I think the car companies are full of it. These hybrids are nothing but expensive ways to showcase technlogical superiority. What do I mean? Well my roomate has a 1997? Jetta TDI. In the back of the window he has a big sign that says "50 MPG highway, 38 MPG city. Take your #$^& hybrid and drive off a cliff"! Most people don't beleive it. Last trip home over 1300 miles we got 52.3 mpg. He takes care of the car, keeps it tuned, and it runs clean.
The REAL way to get better gas milegage isn't by using some fancy, impossible-to-service hybrid POS, but by building better cars and *gasp* ENGINEERING them better.
Car companies just want people to think better gas mileage is impossible because then THEY DON"T HAVE TO DESIGN GOOD CARS and can charge more $$$ for "high technology fuel efficient vehicles".
The time may come when hybrids are the way to increase fuel economy, but why not put more R&D budget into fuel cells or something.
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I think the car companies are full of it. These hybrids are nothing but expensive ways to showcase technlogical superiority. What do I mean? Well my roomate has a 1997? Jetta TDI. In the back of the window he has a big sign that says "50 MPG highway, 38 MPG city. Take your #$^& hybrid and drive off a cliff"! Most people don't beleive it. Last trip home over 1300 miles we got 52.3 mpg. He takes care of the car, keeps it tuned, and it runs clean. The REAL way to get better gas milegage isn't by using some fancy, impossible-to-service hybrid POS, but by building better cars and *gasp* ENGINEERING them better. Car companies just want people to think better gas mileage is impossible because then THEY DON"T HAVE TO DESIGN GOOD CARS and can charge more $$$ for "high technology fuel efficient vehicles". The time may come when hybrids are the way to increase fuel economy, but why not put more R&D budget into fuel cells or something.