Hybrid cars: The costs of being an early adopter

When I worked in the software industry, the next release was always more important than the current version. Every day users would inquire as to when the next, better version was going to be released. Ironically, the next, better version always had "bugs" and the first power users, the company's early adopters, always found them. That IS the software industry.

As automobiles become more technologically advanced, they begin to rely more and more on computers. While all vehicles use multiple computers, hybrid cars have raised the bar significantly higher. In fact, recently, the Toyota Prius hybrid car needed a software upgrade to fix a few lines of buggy code.

Suddenly, the automotive world sounds just like the software world. Perhaps soon such upgrades will simply require the Prius, and other hybrids, to connect to the Internet to download future software updates.

Anyway, most early adopters are very happy being early adopters. Ultimately, bugs can be fixed, or at least a "work around" can be created, and the new features continually and regularly justify the risk.

Hybrids such as the Prius and the Honda Civic hybrid are already multi-generational and have proven themselves reliable. Yes, hybrid batteries are still an issue, and until hybrid battery supply significantly improves, the battery issue is a legitimate concern.

Nonetheless, the majority of hybrid car owners have ranked their vehicles very high in customer satisfaction.

More important, early adopters of hybrid technology are using their power as consumers to influence - dare I say mandate - change. Such a purchase is a vote for reduced foreign-oil dependency and a cleaner world. It's either that, or the same old thing - rich oil companies, dirty environment, and War in the Middle East.

While early adopters are taking some risk purchasing a hybrid car, they are also leading the charge for change in the automotive industry and it isn't easy to put a price on that.