Are Hybrid cars better?

I have been following the reports on the hybrid cars and what kind of fuel efficiency they can provide. So far I have been disappointed in what I see. When it will take 8 or 9 years to make up the difference in the cost of getting a hybrid over a traditional engine, it really will not make much sense to most consumers. If you are like me, you don't have that kind of extra money to put up front and can't wait that long to recoup the cost. Now if you could start seeing savings in a year or 2 tops, I think that it would definitely make a difference.I read an article today that validated what I have been saying to my friends for some time, that today's cars are less efficient then they were 15 years ago.

According to a report put out Tuesday by the Consumer Federation of America (CFA), although 88 percent of Americans agree that "auto manufacturers should be required to make more fuel efficient vehicles," the number of car models getting at least 30 mpg dropped from 61 in 1998 to 46 in 2007

My wife and I had a 1996 Honda Civic that was a manual transmission and we regularly would get 35 to 40 mpg with combined city and highway driving. On a trip to Cooperstown, NY we even got 50 mpg. You couldn't even dream about a regular car getting that kind of gas mileage now. What has happened that made the engines in today's car worse than they were 12 years ago? Now this article does talk about more promising technology to increase the efficiency of hybrid cars but at a cost that could reach $40,000, who can afford it? Why are car makers more concerned with how much quicker they can make the car go from 0 to 60 than making a car go 60 mpg? It seems the industry is telling the consumer what they want instead of giving the consumer what they want. Something needs to change now.

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