Political Ramifications of the Coming Hybrid Craze

With oil hitting $80 a barrel this week and with China set to become the world's top consumer of petroleum-based products, it is no wonder that most economic prognosticators see a coming boon to the production and sale of hybrid autos.

The introduction of the hybrid into the regular buying routine of the consumer is the first step of the free market in driving buyers away from oil.

Americans are the key indicators of free market trends, and Americans are increasingly deciding that gasoline is way too expensive for our type of economy. Further, it is useless at this point to compare U.S. gasoline prices to that of Britain or any other European country. The U.S. is a commuter-driven economy that is entirely dependent on the demand for autos rather than mass transit.

Thus, it is too easy for one to point to the significantly higher costs of gasoline in Great Britain and claim, therefore, that Americans are too whiny.

If drivers in Great Britain were forced to endure the commuter miles of most working Americans in most of our larger cities, I highly doubt that Britons would be talking about how good Americans have it.

Yes, gasoline is much cheaper here than in England, but we drive infinitely more miles to and from work than Britons. Thus, we consume much more gasoline, which of course means that we spend far more on it.

Further, not only are Americans wary of rising gas prices but they wish to be independent of foreign oil. I suspect that most Americans are like me; they long for the day when we can tell the Saudis and other Arab countries, along with Iraq, Iran, Russia, and Mexico, to simply go jump. We don't need their freakin' oil anymore.

Such countries have held the oil matter over our heads for much too long. We have had enough. Let the Chinese be the hostages of Middle Eastern oil for a while.

Thus, with factors such as the free market squeeze on the pocketbook and the emotional/political issue of hating to be held captive by nations that are centuries behind the rest of civilization, we are set to see a new phase of American consumerism. i.e., the hybrid.

On Wednesday at the International Auto Show in Frankfurt, Germany, BMW announced that it will unveil a new auto to add to its fleet of luxury cars--the X6, which has a hybrid equivalent. The X6 is a coup crossover, which BMW bills as its 'sports activity coup.'

With the first of BMW's new concept cars set to roll off the assembly line in 2009, the X6 will be built at BMW's North American operations plant in Spartanburg County, South Carolina.

BMW refers to the hybrid version of the X6 as its 'activehybrid,' which is powered by a gasoline engine and two high-performance electric motors, along with a brake energy regeneration system.

The big news about the new car, however, is that this is BMW's very first venture into hybrid technology. As one auto analyst put it, 'This shows that hybrids are not only here to stay but set to seize a sizable portion of the market.'

Of course hybrid technology is not new. Both Honda and Toyota have had hybrid models on the market for nearly ten years. And U.S. automakers began mass production of hybrid models in earnest five years ago.

Yet hybrid autos have been slow to catch on with the general public. This may be quickly coming to a close. As more Americans decide they must take action to buffer the brunt of higher gasoline prices, there is no doubt that hybrids will look much more appealing.

And with mass production and higher sales, those hybrids will in all probability become more affordable for the average family.

The coming shift in consumer markets will lead to a realignment of political alliances. One can easily imagining closer ties with Japan, Germany, and even India, while nations such as Saudi Arabia, Dubai, and others in the oil-rich region lose much of their economic and political clout.

In the meantime it will be exciting to watch how the free market and American ingenuity lead the way in providing long-term solutions for our current energy problems. The hybrid is only the beginning.