In the latest AutoWeek, they did an Earth Day special. The Toyota Prius lost out to the VW Jetta TDI (running biodiesel) in a real world test that they conducted. I know three people that own the Prius and only one of them gets the claimed mileage, and better. He constantly watches the screen on the dash and adjusts his driving in response to it. He IS a technogeek. Those that set the cruise control and go, like an ordinary car, are disappointed. If you put a simple vacuum gauge on the dash of your ordinary gasoline car and constantly drive to it, your mileage would also improve.

While the complexity of the gas/battery hybrids is embraced by technogeeks, there are simpler ways to accomplish the same result. Ford has a turbodiesel Focus in Europe, but wont sell it here. Add some of the other high mileage features that the hybrids have, like low rolling resistance tires, and you would have hybrid performance without the cost and complexity.

Jim