Why no real hybrid cars?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050814/ap_on_hi_te/hybrid_tinkerers;_ylt=AhU06s..3CEcC2DncLsVP1.b.HQA;_ylu=X3oDMTA3bGI2aDNqBHNlYwM3NDk-

Came across this, and it made me wonder why the heck we don't see more of these on the road, or being offered by car manufacturers. Although I must say that given the actual timeline of things, this sort of thing might not have been such a big issue recently since gasoline prices have really been tame up until the invasion of Iraq. At least here in the United States. However, Gasoline prices in Europe are a lot steeper than American gasoline prices, and I would have expected Europeans, who seem to have a greather "green" consciousness to clamor for these sorts of vehicles. Numbers like 230 to 250 mpg are just too large to ignore, and even if they are somehwhat inflated, 150 mpg is a drastic improvement, and does nothing to change current infrastructure.

Now, ever since I was a child, I had heard all sorts of conspiracy theories about why a vehicle with this sort of mileage was being repressed. I'm not a believer in most conspiracy theories, I tend to lean towards the belief that stupidity explains a lot of things. Carlos' first law after all is "People are stupid."

But at this point, given that oil is clearly a strategic resource with global implications for the United States, especially when we see that the Chines bid for Unocal stirred up a lot of controversy, it seems that it might in fact be reasonable for the government to start mandating much more demanding fuel efficiency standards. It really looks like the technology is indeed here, so now the question is, why isn't it being implemented on a large scale?