The true economics of hybrids and EV's (total value including comfort, utility, economics and enjoyment to the owner/$) may have been fairly marginal for most over the last year or two (obviously that could change quickly). But aside from the obvious green advantages I think there could be compelling additional value aspects for future plug-in hybrids that may not be emphasized or available today.

These days the word "utility" when applied to cars has long exhausted any positive meaning for most of the public. It should be acknowledged however that it is in the planet's and the buyer's interest to put his/her investment in $30,000 worth of machinery to every practical use possible. In short the need to optimize the yield from this investment to the owner (its value and utility) is more important than ever. True practical utility may and should rejoin comfort, economy, performance, reliability and beauty as major purchasing drivers.

The dramatic shift in automobile mechanical design ushered in by hybrids can open new avenues of value and utility for the owner if manufacturers recognize and respond to the opportunity. For example premium prices paid for plug-in hybrids may be more than justified to the owner by the value of the insurance gained by their emergency-use auxiliary functions. Here are a few examples:  

Standby/Emergency Mode - An Auxiliary Means of Transportation

For a large part of the potential market, the real motivating attraction for cars that can operate without fuel when the need arises may eventually have nothing whatever to do with this market segment's desire to be commendably green or to reduce dependence on foreign oil.

When gasoline prices climbed in the 1970's the reaction then was similar to today's reaction. But then something else happened. Gasoline not only became expensive, it sometimes became unavailable. Mile-long gasoline lines and even fist fights were reported. For many, gasoline expense was a big concern but unavailability was a nightmare.

Consider the potential effect of gasoline rationing. If even a very mild gasoline rationing program were  to be implemented, long lines would occur and the rational of going electric would be clear at all  income levels. Gasoline prices would no longer be the leading consideration. If today the public thought the availability of gasoline (at any price) was not assured, then plug-in hybrids would take on much greater value as indispensable insurance.

Insurance is an asset. Consider that millions buy $2,000 auxiliary generators as insurance against electricity becoming unavailable for far less than 1% of the year. If consumers thought that a plug-in hybrid was necessary as insurance against being without transportation for several days or more each year, they would view a $5000 hybrid premium as being more than justified. Fuel economy is one thing, insurance against becoming stranded is quite another.

We haven't seen gasoline lines this time (that is we haven't seen them yet). When the availability of  gasoline becomes even slightly less than a sure thing, plug-in hybrids will be seen as a necessity - not merely as a gesture or a marginal hedge against rising prices.

The threat of gasoline unavailability would cause plug-in hybrid sales to explode provided the plug-in cars are made practical for that purpose and provided they are marketed with that use in mind.

Standby/Emergency Mode - A Fully Maintained Auxiliary Source of Electrical Power for Your Home:

Plug-in hybrids contain two elements that could very conveniently and very competently eliminate an owner’s risk of being without electrical power for his/her home provided hybrid designs incorporated an auxiliary power function.

An auxiliary generator has two main elements:

1. A gasoline or diesel engine

2. An electric generator

Plug-in hybrids also contain these elements but can potentially produce far more power, far more reliably than home generators. Because a car is maintained much more regularly than home generators and because the fuel in a car's tank is far fresher than the fuel in the tank of a home generator, the potential for a plug-in hybrid to respond to automatically to power outage situations and to very competently take over the task of powering every electrical device in your home is more than feasible provided the vehicle is designed and marketed appropriately.

The plug-in also has the ability to disconnect and fetch more fuel when extended outages demand it - something home generators could never do. Of course the dual-use plug-in hybrid being mobile is naturally portable, that is it can be driven to a location where it is needed.

A large home generator might produce about 10 Kilowatts of electrical power. In comparison, GM's Volt plug-in electric vehicle for example has a generator that can produce over 50 Kilowatts of electrical power - about 2.5 times more than your home consumes and more than 5 times more than a large home generator can produce.  Beyond these stand-by applications, the plug-in hybrid could provide the basis for a great diversity of mobile, flexible, extremely powerful electrical attachments and sub-systems.

For many, the dual-use standby-auxiliary functions could constitute valuable insurance and could significantly lower the effective premium paid for a plug-in hybrid vehicle. The potential for additional inexpensive, after-market expansion of the hybrid's role as an extremely powerful mobile power station puts its potential in unique territory.

Electricity offers great flexibility to the designer. It is possible that in the future we will be able to rely on our hybrid vehicles for far more than just transportation. But if this country is to recover its lead in product innovation, we need to get busy.