Will hybrid cars become ubiquitous in the near future?

I think two basic features of hybrid cars are:
First, when the car is stopped, hybrid gasoline motors can shut off.
Second, hybrid cars recover braking energy and use it to charge the battery.
Those two are very simple and everyone can easily think upon them as a way to save energy. The great thing Toyota has done is that it turned the very simple ideas into the mass production cars at reasonable price.
I know there are more than two and faaaaaaaar difficult ideas. (^_^);

Will hybrid cars become ubiquitous in the near future?
I think it does not take long before the number of hybrid cars overtakes that of none-hybrid cars’ one. Then, thanks to the mass production, the price will decrease more and more simultaneously. Right now, hybrid cars are still minorities though, some local governments own them as official cars and not few taxi drivers are changing their cars into hybrid ones. Pictures were taken last week in Utusnomiya-shi, Tochigi, Japan.

A guy who is a taxi driver in Canada shows pictures of his cars and he gives us comments on the web. Every Prius owner can enjoy visiting his site.

Toyota Prius Debut As My New Vehicle

A month ago, I sold my Nissan March and at the same time bought a Toyota Prius. It’s veeeery nice car as I had expected. Isn't it cool?
The Toyota Prius is the world's first commercially mass-produced hybrid car. It went on sale in Japan in 1997, and worldwide in 2001. It’s said that in Latin, prius means "before" or "first".
With the 2004 model, the Prius was certified as an Advanced Technology Partial zero-emissions vehicle. Prius has won numerous awards including Car of the Year awards for Europe, Japan and North America. (Information Source: Wikipedia)

The Prius has also won “Japanesque Modern 100” or the "New Japanese Style" Awards in Japan this year, 2006.
The "New Japanese Style" is defined by three traditional Japanese values: craftsmanship, manners and hospitality.
“Craftsmanship” is the spirit of constantly creating new technologies and culture, respecting materials as products of nature and stressing the importance of passing on knowledge and techniques.
“Manners” are the spirit of cultivating one's personality and seeking a noble and motivated lifestyle, with individuals sharing responsibility for the greater good.
“Hospitality” is the spirit of both establishing one’s self as an individual and supporting diversity and harmony, while respecting different ideas and new things.
I'm very proud of the Awords as one of the owners of the Prius.



I had my Prius done a one-month-checkup the day before yesterday. It’s still quite new. The above two pictures were taken before Utusnomiya Lifelong Education Center just ten minutes ago.