Driving fuel-efficient hybrid has been fun experience

Last week, the price of gas at a Naperville station on 75th Street went from $2.87 Tuesday morning to $3.09 that afternoon.

Once, that would have really bugged me. Not so since I started getting 46 miles a gallon.

I've been driving my downsized, fuel-efficient Toyota Prius for six months, but lately I feel like a moving advertisement. I've had so many interesting conversations with so many people -- literally, at least a couple a week -- who have stopped me, asking about my car.

They seem surprised that the quiet hybrid motor needs no unusual attention, that the car actually gets the kind of mileage promised, that there are no drawbacks (that I've found so far, at least).

Instead of the nay-sayers I encountered when considering the purchase, the people I meet while driving the car are enthralled. From the perch of their SUVs, they are fascinated.

Far be it for me to throw stones at SUV owners. I've still got my old one parked in the garage for when we need it. But I am honestly surprised at how much I love driving this car.

I'm not surprised I like the size. I drove, and loved, a Corolla for years and missed it ridiculously when I got my first van when I had our third child.

In the years since, I reluctantly drove large vehicles for carpooling, for family driving trips, for carrying "stuff" to college. I considered those vehicles necessary evils, particularly when it came to driving around town.

But a few years ago when my son left for college and left his little car at home, I started driving that -- and enjoyed every minute until he came home for the summer, after which his brother started using the car.

Back I went to my SUV, which has served me well and is connected with many great memories. But yesterday, when I climbed into it to drive a short distance to pick up a large item, I couldn't believe I used to drive that truck daily.

But there's more to driving a smaller vehicle than the convenience in parking and the thrill of spending $30 at the gas tank once every couple of weeks instead of $80 to $90 once a week.

There's something surprisingly satisfying about driving the Prius (and no, I have no stock in Toyota) -- something that just feels good. Even when I have to run a non-efficient errand, I hear that "oh, well, I'm not really using much gas" voice in my head.

Me driving the Prius is supposed to be a short-lived thing until the next driver in my family is licensed. Then, the plan went, I was finally going to get a car I really wanted -- not sure what that was, but something not completely sensible, something not so huge, something not with the turning radius of a Mack truck.

Well, you know what they say about the best-laid plans. The more I drive this funny-looking car, the more I like it and the more I'm just not sure I can, with a clear conscience, drive a non-hybrid again.

As they used to say: Try it, you'll like it. I honestly don't understand why more people don't drive them and why more cars aren't hybrids.

Next summer, when I finally shop for a car just for me, we'll see. Meanwhile, I'm getting more than a kick out of saving the Earth while zipping around suburbia.