Hybrid performance over efficiency, what's the point?

The success of the Toyota Prius took America by storm. While some flocked to the Prius to help reduce foreign oil dependency amidst growing Persian Gulf problems, a great number of consumers picked the Prius hybrid car for environmental reasons.

Thus, not only has the Prius become almost synonymous with hybrid cars, it has made hybrids synonymous with environmentalism.

This year; however, that perception will begin to drastically change. It started with the Honda Accord hybrid. Yes, the best Accord will offer greatly improved fuel efficiency and reduced emissions over the standard Accord, but the Prius goes much further when judged by these standards. The Accord hybrid, on the other hand, will blow the Prius away from 0 to 60.

Toyota's next two hybrids, the Lexus RX400h SUV and the Highlander hybrid, will also emphasize performance over environmentalism. Again these vehicles do improve fuel efficiency and significantly reduce emissions, but not as much as potentially possible.

This new line of hybrid vehicles is about speed and power, offering significant horsepower for hybrids. Hopefully, hybrid vehicles will result in a competition between automakers for the fastest, most powerful, least polluting, gas-sipping hot rods.

Otherwise, what's the point?