More on Hybrid Hype

Others getting on the Prius case.
Image, not Economics

Wired 14.02: The Teardown Artists:

"Tearing apart the Prius convinced GM that Toyota was using the car as a 'tip of the spear' to change its image from a maker of good, utilitarian cars to a high tech company, Phillips says. 'And that's how Toyota will market its vehicles in the future. The Lexus hybrid is performance without guilt. It's a premium product. Nine-tenths of the people who buy it will never do the math; it's one big high tech image statement.'"

And : because of the CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards, every high milage hybrid, frees up a Big Truck for sale.

Buy a Hybrid, and Save a Guzzler - New York Times:

"Instead of simply saving gas when you buy a hybrid, you're giving somebody else the right to use it."