The Union of Concerned Scientists has now opened HybridCenter.org, a website focusing on hybrid cars, including reviews, explanations of technology, and editorials. Regular readers of Green Car Congress or the various hybrid-focused weblogs out there won't find much that's new at Hybrid Center, but since the UCS has been pretty active in promoting hybrid vehicles over the years, I would expect the content at Hybrid Center to be of generally high quality. The site's generally well-laid out, with little auto and hybrid related facts sprinkled about. My favorite: sales of the Prius now exceed sales of the Hummer H2.

Small thing: The URL you provide is a dead end. Here's one that works:

http://www.hybridcenter.org/hybridcenterindex.cfm

Posted by: David Foley on April 19, 2005 5:49 PM

Another website with lots of (first hand) info about hybrid cars (mostly the Toyota Prius, but not exclusively): john1701a.com

Posted by: Mikhail Capone on April 20, 2005 1:47 AM

Great - we're now up to five different "types" of hybrids. :)

What are there - exactly five hybrid models on the market right now? That's one type for every model on the market.

Interesting website, but sometimes too much information is not necessarily a good thing. Check out the "Hybrid Blog" for that site and see someone go through pains about the emissions profile differences of a 50 MPG car.

"Perfection is the enemy of the good." Everyone making progress is better than a few people making a little more individual progress.

Posted by: Joseph Willemssen on April 20, 2005 9:55 AM

Thanks for catching that, David. Odd thing -- I pulled the URL right from the browser. Shrug. Fixed now.

Joseph, it's not quite true that the five types of hybrid represent one for every model on the market. The "mild" hybrid encompasses 3 models (the Hondas), the "full" hybrid encompasses 2 models (the Prius and the Escape), and the "plug-in" isn't available. I will admit that the UCS site is the first I've seen any reference to "muscle" hybrids, but it's admittedly an interesting categorization.

Posted by: Jamais Cascio on April 20, 2005 7:36 PM

Joseph, it's not quite true that the five types of hybrid represent one for every model on the market. The "mild" hybrid encompasses 3 models (the Hondas), the "full" hybrid encompasses 2 models (the Prius and the Escape), and the "plug-in" isn't available.

Oh, I know. I was just making light of the fact that the subcategories of hybrids keeps expanding - and also making light about your exchange with Mikhail about the Civic and the Honda IMA system. I also just realized that the UCS chart has only 4 types, not 5 (for now - heh).

Posted by: Joseph Willemssen on April 20, 2005 10:22 PM