No longer a funky little science experiment, hybrid cars are growing up and going mainstream -- and the future is all about hot-rod horsepower. In Detroit and Tokyo, carmakers are finally starting to take the demand for greater energy independence and fuel efficiency seriously by building powerful hybrid cars that consumers want to drive, Newsweek reports in our latest "Next Frontiers" package in the November 22 issue (on newsstands Monday, Nov. 15).

Carmakers are banking on their compelling new pitch-drives great, less filling-to take hybrids to the masses. The coming wave of new hybrids is all about getting more-more power, more mileage, more credit for saving the planet, reports Detroit Bureau Chief Keith Naughton. The first of these have- your-cake-and-eat-it models arrives next month, when Honda rolls out a 255-horsepower Accord hybrid that races from 0 to 60 mph in 6.5 seconds and still gets 37mpg on the highway.

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