Although the idea of driving a hybrid vehicle (and getting a better car insurance rate for doing it) has become increasingly common for the automotive public, designers are still hotly contesting the best form “alternative” fuels should take and happily experimenting with everything from electrical and hydrogen-powered cars to those that run on compressed air or draw power from solar cells. With the venerable Toyota Prius now an everyday sight on American streets, the two most productive areas of improvement for currently available and soon-to-be introduced models can be found in battery tech and the changed view of driving underlying the interest in plug-ins. (more…)