Are Hybrids Green Machines?
The hybrid car has become environmentalist’s status symbol; you can’t be green if you don’t drive a hybrid machine. Hybrids advance technology in the right direction, but fundamentally they are just gasoline powered automobiles that have slightly better fuel efficiencies than standard economical cars.
A Toyota Prius gets 45 mpg on the highway which is only slightly better than a Toyota Corolla at 37 mpg. These aren’t the kinds of numbers that will help global warming researchers sleep better at night. Why then are hybrids embraced so fervently by the environmental community?
Hybrid cars advance technology in many areas such as battery systems and regenerative breaking in a production scale environment. Advances in these and other areas will serve as building blocks as our world moves away from traditional gasoline powered automobiles. Although hybrids are not revolutionary green machines they are certainly worthy of a green check mark. Keep up the good work hybrids.
