New Bushite Leaf?

This bit about pushing for funding for alternative fuels from Dubya is quite interesting--in this case, I hope he's more successful than he was in pushing for alternative Social Security.

Of course, with him you've got to wonder what's the ulterior motive, i.e., where's the big-money interest behind it? In any case, though, I'd rather he speak on this one than any other topic I can think of, and it should prove somewhat educational for his fans--the only ones who listen to him anymore.

In the interests of full disclosure, I should offer my own direct experience. We have a 2003 Prius--I believe they've made a lot of improvements, particularly in the electrical systems, since then--it gets about 40 mpg in town and 50-60 mpg on the highway. This is a lot less than the EPA posted mileage, but those methods are seriously flawed. It's also hard to compare with other cars that don't give the readout so continuously or accurately. Finally, we're at 7,000 ft. here, and that could affect the engine's performance. Beats me--I'm no engineer.

Anyway, we bought it despite the math; we wanted to support the emergent technology and decided it had gotten past the bleeding edge stage. We still like it. My feeling is that the gasoline/electric hybrid combination may not be the answer, but the technology seems to combine multiple energy sources very successfully, and that approach should hold long-term promise.

The thing that gets me, and that proves to me that Dubya's educational program is needed, is that--despite the gas price inflation we've seen lately--the hybrid is still being sold more effectively as a high-powered vehicle (and the electric motor does get you off the line first vs. most cars when the light turns green) than as a fuel-efficient one. Hard to believe, but true.