SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.—According to many hybrid car owners, the thrill of owning a hybrid car is beginning to pale and other avenues are being sought in order to resuscitate the feeling of being about 30% better than other people.

Hybrid cars have been sold in the hundreds of thousands, particularly the Toyota Prius, and industry analysts believe that the desire to “feel good” about oneself and the environment is a primary buying decision for many people.  Or, to put it in common parlance, “feeling smug.”

However, as more and more people buy hybrid cars and the novelty wears off, many owners are beginning to sense an uncomfortable dimming of that feeling of round-the-clock superiority.

“Once you get in the habit of looking down on other people, it’s hard to do without,” said Jake Rossmore, a hybrid car owner who lives in Berkeley, California. “It’s intoxicating. And now that I’m feeling less and less self-satisfied about my hybrid car, I’m finding myself in a bit of a life transition.”

Other hybrid owners share Rossmore’s fears.  In fact, several online communities have sprung up in which individuals exchange ideas about what could replace the hybrid as a mark of their collective arrogance.

“Ideas are tossed around such as carefully disposing of cooking oil or advocating for neighborhood speed bumps,” says Edgar Sweeney, one of the forum webmasters.  “But then the dialogue quickly degenerates into arguing and name calling. The fact of the matter is, I suspect that most hybrid owners don’t have much in common other than their cars. If you remove that element they don’t seem to like each other very much.”

One thing that everyone agrees on is that the problem isn’t going away.  According to some industry analysts, smugness levels have decreased by as much as 65% and continue to drop at a precipitous rate. This has led to a feeling of desperation in the community.

“Maybe we could all sell our cars at once, wait a month or two, and then buy them again,” Rossmore suggested. “That might be way to bring back the good old days.  I’m going to go online right now and post that suggestion.”