Hybrid Cars
Celebrity owners have made them famous, and drivers' concerns about
skyrocketing gas prices and the environment have made them a popular new
choice. Sales in the U.S. of hybrid cars such as Toyota's Prius, seen here,
doubled in January 2006 compared to the year before, with nearly 16,000 cars
sold. Hybrids get their power from small gasoline engines combined with
electric motors and rechargeable batteries. Their compact engines deliver
excellent gas mileage and cause much less pollution than those in conventional
cars. Experts estimate that driving a hybrid for 100,000 miles would
barely fill a teacup with pollutants.
