GM hybrid buses not "hybrid" enough

The promised 60 percent fuel savings General Motors said the Seattle fleet would see are barely reaching the 20 percent mark. While the buses are saving around the average of 400,000 gallons of fuel a year, it all comes down to bottom line and at the current cost of diesel fuel, Seattle will unlikely be able to make up the extra $200,000 cost of the hybrids. Though the Seattle spin is positive, "We're quite happy, actually," said Jim Boon, maintenance manger for the buses. "We did not buy these for fuel economy." That's a little hard to believe. Other cities are complaining, though giving once again the correct answer as "we intended them for emissions reduction". There's a lot of give and take in the hybrid world.