Hybrid technology soon to be inescapable

Your next car will probably have a little bit of Toyota Prius or Chevrolet Volt in it, whether you think of yourself as a high-tech fuel saver or not. Technologies pioneered by the 50-mpg Prius and the Volt, which burns no gasoline at all on most trips under 40 miles, will soon be omnipresent.

Virtually every car will be a hybrid, with so many variations of electric-assistance that some manufacturers won't even use the word.
It's a challenge for automakers. They're struggling with how to tell buyers about the new features, which will increase fuel economy in a variety of ways.Customers think 'hybrid' means the Prius," a car mostly powered by gasoline but capable of driving on battery power alone for short distances at low speedsmanaging director of 2953 Analytics. "That's very simplisticTechnology that uses electricity to reduce petroleum consumption can already be found in everything from the battery-powered Nissan Leaf to the 414-horsepower twin-turbo BMW M3's automated stop-start system.The number of vehicles with some degree of electrification will jump from five in 2008 to 116 by the end of 2011

battery maker A123 Systems.

That's just the start.
It could become tough to find a car without electric augmentation in seven or eight years,Lincoln took a major step in the mass-marketing of hybrids when it made a 41-mpg-in-the-city hybrid the base modelMany upcoming vehicles using electrification won't call themselves hybrids.They'll promisebetter fuel economy or performance without getting into nuts-and-bolts tech talk most people don't care about.The base 2012 Buick LaCrosse will promise 36 mpg on the highway and 25 in the city for less than $30,000, thanks to an electric system Buick calls eAssist