Hybrid cars + Texas

[Inspired by Scott Adam's latest post]

Man can put men on the moon.
We can build spacecraft that are engineered so precisely that they can fly off to space and back again.
We can make trains that run up to 580 kph.
We can build Concordes.
We can build skyscrapers that are earthquake proof.
We can make solar powered office buildings.
We can design elaborate gas/water/power distributions systems.

Yet we cannot design a good, fuel efficient, maybe solar powered, decent looking car that is aesthetically pleasing, has sound engineering principles, and thus can be commercially feasible?

Why the hell not?

Not sure what your views are on this.

There are 3 reasons why I hypothesize this isn't happening.

(a) Not technically good enough to design such a car
(b) Not commercially viable for the car companies
(c) Someone stands to make a loss

Simple Explanations

Why is it not (a)?

Well if we can bring to reality the above mentioned phenomena, there is absolutely no explanation why we cannot build just such a car. We can design F1 cars, powerful trucks, tractors that can climb steep hills, vehicles that break the sound barrier, trains as fast as small propeller powered planes, etc. So I just won't buy the excuse of technically
insufficiently sound engineers.

Why is it not (b)?

It seems to me that the world is increasingly going green, becoming more environmentally conscious. Being environment friendly is the next big thing and if car companies can recognize this, the first mover concept will surely bring huge rewards. Sydney is going to turn off all their lights as a sign of environmental support. My company is increasingly resorting to more environmentally conscious energy sources. As far as I am concerned, the market is there; if someone out there can produce a car that looks like any normal car, does not sacrifice performance, is affordable (all of which do not seem impossible given our current technology), the fact that this car is environmentally friendly will definitely give it the edge.

So...it should be (c) ?

Seems like it. Think about it. Who stands to lose from fuel efficient cars? Big greedy oil companies, thats who.
I would suspect that the oil companies probably pay unimaginably large sums of money to automotive companies not to mass produce or commit too much R&D on such cars. If all cars can run at 50% less fuel, thats a 50% revenue reduction for these oil companies! So I reckon, at the end of the day, it again comes down to greed, the greenback, and how big business continues to serve their shareholders first and foremost.