Interesting angle Bob.
I did see that Toyota is tinkering with a new Prius Gen 3 that looks to near the 100mpg barrier while knocking a full second off there 0-60 times! It will be interesting to watch the segment leader jump ahead once again. (
link)
Personally I'd prefer to see the focus on overall 'real' improvements rather than using Hybrids as a deceptive approach in selling cars. If a company is using the hybrid technology for a performance enhancement then let's be sure it is seen that way as adding a tiny battery and electric boost to an SUV isn't going to make a super efficient car out of it ... nor is it going to 'really' be cleaner in the long run. (ie. complexity, battery waste, etc) Hopefully most buyers understand what they are getting, but I'm doubting it. YMMV.