Halos for hybrids? Maybe not so fast

What is it with the halos following the hybrids?

There you are, in a group of folks having a perfectly rational discussion, then one person announces she's looking into getting a hybrid car — that environmentally correct model that uses both gas and electricity — and everyone sort of says, "wow, really?" and "good for you!" as if the person has just scored eternally usable brownie points for helping to rescue the planet.

The cars are given all sorts of special status. Their buyers get tax breaks. In many parts of the country, they get a free pass to drive on "high occupancy vehicle (HOV)" lanes, even if there is only one driver. Chicago Alderman Rey Colon has just introduced an ordinance in the City Council there to allow hybrids to enjoy free public parking. "He doesn't know how much revenue it would cost the city but suggests raising metered rates to make up the difference," the Chicago Sun-Times reported this week.

Apparently no price is too much for glory. What's next? Giving hybrid drivers the right to park in handicapped spots?

This feel-goodism has never felt quite right to me.

It's not just that until recently the cars were so little and lacked power — I prefer big, heavy and safe — it's that it's always been the case that the market doesn't support them. They may be politically correct, but hybrids would get nowhere without government and manufacturer subsidies. (Car companies take losses on the cars.) Hybrids cost about $6,000 more to make than similar gas-powered cars, and consumers won't shell that out — whatever their politics — and so buyers require the subsidies, Reason magazine recently reported.

But car manufacturers won't go out of business over hybrids, either. Despite all the hype and the recent spike in gas prices, sales of hybrids have dropped every month this year compared to the same month last year. So much so, manufacturers like Ford are backing away from earlier politically motivated commitments to produce so many of them, Reason revealed.

In fact, hybrid manufacturers are now doing what car manufacturers always do, according to National Geographic magazine — trying to add horsepower to the vehicles — because that is what the buyer wants. But that will, in turn, lower their fuel efficiency.

Already, by the way, outside of the Environmental Protection Agency's special testing sites, they don't get near the great gas mileage we're told they do, The Weekly Standard magazine recently showed.