Use of hybrid vehicles in Japan: An analysis of used car market data

•We analyzed Japan’s used car market data to understand hybrid vehicle (HV) use.•HV owners drive much longer distances than gasoline vehicle (GV) owners.•HV owners emit less carbon dioxide emissions.•GV owners with high travel demand switched from GVs to HVs.•The per-kilometer travel cost of HVs is much lower than that of GVs. Despite the rapid market penetration of hybrid vehicles (HVs), their usage and contributions to environmental protection have not been examined by vehicle traveling data. In this paper, we analyzed Japan’s used car market data to understand how HVs are used on the street. We find GV drivers with high travel demand switched from GVs to HVs during the transition period. Despite HV owners driving much longer distances than conventional gasoline vehicle (GV) owners, they emit less carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, owing to better fuel economy. We also find that HV owners spend roughly the same amount of money annually as GV owners. However, the per-kilometer travel cost of HVs is much lower than that of GVs even if the depreciation cost of the vehicle and vehicle related taxes are included in the analysis.