I've never been in a hybrid car. There are taxis here, in New Zealand, that use hybrids as their primary vehicle. I ride a motorcycle so I think I'm a little easier on the environment than even them. Can't beat ~70mpg.
Currently only Canon and Nikon produce tilt-shift lenses and they come at quite a premium. http://www.shutterbug.net/equipmentreviews/lenses/0801sb_tilt/ However, if you're after a very short depth of focus on a large subject it is possible to do tha...