| By Jim Bruene on August 10, 2007 4:19 PM | Comments (2) |
In many ways, hybrid vehicles are the perfect antidote for guilt about our 21st century high-consumption lifestyle. Buy a Prius, and instantly feel better coasting around the city on self-generated battery power. Yet you still get to motor about in a relatively large, well-appointed and air-conditioned steel box (note 1).
That's why politicians have jumped on this bandwagon in droves. And why it makes a great marketing statement to support energy-saving and/or low-emission alternatives with loan discounts. Not only does it position you as caring about the larger environment, there is a very real environmental education benefit to the efforts.
The most recent example—Star One Credit Union <starone.org>, a $3 billion (assets), 71,000 member CU based in Sunnyvale, California—has a link on its homepage to its hybrid offer. Customers financing a new or used hybrid vehicle save 0.25% on their loan rate. On a $20,000 5-year loan, $139 is saved, enough to fill the tank three, maybe four times. The offer is spelled out here (screenshot below).
Other financial institutions offering hybrid car loans:
- UCB Bank (Miami, FL): no payments for 3 months offer here
- Deedham Savings (Deedham, MA): offer here
- Sound Credit Union (Tacoma, WA): 0.50% discount offer here
- Tech CU (San Jose, CA): 0.25% discount offer here
- Vancity (Vancouver, BC, Canada): Prime rate for low-emission vehicles here
Note:
(1) I'm not trying to be cynical here. As a former engineer, I think hybrid technology is fantastic. Using waste energy to fuel the car is both elegant and efficient, and I look forward to driving one soon.
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Star One is always on the cutting edge. It's great to see them getting some appreciation for supporting the environment and bringing additional benefits to their membership that do the same.
StarOne is great in that they take proactive steps to help our society. Showing an appreciation for our new hybrid technologies is definitely a creative measure.