It isn't particularly related to the OP but it is one of many examples of the way adoption of new technologies (including but not limited to electric drive) is often incremental.
As to the value of regenerative braking, perhaps you could explain how this sample of what it accomplishes is "a joke"?
Hydraulic Regenerative Braking Saving 52.7% Fuel in BMW 530i
Who said a car has to be electric to be called a “hybrid”? Artemis Intelligent Power has converted a BMW 530i to mechanically capture the energy resulted from braking (aka “regenerative braking”), and use it in an electrically-hybridized car fashion.
The system is called Digital Displacement, and it was initially developed to harness the irregular wave movements into electricity. The application in cars is based on hydraulic compression when braking occurs. The compressed gas stored in an accumulator is reused when car accelerates, and so the energy wasted while braking is reused in the most power consuming moment of driving. Of course, all these operations are being controlled by an on-board computer all the time, so efficiency is always improved.
Now, the best part comes with the figures they got from using the hydraulic regenerative braking: in a normal BMW 530i, in Europe, instead of a 13.89 l/100km consumption, the car got as much as 52.7% reduction in consumption, meaning it ate up only 6.58 l/100km (!!!). This is probably what the car gets on highway driving! In US, the hybrid car used a third less fuel than its unmodified version...
http://www.greenoptimistic.com/2009/02/26/hydraulic-regenerative-braking-saving-527-fuel-in-bmw-530i
And electric regenerative braking systems are why city mileage ratings for EVs and hybrids are higher than highway ratings - the opposite of vehicles with traditional braking systems.
= new reply since forum marked as read