Toyota Motor Corp.'s newest Prius hybrid, with tens of thousands of orders in before it hit dealerships nationwide in May, seems a sure-fire winner in the race to dominate the eco-car market. Also in the running is Honda Motor Co.'s gas-electric Insight, introduced earlier this year. But with full-electric vehicles coming up fast in the development lane and minivehicle makers scrambling to improve fuel efficiency, will hybrids fulfill their promise in the global market for "green" cars? Full Article
First of all, no matter how quickly electric cars get here, it won't represent a huge step up until we have a modern electrical grid suplied by clean, renewable energy. Otherwise, we're still essentially powering our cars with coal. Second, what exactly is the promise of hybrids if not as a step towards vehicles that don't utilize fossil fuel at all? The oil is running out. Hybrids are the best thing on the road right now not because my grandchildren will be driving them, because they won't, but because they use less of a dwindling resource while helping to create the market for alternative vehicles, without which electric cars would not be proceeding nearly so quickly. The article might see it as a failure, but in terms of the advent of electric cars, there can be no greater destiny for the hybrid than to make possible its own obsolescence.
Tell that to my friend who keeps say we need more research (I suppose he was hinting at hydrogen fuel cell). I don't disagree but it's basically the carrot on a stick at this point in time (they've promised us fuel cells twice in recent times. I'm not falling for that trick again). Hybrids are here and now. You gotta learn how to walk before you can learn how to run.
Electric motor in Prius is getting more and more powerful. The 2010 Prius has 80 hp electric motor. We are getting closer...
