I notice many discussions based upon the economic viability of the hybrids vs conventional cars.
There is often a statement to the effect that environmental issues are created/fabricated to support funding of other less wealthy countries. ie. "a conspiracy to move vast sums of money from us "the have's" to the "have not's".

What seems to be missing from the equation is less fuel consumption means less money being exported from our home country to buy oil. We have to remember that the "have nots" actually have the oil.

So if the anti hybrid lobby in Nth America want to keep buying 14,000,000 barrels of oil every day (1 trillion USD/day), then, they can attempt to proceed. But would it not be better to reduce that to 7,000,000 barrels a day, save the cash and reduce the footprint, thereby giving themselves a chance to prove environmental change is not related to emmissions.

We get very good mileage (150% more miles) from our Prius compared to our 1999 VW Jetta which is already a good economic car. We use both cars in the same area and we both work within one block of each other. We enjoy reducing consumption and testing the hybrid, reducing our emmissions just in case emmissions are affecting climate change.

Shaun

Why not use one car, then?

Is there an "anti hybrid" lobby? I've found people who don't feel an available hybrid will work for them but I've never run into anyone who is against hybrids.

There are clusters of anti-hybrid skeptics:

1. non-hybrid marketers - those who live by selling or supporting non-hybrids are trying to fight what they see as competition, blissfully ignorant that it is also their future.
2. political ax grinders - entertainers who make a living belittling others. When facts and data are not there, they lie or repeat a lie, about hybrids. They love to pick on 'global warming' and 'green' but haven't noticed that it isn't working thanks to the price of gas.
3. distractors - those who have something else to advocate, trolls by another name.

The "anti hybrid" crowd is shrinking but there are a few well known examples:

• CNW Marketing - bogus hybrid dust-to-dust report and now published in cars.com
• Cars.com - source or lint collector for critical news about hybrids
• USA magazine rack, every auto magazine editor and reporter - rigged tests using manual transmission anything versus a hybrid that show the manual transmission, non-hybrid doesn't s*ck
• Center For Automotive Research - a think tank that seems unable to conceive of any hybrid technology but is bang on for gas only vehicles
• non-hybrid sales critters - oppose competing hybrid technology that takes away their customers
• Jeremy Charles Clarkson - Top Gear presenter had a Prius shot up
• Martin Delgado - Sunday Mail reporter lied about hybrid batteries
• Chris Demorro - student newspaper reporter who repeated CNW Marketing and Martin Delgado nonsense without fact checking
• Penn and Teller - Las Vegas magic act reporting bogus engineering analysis
• Vinod Khosla - venture capitalists who continues to repeat false hybrid cost claims
• Rush Limbaugh - . . .
• "Hydrogen Fuel Technology" that replaced "Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles"
• alternative engines, alternative fuels, alternative <tbd>

I became a hybrid owner in October 2005 but the anti-hybrid crowd had been active before then. However, the increased gas prices since Katrina has eviscerated the worst of their nonsense.

Bob Wilson

Operation Iraqi Oil Freedom:

Automatic, stock, project car.

My other 1500 cc car:

Automatic, stock, backup car.
Free speech, dialog and knowledge thrives without the poison of SPAM.

I agree Harold, we should use one car.
Of course we try to use one car whenever possible, but I have to fetch small items throughout the day to support the factory and my wife has to go on office missions most days, thereby requiring 2 vehicles. Using a non petroleum based engine vehicle and living within walking distance of our place of work is our ultimate plan.

I know how it is Shawn. It is hard to live without our cars. We never seem to have the same hours either. H

Sorry Shaun. Clean up the spelling.H

Bob, you could also have mentioned the many (millions?) of people in this country who are simply resistant to change of any kind, the ones who are afraid of new things because they are unfamiliar and skeptical of improvements because they don't have time to be bothered learning anything new. It's not so much intentional as lazy or perhaps unthinking. Inertia is a very strong social dynamic.

If you want to see an anti-hybrid group in action, visit most any diesel auto related web forum. Some real hatred and resentment against anything non-diesel lurks there.

Any hybrid- especially Prius gets vengefully attacked by quite a few. If you join such website and identify yourself as a hybrid driver, some if not most will ignore you.

There's always people there who will insist all our lead-acid batteries are ruining the Earth, and how rescue workers will leave us dying in our cars for fear of shock, and glorify every single article of bad press.

The situation have somewhat improved over the years regarding the diesel auto forums, and recently have conversed in some meaningful conversation with them. (But I would never, ever dare to pont out even a single little disadvantage with their car on their website)

I know a few TDI owners who also own a hybrid car. I know they must really tweak the tails of some die-hards.

-Steve

Efficient drivers do it better.
1003 miles a tank personal record. 74MPG calculated. HCH1 CVT

I agree entirely. It never ceases to amaze me that even with hybrids on the road in every major city and state in the nation, most people are still completely ignorant regarding the technology and what it can do for them, and the planet.

I still get people asking me where I plug it in at work, where do I buy batteries, am I afraid of the high voltage in the rain, how can I commute without air conditioning, etc. These poor souls will never take the time to obtain even a rudimentary knowledge of anything outside of what they know until it is spoon fed to them. Sadly, they go through life not even willing to optimize their own well-being, much less that of a community, a nation, or the entire planet.

It is the ignorant among us that will eventually destroy us all.