High Expectations for Hybrids and Plug-in Hybrids

As the economy recovers, oil prices are expected to rise. And some are predicting that will move more people into hybrids and into plug-in hybrids.

Source: "Plugs Everywhere: Hybrid, EV Sales to Triple Globally by 2013, Report Predicts " Green Car Advisor

Gas-electric hybrids and plug-in electric vehicles may account for as much as 8 percent of new vehicle sales in the U.S. in 2013, up from about 2 percent last year, as the combination of rising oil prices, falling prices relative to hybrids' conventional counterparts and a broader network of plug-in charging sites pull more people away from gasoline-burning cars, according to a recent report on the next generation of autos.

Worldwide, hybrid-vehicle sales will surge to about 2 million units in 2013 from about 550,000 units last year, while rechargeable - or plug-in - battery-electric cars will account for about 350,000 sales, compared with less than 10,000 plug-in sales last year, according to the NextGen research unit of technology industry specialist ABI Research.

Those are big numbers for a market that isn't even here, yet. While I could see hybrid sales possibly making those numbers, it's hard to imagine plug-in hybrids making that number that quickly.