There's a really strange statement in that article: "But when the Prius first came out, it couldn't find buyers, though in five years it has achieved cult status."
Correct me if you remember differently, but the only time in the history of Prius sales that there wasn't a wait to get one was from about March to about August of 2003. And I think that's just because Toyota preannounced the 2004 model saying it would be bigger, faster, get better gas mileage, and have a hatchback.
This article also trys to tie low sales (as a percent of overall vehicle market) to lack of interest in hybrids, rather than the more obvious reason of low supply. People just don't buy them until they're built!
Finally, near the end they quote an owner: ''As someone pointed out, if everyone drove a car that gets 40 miles per gallon, the US wouldn't have to import oil. . . . We could tell the Middle Eastern countries that have us over their knees to go pound sand." Yet another "fact" thrown out with no research to back it up. It's not even clear this is true even if nobody changes their driving habits. But increased energy efficiency tends to drive up energy use across the economy since it's ultimately what makes the economy run. So I think the newspaper should have done a bit of research rather than just presenting this as obvious.
Well, at least they're trying to perpetuate the myth that owning a hybrid makes you sexy
