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With never-ending talk of rising gas prices and the infamous "Greenhouse Effect," each day seems to be a recurring nightmare. But now there's the hype over hybrid vehicles that pollute less, consume less, and come in all different shapes and sizes.

The Toyota Hybrid Prius, the most popular hybrid and fuel efficient vehicle on the market, gets about 48 miles per gallon in city driving. Are these dreams cars the solution to all of our problems, or are they simply too good to be true?

Not if you're willing to wait.

But if you're planning to drive away in your new Hybrid Prius today, think again.

Bob Ryan of Route 44 Toyota in Raynham says there's a few months wait for one - and a lengthy waiting list. "The market did a 180-degree change. Before, everyone was looking at SUVs and V8s, but with the current gas prices, everyone is looking to get into smaller cars," Ryan said. "The manufacturers can't keep up with the demand."

Few dealerships are making any promises when it comes to the hot little car.

"We basically just write their names down," Ernie Boch Jr. of Boch Toyota South said of prospective buyers. "We stopped taking orders for them, and we don't start the deal until we have the car. We don't want to upset people."

Boch said his North Attleboro dealership sells about 100 Hybrid Priuses a month, with 50 to 60 people who are looking to buy one visiting the dealership each week.

With ultra low emissions and amazing fuel economy, and the low depreciation and great price at the pump, it's no wonder why hybrids are the hottest vehicles on the market.

They may just salvage what's left of our ozone and savings.

Luckily, other hybrid cars other than the Prius can be found. Almost every major automobile manufacture, including General Motors and Ford, have come out with at least one hybrid vehicle.

And they're selling just as quickly as the Prius.

Jeff Cutler of Imperial Chevrolet in Milford says that, due to the recent gas prices, the Hybrid Malibu and Tahoe, the first hybrid SUV, are selling faster than ever.

Each week, about 100 people look at the hybrid vehicles at the dealership, and a quarter of them leave with one, he said. A hybrid car is a vehicle that is driven by a hybrid engine, which is any engine that combines two or more sources of power, usually gasoline and electricity.

Ryan said that in a hybrid vehicle, stop and go driving at a slower speed, referred to as city driving, runs completely off of the electric motor. Once the vehicle hits about 35 mph for a certain distance, the gas engine switches on.

For the ecologically conscious, low emissions is a huge benefit of hybrid vehicles. Emissions refer to gases such as carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide that are released by the burning of gasoline.

The National Research Council says the gases are of particular concern because they trap heat in the atmosphere that would normally radiate into space.

According to hybrid-car.org, hybrids produce up to 90 percent less of those pollutants than comparable non-hybrid cars.

Of course, hybrid vehicles cost more than regular vehicles. But because of the environmental benefits of hybrids, the government offers some assistance to those who choose to drive one.

Bruce Corwin with the Cerrone dealership in South Attleboro said the 2008 Chevy Hybrid Tahoe comes with a $2,200 tax credit.

"With the credit, a fully equipped Hybrid Tahoe costs just about the same as a regular Tahoe," he said.

Corwin said a hybrid SUV works for anyone who has the needs of a large family but is also looking to save at the pump.

"When you have three kids, a few of their friends and their sports equipment, you need an SUV," he said. "A hybrid Tahoe gets better gas mileage than a regular Toyota Camry."

Hybrids retain a high resale value because of the great demand, and the warranty stands up, Ryan said.

Toyota Hybrids come with a 10-year or 150,000-miles warranty for the battery and eight years or 96,000 miles for other parts, he said.