Thanks for the "rule of thumb" Bob. No disagreement from me about GM needing to make improvements to their hybrid offerings. That said, I would like to see Toyota come up with cylinder deactivation for their V6s and V8s. They could really use that to improve the freeway mileage on their larger models.

I thought I had read where this two-mode hybrid transmission was a joint project involving BMW and Daimler-Chrysler. This made me hopeful that there would be a large volume of brands and models with a hybrid option. None of these companies will do themselves any good if their new offerings perform like the current GM hybrid offering.

I'm really hopeful, both for GM, and everyone else, that they have big success with this product. I think the real promise of hybrid technology will come when we can get hybrids technology into a large % of SUVs and light trucks. Especially a plug in.

I would love it if we were to have the problem of having so many plugins that we have to come up with more power plants. Wishful thinking maybe, but that's what I'm hoping for.

Thanks again for the "rule of thumb."