Gas-Electric Hybrid Cars Just Keep Going and Going

If 2001 was, as Time magazine called it, the summer of the shark, 2006 could be christened the summer of the hybrid.

Hybrids don't star in the Al Gore-narrated global-warming documentary "An Inconvenient Truth." But you could say the cars, which run on a combination of gasoline and electricity, are part of the behind-the-scenes crew, getting mention on the film's Web site as a way consumers can help combat climate change.

One hybrid predecessor, General Motors' (GM) EV1, even has its own documentary this summer, titled "Who Killed the Electric Car?"

The New York International Auto Show and car dealers have given hybrids some serious exposure lately, too, and models such as the Toyota Prius and the Honda Civic hybrid are boasting long waiting lists for buyers. San Francisco and New York City are expanding their hybrid taxi fleets, with other cities considering doing the same.