I am in agreement with a lot of this quotation -

"The release of many of the hybrid vehicles, and the attempts at creating fuel cell vehicles should be applauded, but these advances simply are not large enough, and they do not offer enough of a benefit to consumers. Most hybrid vehicles on the market today cost several thousand dollars more than their counterparts on the market. Even with the current high gas prices, it still takes regular driving for more than three years for consumers to begin to see any real benefit from ownership of a hybrid.

Given the additional cost of most hybrid vehicles, consumers have been reluctant to purchase these vehicles in real numbers. Not to mention, that the new mini-SUV hybrids, such as the Ford Escape, appear to offer only minimal fuel efficiency improvements under the driving conditions of many of their owners (e.g. less stop-n-go traffic)"

- But, I really would prefer to see more in the realm of the Prius Plus style of hybrid vehicle, particularly along the bio-diesel lines. This gives the best of both worlds, range and environmental protection in addition to low cost per mile of short range operation (10-60 mi).

Admittedly, current battery performance is poor, but the amazing improvements seen over the past few years give hope for the near term future, particularly in the Li Ion area.

I own an oxygen concentrator (Inogen One) now that has a 14.8 Volt 6.6 Amp. hr battery that fully recharges in 3 hours yet it weighs less than 2 pounds. This battery has allowed this concentrator to be the only personal oxygen delivery system that has been approved by the FDA for patient use, and by the FAA for passengers aboard US airlines on regular commercial flights (Aug 2005). As a point of reference, if a regular car battery was built like this battery it would weigh about 25 pounds and could be about 12 x 6 x 3 and still provide a 125 A hr capacity. Compare that to your car's battery!
Jim Baber | 09.14.05 - 2:10 pm | #