by Dennis Liu

Created on: May 30, 2008   Last Updated: November 07, 2008

While I was driving on the freeway, I had to blink a few times to see what was fooling my eyes. I thought to myself, is that a piece of cheese on the road? As I got closer, I noticed that it wasn't a piece of cheese but it was a Toyota Prius only shaped like a cheese. Okay, I'm over exaggerating a little bit but even Honda makes fun of the Toyota Prius.

It is a good thing though that Toyota doesn't make yellow Prius' because then everyone would really think that a cheese would be on the road. Who wants to drive such a car that is shaped like food? Don't get me wrong, hybrid cars are an excellent idea that uses the regenerative braking system in saving some energy during stopping while in conventional braking systems that energy is lost. It is also good for the environment and gets very good miles per gallon for today's rising gas prices. Maybe that is the only reason people buy the car. However, is it considered cool? Certainly not.

In many people's minds, a cool car is something they can show off. Have 20" chrome rims, tinted windows, leather seats, DVD player, premium sound, navigation, the list can go on. On the other hand, they can think of fast, powerful cars as "cool" such as a BMW M3, a Ferrari or a Lamborghini. However, right now, in the minds of many, when they think of hybrid cars, they think of small Japanese cars with very little horsepower. A more accurate word to define hybrids instead of "cool" would be "cute."

Now, it is true that companies such as Ford and Chevrolet are making hybrid SUV's. Not only can you find SUV hybrids but hybrid cars are also becoming available in luxury cars such as Lexus. This is a step toward the right direction as they move away from cars shaped like cheese. However, it will take time until it is ingrained in our minds that hybrid cars are not tiny, weak, ugly shaped cars.

But there is good news. A newly designed 2009 Prius will be coming to the market with a sleeker design. But don't get your hopes up too high; it still looks like a piece of cheese, just a thinner piece of wedge. Until they design hybrids better, if you drive down the road with a fully loaded Prius with tinted windows and chrome rims that show of its drum brakes, most likely no one is going to say, "That is one cool ride." It will probably bring out a large guffaw from the crowd. Now if a hybrid looked like and worked like a Tesla roadster, then that would be considered "a cool ride" that would turn heads, but that is a completely different story.

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