"Hybrids are small and cramped."

Our old 2010 Toyota Prius has more room than many mid-size sedans, due to its ingenious cabin design.  We often leave the back seats folded down for hauling cargo back 'n forth.  It truly is amazing - the stuff we can carry.  My small pickup truck has no cover over the bed, so the Prius can carry almost as much - protected from the elements and thieves.

Hybrid Car Myth #10: 

"Hybrids are brand-new technology."

According to an article in Business Week, I was surprised to learn that an American engineer name H. Piper filed a patent for the first gasoline-electric hybrid vehicle in 1905! Evidently, in 1900, equal numbers of electric, steam, and gasoline powered vehicles were produced. It wasn't until the invention of the electric starter, combined with the production of cheap gasoline did the steam and electric vehicles disappear.

Hybrid Car Myth #11: 

"People buy hybrids just to save money on gas."

Check out these interesting statistics from ConsumerReports.org on car owner satisfaction for 2011:  

Consumer Reports had polled owners of all new vehicles for their ratings on different aspects of their  cars.  The "overall" satisfaction scores ranged from a low of 40% who said they'd purchase another vehicle of the same make and model, to an average high of around 70% who said they'd purchase their cars again in the future.

O.K. this is where it gets interesting:  A whopping 88% of Chevrolet Corvette owners said they'd buy another Corvette...

But wait--96% of hybrid car owners--said they'd purchase another hybrid!

Hybrid Car Myth #12: 

"Hybrids are our answer to our dependence on the Middle East for oil...thank heavens!"

I wish this were true but sadly, it isn't. Not by a long shot. Although the numbers of hybrid cars on the road is increasing fast, it will barely make a dent in our dependence on foreign oil. Here's why:  Exxon Mobile forecasts 30% of the total vehicle sales will be hybrids by 2030.

Let's say the milestone of 3 million hybrids are on the road by the end of 2012. This seems encouraging until you realize that there's around 200 million vehicles on the road today and over 700 million worldwide! And the numbers of all types of vehicles--hybrid or not--continue to increase exponentially. China alone has jumped in with an exploding car market.

So, as far as independence from foreign oil is concerned, we have to look at hybrids as being only a partial solution. We need new technology, like hydrogen fuel---which is made from water! With the only by-product/exhaust being water and carbon dioxide. (Not carbon monoxide like with fossil fuels.)

However, mass-produced hydrogen fuel is forecast not to be a reality until 2050! Not fast enough! It's not fast enough because the absolute limits of fossil fuel availability is forecast to be around 2035, given the present growth of the world's swelling fuel demands.

The next page find out how Japan Succeeds with the Toyota Prius...

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But, I have no doubt that we'll figure something out once the oil wells start to dry up. -ed.