpool-lane stickers for solo Prius drivers - no more are being issued - and the intelligence of local residents as factors in the Prius’ popularity.”

The Car of the Creative Class

Article categories: Automotive, Creative Class, Environmental, Ethical Consumerism

Article Link | Add To Delicious Add To Digg Add To Stumble Upon | Email This | Print This Post |

Popular Articles


Green Car Service Comes To London
Following the heels of the Ozocar service in New York city, now London gets it's green car service with Green Tomato. Green Tomato runs a fleet of Toyota Prius to deliver you fro...

Anger Over Viral Prius Ad Spreads Just as Virally
"Anthem," a recent Prius ad that pokes a bit of fun at Fresno, CA (a city that has had a hard time shaking its reputation as a pass-through tourist stop) has just been pulled, t...

Enertia Electric Bike
Set to be released early next year, Oregon company Brammo Motorsports have designed a new electric motorbike called the Enertia Bike. Weighing just 275 pounds, the bik...

Questioning The Idea of a Creative Class
Jeff Jarvis has a compelling post describing how we're witnessing the end mass production and of a priestly, elite creative class. He explains that though the internet does n...

Creative Class Absent From California?
On his blog, the author Richard Florida posts a PDF of a heat map of the creative class he defined in his book of the same name. Much of the creative class lives in the Eastern...

BMW & The Creative Class
In an interview on PSFK a few weeks ago, Sascha Lewis, co-founder of Flavorpill, talked about his readership - this Creative Class: "These are artists, publishers, designe...

3 Responses to “The Prius, Car of the Creative Class”

  1. Phil
    Posted from: 24.113.14.156

    July 25th, 2007 at 4:12 pm

    People say people buy Prius because of its looks. “It’s the one hybrid that doesn’t look like a non-hybrid.” Actually many people buy Prius in spite of its looks. They buy it to get off oil, aka national security.

  2. John Voelcker
    Posted from: 71.190.77.236

    July 26th, 2007 at 5:08 am

    Actually they DO buy it because of its looks, which make a statement. cf NY Times (requires Select membership): http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F30711F93E5A0C778CDDAE0894DF404482

    As for “getting off oil,” fuel mileage is one thing but carbon loading is another. Many Euro small cars are as good as the Prius in overall carbon emissions, though their tailpipe “criteria emissions” (CO, HC, NOx) are not quite as good.

    BMW is already trumpeting that this fall’s (Euro-only) Mini Diesel with engine-cutoff equals the Prius on overall CO2 emissions.

    There are many ways to skin a cat; it’s going to be a fascinating 20 years in auto tech!

  3. BetaBonnie
    Posted from: 216.64.30.243

    July 26th, 2007 at 8:45 am

    Until West Coasties can boast public transportation systems equal to or better than those of many midwest and east coast cities, they can stop patting themselves on the back.

    Millions of us get to work via public transport. For those of us foolish enough to own a car for occasional weekend getaways, we select our car models based on insurance rates and least-likely-to-be-stolen ratings.

    Are we ahead of the curve or what?

Leave a Comment

We're open to critical discussion but not abuse or spam. Note that your IP address will be published alongside your comment.

Subscribe

Search PSFK

About PSFK

    PSFK is a global trends and innovation company that helps its readers, guests and clients make things better. PSFK publishes websites and reports; hosts conferences and events; and provides advice and consultancy. Contact us.