CNet.com Article: What's the problem with hybrid cars?

I'm not surprised, and she did make a very good point about attitudes. That's why I could care less if a gallon of regular unleaded hit $4.79, the only way to change consumer behavior is regulatory (Laws requiring fuel economy standards or enforcing slower speed limits) or Price.

When my Prius conked on my last November, yeah I was a bit ticked off. But around two weeks later there was a recall about stalling cars from another manufacturer. Matter of fact, wiring problems or software glitches show up fairly often in recall notices.

Go to NHTSA and do a search for "stalling" or "Ford stalling" and you'll get the facts.

This has nothing to do with "new technology" but to do with deep-seated fears in some segments of the driving public and especially the Big Three. The issue of scary "new technology" has always been brought up whenever a manufacturer beat others to market with something new.

You know, unreliable and scary things like the: self-starter, automatic transmission, disk brakes, transistor ignition, fuel injection, ABS, airbags, etc.

Have you seen the archived boardroom interview of that windbag Lee Iacocca, when he refused to put airbags in cars. He claimed they were dangerous and would kill far more people than could be saved.

A few years later there was a neat self-serving commercial. In his opulent office, a very timid couple are ushered in. They seem to be very awestruck by The Big Guy. They go on to tell him how the airbags in their Chrysler minivan saved their lives, and the commercial ended "Advantage: Chrysler!"

:roll:

 

Regardless of whether they want to buy one themselves, you would think people would be more positive about other people driving low emissions vehicles. Hybrids have the lowest emissions.

Unfortunately cynicism, self-interest, and materialism appear to have reached the stage where people would rather berate the ethical choices of others than admit the environmental consequences of their own purchases and actions. It reflects a total lack of personal responsibility and suggests that people have swallowed the "I am what I buy" mantra of the advertising industry whole. Buy an Ipod or a sports car, you're cool! This means that all negativity about Ipods and sports cars thereafter registers as a personal affront.

I'm from the UK where asthma in urban areas is increasingly common due to vehicle emissions. Perhaps every article about hybrids could be linked to a video clip of a four-year-old having an asthma attack. Perhaps people would get it then.

BTW, I am convinced most hybrids will save their owners money, but I am more amazed by the general apathy about them as clean technology.