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		In South Park’s episode “Smug Alert,” Parker and Stone poke fun at the smugness and elitist attitudes of Hollywood, the left, and hybrid drivers. Towards the end of the episode, after the denizens of South Park have destroyed their hybrid vehicles, Stan talks about how “smugness is a problem in people, and not hybrids... and people just need to learn how to drive hybrids - they could save the world one day... and then the citizens of South Park are like - we aren't ready yet - Let's go back to our gas guzzlers!” The first-generation Prius was launched in Japan nine years ago, in the form of compact sedan. It had a ‘turtle’ indicator that lit up when the charge in the battery was lower, and the car would perform more slowly. Misconceptions of the new technology abound. Recently after introduction into the United States, one pundit predicted that the Prius would have major operating failures after 20,000 miles. He proclaimed that salt from winter conditions would damage the hybrid components and lead to a massive failure for the vehicles. He deemed that no more hybrids would be produced. http://john1701a.com/prius/owners/jesse3.htm Hybrid technology has progressed greatly since the introduction of the Prius. For one, the turtle indicator is no longer in the car. None of the doom and gloom predictions made about hybrid technology have come true. The latest generation Prius, a midsized hatchback, is Toyota’s third best-selling model in the U.S. Surely, there are still unwarranted criticisms. A Consumer Reports article reported that consumers would not save money by purchasing hybrid models such as the Highlander, RX400h, and Honda Accord, which utilize a V6 engine for performance. Thus, the point of these performance hybrids is not to save gas; let alone that buying a luxury car for the sole purpose of saving gas defies logic in itself. The same report found that you would save money with the Honda Civic hybrid and Toyota Prius, which was compared to a smaller and inferior Toyota Corolla. Nonetheless, the Highlander, RX400h, and Honda Accord hybrid models offer a unique package of the best performance, fuel economy, and emissions of their respective model lineup. Earlier pundits condemned hybrid technology for not having high-performance options. Now that there are hybrids tailored towards extreme-performance (The Lexus GS450h hybrid goes from 0-60 in 5.2 seconds), critics are denouncing the gas savings of such vehicles. Go figure. Nonetheless, there are many reasons and mentalities for buying a hybrid: saving money for the fuel economy-enhanced models, environmental consciousness, technology, improved performance through the electric drive, and investing in the future. Though the cost work-ups may not be favorable for the bigger performance-minded hybrids, investing in hybrids now is going to help significantly reduce their cost and energy of production in the future. “Katsuaki Watanabe, Toyota Motor’s president, is aiming to close the price gap between hybrid vehicles and conventional gas-powered cars in the wake of the recent spike I oil prices (Noon).” “Rechargeable batteries, electric motors, and sophisticated computer controls do add to the cost of producing a hybrid car. However, as production numbers increase, economies of scale are expected to reduce those costs. Toyota plans to offer hybrid versions of all its most popular models and thus cut the incremental cost of hybrids in half (Berman).” Whether or not fuel cells become our future, it is clear that hybrid technology will pave the way. Fuel cells combine hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity. This electricity is then utilized drive high-torque electric motors, as a battery does in an electric vehicle and hybrid vehicles. By widely adopting hybrid technology, automakers will pave the way towards making fuel cell vehicles a reality. The mass production of hybrid cars means that manufacturing lines and supply/demand will be better tailored to producing fuel cell cars. The path from the modern internal combustion engine to the fuel cell is thus a continuum, with hybrids bridging the gap, as many components and electronics are shared between fuel cell electric/hybrid vehicles, battery-powered electric cars, hybrids, and plug-in hybrids. Further still, hybrid technology would still play a major role in hydrogen-powered vehicles. The reverse process of hydrolysis is highly inefficient and expensive. Toyota’s fuel cell hybrid vehicles will adapt a battery much like today’s hybrids to capture regenerative energy and improve performance and fuel economy. “In an Associated Press interview, Jim Press, president of Toyota Motor Sales USA, said: ‘I think everything will be a hybrid, eventually. It will either be a gas hybrid, a diesel hybrid, or a fuel-cell hybrid’ (Berman).” As we move further into the 21st century with threats of acc...