First small riceburners, then hybrid cars

Hybrids will prove America wrong, again

I remember my parents picking me up from grade school one afternoon in the late '70's. Across the street from school, my father noticed my teacher's new Honda Civic. He laughed and said, "Who would ever want to drive a small riceburner like that? Honda is a motorcycle company, not a car company."

Well, needless to say, the rest is history. Not only did Honda do well selling cars no one "would ever want to drive", but so too did Toyota and Nissan. Just a few decades later, these 'riceburners' have knocked the American auto industry against the ropes and a TKO is very possible.

My father was a Union machinist and back in the '70's buying such a vehicle, regardless of how reliable it was or much gas it saved, was simply un-American. And it wasn't just my father, but most of America that felt that way.

Many Americans still feel that way today, which is why I think so many Americans are SO against hybrid cars. If hybrids take over much the same way riceburners did, it might just spell doom for American automakers.

According a Detroit News poll, the majority of Detroit-area readers don't believe hybrid vehicles will be around long. (See the Poll)

I say, get your head out of the sand. Don't make the same mistake twice.

The days of cheap oil appear to be over, and there probably isn't a windfall tax that can do anything to change that. A windfall tax can't stop problems in Iran or Nigeria. A windfall tax can't stop a billion new drivers from China and India.

The world has changed. Fuel efficiency and pollution will be the key drivers of not just automotive technology, but of all technology. In fact, clean and green technology is not only possible, as the Toyota Prius hybrid car so beautifully demonstrates, but it is destined to improve greatly, while getting significantly cheaper.

$3.00 gas is only the beginning, the beginning of the hybrid car revolution. Flex fuel hybrids, diesel hybrids, gasoline hybrids, hydrogen hybrids, and fuel cell hybrids - hybrids are THE future.