There are many disadvantages of hybrid electric vehicles. First of all,hybrid electric vehicles are not all-electric vehicles. They dorequire gasoline to drive.

Hybrid electric vehicles use regenerative braking to get theirelectricity. The gas energy is captured off of the brakes and stored aselectricity. All electric vehicles are a much better alternative in terms ofcutting down smog. There are several available today.

Hybrid electric vehicles are also inferior to hydrogen fuel cellvehicles. Many automotive companies are working on hydrogen fuel cellvehicles in production now. Very soon Chevy will come out with a hydrogen fuelcell vehicle.

While hybrid electric vehicles are low smog emission vehicles, they doproduce emissions. Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles produce water as theiremission, making them far superior to hybrid electric vehicles. Orbetter yet take public transportation in a city that uses hydrogen fuel cellbuses.

Although hybrid electric vehicles are readily available, they are alarge investment. There are sometimes ,000 difference in between ahybrid car and a subcompact although the mile per gallon difference couldbe only a few miles freeway miles. This is an investment that might notbe immediately recaptured in gas savings.

Of course, hybrid vehicles are not ideal for freeway drivers. Thereason is because hybrid electric vehicles use regenerative breaking. Ifmost of the miles put on the car are on the freeway, there is less brakinginvolved and less regeneration of electricity involved.

Another disadvantage of hybrid electric vehicles is some models arevery difficult to obtain. They are heavily advertised and there is a heavydemand. But many automotive manufacturers are using a showroom car tolure customers into the showroom to see a hybrid that there is a longwaiting list for. Customers needing a car now and not six months fromnow end up buying a gas guzzling SUV because the hybrid SUV is not yetreadily available.

A large disadvantage of hybrid electric vehicles is they give automanufacturers a chance to tell the state and federal governments that theyare doing something to lower vehicle emissions. Then car manufacturersinsist that the government has no reason to bully the manufacturers tomake cars with reasonable miles per gallon rates of say 100 miles pergallon. Hybrid cars are a smoke screen for the car manufacturers topretend they care about the environment.

Finally, hybrid electric vehicles are available only to the most elitecar buyers creating a disparity between rich communities and poorcommunities. Poor cities have drivers creating lots of emissions in oldeight cylinder cars while rich cities have rich citizens driving expensive
hybrid electric vehicles with low emissions. Probably the biggestdisadvantage of hybrid electric vehicles is that they are cost prohibitiveto the poor.