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Progress is often made in increments. Still, it doesn't survive or thrive unless it is an economic win. New technology in the early stages requires patrons with money to burn on "cool" technology. People who don't care about the bottom line. HDTV is a good example. When the kinks are worked out and the efficiencies of mass production drop the price, then the average joe can participate. Hybrid cars are still in the "cool" technology phase. They are significantly more expensive than simple gasoline engine driven vehicles. The people who buy them aren't saving any money over the service life of the vehicle. It is all about owning a "cool" hybrid right now. Let's see if the automakers can do for hybrids what the HDTV industry has done for their product. If the price was identical and all the kinks were worked out, I would probably buy a hybrid. It won't happen for a while. My 1999 F150 4x4 had 22500 miles on it when I purchased it in August 2003. It has 29500 miles on it today. When it reaches 100,000 miles, I'll have a look at a hybrid as a replacement.

I think I agree with everything you said there. If a person born 100 years ago saw our technology, it would seem like voodoo. I don't believe in magic, but I also have a healthy respect for technology and greed...and what they can accomplish when combined.

Toyota is on their second generation hybrid Prius. It's greatly improved over the first generation. GM is coming out with their own hybrid technology, which I believe will include plug in technology.

So...some say that they can't pull their horse trailer uphill with the A/C on at 90 degrees. They shouldn't try. The IC engine will be the primary transportation motivation for the foreseeable future.

This will be good technology for some, not useful for others. I don't think anyone is suggesting that people with horse trailers be forced to buy a hybrid; in following the posts, one would think they had.

I suspect that plug-in electric cars will occupy a niche for awhile, like in neighborhoods where it's legal to drive your golf cart on the street.

Plug in hybrids will have a somewhat larger niche (IMO) but still a niche. Non-plug hybrids will have a still larger one.

If one is interested in saving money or cutting petroleum usage, a small car or a motorcycle probably makes more sense now. You wouldn't want to drive your small car on a highway that has heavy truck traffic, and you wouldn't want to ride your MC in the rain; however, they use fuel that's readily available, and they're proven systems.

The market will sort out what makes sense, and what doesn't...the only thing for sure is that the Feds will pi$$ away $billions, as they always do, on "alternatives."