Oil prices speed up push for hybrids.

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. - What a difference two years, $1 per gallon and $30 a barrel have made. In August 2004, other carmakers were openly skeptical of the sales surge seen by hybrid-electric vehicle pioneers Toyota and Honda. Meeting then at an auto industry conference here, they touted the merits of competing technologies. At that time, GM was pinning its hopes on development of fuel-cell cars, while DaimlerChrysler hoped to gain greater fuel efficiency through expansion of cleaner burning diesel engines.