Just curious if the current gas prices will give rise to a crop of ..... less gay hybrids.   I drive guzzlers right now and would consider an escape hybrid as the least affeminate of the current crop.  I'm hoping in the next couple years costs come down and a real vehicle from a DOMESTIC manufacturer will become available.    I'm thinking heavy duty 4x4 stuff here or at least a decent sized sedan.   I hate the japanese econo looking cars/trucks regardless of what you may say they are built like they're made of recycled budweiser cans.   I want steel, lots of it!

I just bought a new F-150 a week ago.  They have the Escape Hybrid in the showroom and can't sell it.  My salesman did the math for me.  If gas was $3 a gallon, which it isn't here, FL, yet, you'd have to keep it at least 7 years to make up the difference over the $5k over the base models mileage.  In the course of that time you'd have to replace the battery pack which is where the spare is normally.  That battery pack is 1,800 at the dealership.  They'll have to double the mileage in order for somebody to take these seriously IMO.

I would rather see them dump a ton of technology into cylinder head design so that they can make rediculous power with smaller dispacment motors.

If they could run them well off of a bio fuel that would be terrific too.

As the previous poster mentioned the thechnology is just not there to use the electronics yet.