Re: What Makes A Hybrid Hot

According to the brain scientists at BusinessWeek, when it comes to hybrid cars, "Buyers seem to prefer ones that feel, um, weird to drive".

I'd say this article epitomizes journalistic ignorance. How about a little research, or some objectivity?

The majority of hybrid buyers are much more intelligent than the writer of the BW article. The majority of hybrid buyers care about the environment and they care about foreign oil and oil dependency, and they are buying hybrids to invest in the future.

While the article notes that hybrids don't achieve EPA numbers, it makes no mention of the fact that conventional vehicles don't achieve EPA numbers. You can't compare the real world fuel economy of a hybrid to the EPA fuel economy of conventional vehicles.

According to Consumer Reports, the majority of conventional vehicles don't even come close to their EPA ratings in city driving, missing those ratings by as much as 40 or even 50%. Yet this is not important? I guess the grossly misleading fuel economy of 99% of America's vehicles is a non-issue to BusinessWeek.

Since increased congestion is the future for the majority of American drivers, shouldn't city driving be the standard for judging fuel economy? In these conditions hybrids are vastly superior to conventional vehicles, and the potential of hybrid vehicles in these conditions has barely been tapped.

That's the real hybrid story.

I can't help but wonder if BW's ignorance was based on bad assumptions, or just the quest for GM's advertising dollars.