I just really don’t see your arguements against hybrids being based in reality! the people you have talked to are either sought out by you because they have stock in big oil for the soul purpose of tearing down hybrid technology or they are completely out of touch. You must see by know that Hybrids are the future! We as a nation need to step up to the plate when it come to our environment and the hybrid offers us that first step. The only conclusion I can come up with as to your complete lack of tolerance for hybrids is:
(a) you have stock in oil or some portion of you income is directly linked to oil.
(b) you don’t believe the Millions of scientist who say global warming is real!
(c) you make these outlandish reports in order to up the traffic to your site so you can keep your sponsors!
Matt I am sorry but the more I read your articles the more I realize just how out of touch you are with what is really going on. I pray that you can get those Bush Blinders off and go back to investagative reporting like you were supposedly known for at one point in your life.

As other have mentioned the Prius comparison lacks realistic numbers and the idea of going to ethanol and other biofuels is looking more like a political stance than a solution…

Solar is, though, a real alternative and I applaud him on that investment.

$100 oil may not happen anytime soon as a plateau that will be sustained. As I am sure some of the readers know the reserves in Calgary, Canada (oil sands) become profitable below the $40 range and there is enough there for 100 years of current US consumption.

Hybrid cars are a great transition until other methods become truly viable. A few of the major wins that hybrids give us is that besides getting better mileage in the cities, they pollute WAY less than do regular gas powered cars, they don’t require a whole infrastructure of charging stations like pure electric cars, AND they allow the gas companies a stable transition period to other sources of power for vehicles (which would make the stock market happy).

Also, the last I heard, the hybrids were selling like hot cakes and the manufacturers haven’t been able to keep up. Maybe soon they will be all over Mississippi.

Both cars are 2008 models.

First, it’s far less than a $5,000 difference. Next, does Vinod imagine that people spending more money on a car (perhaps like myself, who drives an Audo) would not consider a Prius for their next car? In my case, I’d go from spending more than $45,000 on a car to spending a little more than $20,000.

I agree that for the masses, it is going to take time, but if we as a country don’t move toward more fuel-efficient vehicles, let’s start looking at both $100/barrel oil and CO2 city.

Yes, there are disruptions in technology from time to time, but there are also meaningful incremental improvements that should not be discounted with respect to their potential impact.

For wind, on the other hand, I would agree that it’s on the margins in terms of long-term impact.

The problem is 15-20% is not going to reduce demand enough to prevent oil shortages in the future.

This is as much a public policy issue as it is a private enterprise issue.

If Khosla wants to solve the looming energy crisis then he should be promoting mass transit in California as well as investing in new energy technologies.

Invest in maglev train technology and put the local airlines out of business which will reduce the amount of jet fuel consumed for California commuter flights.

Combine the 50 mass transit agencies in the Bay Area
into one agency and make reduce the 2 hour travel time from Menlo Park to Cisco via Cal Train and light rail to 45 minutes which is acceptable. Synchronize the different transit agency schedules so people do not have to wait.

GET PEOPLE OUT OF CARS
Make it safe to ride bikes in California. Holland has separate traffic lanes and lights for bikes. Bikes paths cut through areas not accessible to cars. You might die if you ride a bike on Sand Hill road and the San Mateo County Sheriff will effectively write the guy who hit you a ticket.

Hummer/Suburban tax
Put a tax on large displacement engines like Singapore.
That will have Detroit screaming but who cares. China will put Detroit out of business in a generation.

Conversely cars with a small displacement should have a tax break.

Start businesses recycling cars into electric vehicles. One guy on the peninsula has an old VW bus with an electric motor in it. The van beats Porsches off of the line. He used to recharge it at Costco while shopping.
No gas. No blown transmissions. Who cares if the compression is blown on the internal combustion engine. Send it to China as scrap metal. This will reduce the trade deficit and create jobs converting cars.

Give small stores tax incentives to locate in urban areas so people can walk to the store instead of driving.

And put Vinod’s solar panels on your roof to work generating electricity for the electric cars and trains.