I disagree with that sentiment. First of all, like CPOonfinal said, if you go from say, a car that gets 15 mpg to a hybrid, you are gaining more like 30 mpg, not 10. Also, if you do more city driving than highway, the hybrid is being used to it's full potential (A hybrid gets in the 40-45 mpg range highway and 45-50 city). So he definitely under-exaggerated that part.

Secondly, his depreciation idea is frankly, flat out wrong. My neighbor is a Toyota dealer in Manhattan Beach and just had a customer trade in a 2005 Toyota Prius with 30,000 miles on it. He sold it the next day for $24,000, just above the original sticker price. Yes, value will eventually drop for hybrids as auto makers eventually catch up with our demand. However, if you are in the market for a new car, if the hybrid is in the same price range, there's no reason not to go for it (from a purely economical standpoint).

PS CPOonfinal: Enjoy the Las Vegas of the Middle-East!