http://www.newsday.com/mynews/ny-swg...,1196716.story

Improvements for the ICE may begin to rival FE for hybrids.

(Of course any improvements could be applied to Gas-hybrid also, but initial cost of vehicle would be thousands less at this point in time).

Sounds good for the short term, but still doesn't address the pollution or foreign oil dependency issues. ICE's will always be very inefficient in the sense that for a given amount of HP/torque produced, not much actually gets to move the vehicle forward, (ie: friction/heat). I still think EV is the way to go as an electric motor has very high torque and 90%++ efficient in transfer of HP to moving the vehicle plus no emissions. Motors attached directly to the drive wheels with nothing in between to rob power is very good way to squeeze the most out of an EV system.

May very well be more than just short term, especially in terms of ICE efficiency.

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=107691

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2005/10/ho...ng_si.html#more