Honda has made a very bold statement and/or goal for their 2009 model Hybrid cars, stating that they plan to cut the technology in half.  This huge cost cut is directly related to what they think will be 50% of what is currently used on their Civic.

Tech-On reports on how Kondo create a much less expensive hybrid alternative using already adopted technology.

"The system's cost itself, excluding the (subsidiary) effects of standardizing components, for example, differs (from the cost of other systems seen in the Civic Hybrid, etc)," Kondo said.