By Munim Deen

NORMAN, Okla. (U-WIRE)

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the hybrid vehicle. In the decade since the first Japan-only Toyota Prius, hybrids have overcome initial skepticism and scorn to become prolific fixtures on American roads.

Hybrids have become popular not because of their lessened impact on the environment, but because of their long-term affordability. Because of their increased gas mileage - and proven reliability - more people are driving hybrids.

When hybrids were first introduced, cost was a deal-breaker for most. For example, the first Prius - and its competitor the Honda Insight - was a compact car that cost as much as most full-size cars. To make matters worse, it was also relatively slow and underpowered.

Therefore, its buyers were generally only dedicated greenies and a few well-heeled poseurs. Enough of these early cars were sold, however, to catapult Toyota and Honda into the forefront of automotive and eco-friendly technology. This led to an explosion in hybrid sales that has continued for third-generation Toyota and Honda hybrids.

More importantly, it convinced technologically lagging American and European automakers that hybrids could be profitable as an image-booster and a sales-booster. Thus, Ford and Chevy got into the hybrid game. The technology the American automakers use is slightly different, but the concept is similar. By augmenting a normal gasoline engine with an electric motor during high-drain driving situations - accelerating, starting-up, etc. - gasoline consumption could be lessened and gas mileage increased.

When gas is more than $3 a gallon, 21 miles per gallon looks much better than 18 mpg. In this way, hybrids have become more than a buzzword. By packaging hybrid technology with huge, four-wheel-drive mammoths, car companies can go to the bank. Consumers pounce on these vehicles, enticed by increased gas mileage. Hybrids continue to sell well each year, and more models are introduced.

Although it's admirable that a whole generation used to normal gasoline engines has accepted a new technology, such as hybrid cars, so thoroughly, it has done so for the wrong reasons.

In the long run, three or four more miles per gallon is no better for the environment or the nation's dependency on foreign oil. Because of hybrids' public demand, however, automakers continue to bring them to market.

Munim Deen is a writer for the University of Oklahoma's Oklahoma Daily.

Copyright Brigham Young University 27 Nov 2007