Have fuel efficient and hybrid cars become cool as the energy crisis bites?

Yes, though hybrids are far more popular amongst city-slickers and those who know nothing about cars.

In mountainous ares like where I live, their TRUE MPG isn't much better than my wife's 626 or my old Civic, and far worse than the occasional old VW Rabbit you still see around here.

Add in the towing fees and lost work from not being able to travel the roads many of us in NH do on a daily basis during the winter and the cost of battery replacement and all and you're really not saving a damn thing.
You may claim that you're saving the environment but that's not true if you're running the hybrid's gas engine >90% of the time. Which pollutes more; a Prius with the pedal to the metal or an old Subi with the foot barely resting on the gas? You DO know that low-level Ozone (generated by electrical equipment) is a pollutant, right?

Fuel-efficient cars are cool, but not always possible for some of the same reasons. Most households here need something capable of at least light hauling. Do you have curbside trash removal? I don't. How about plowing? Not always. many of us need something bigger than a Smart car.
That said, my old Civic 4WD Wagon got 32 MPG and the old VW Rabbit has a bit of cargo space with the rear seat folded, and both are able to get around up here in the winter.

bear in mind that most New Englanders are more practical that those who live in cities in warmer climates.

They actually would only be good for a person that gets stuck in gridlock, or a lot of starting and stoping between redlights. They are no more efficient than a Honda Civic. They rob power to charge the batteries. I have only straight highway miles to town, so it would do me no good to have one. If they made a hybrid that burned gas and wood, then it would help. Also most people have no idea of the replacement cost of the batteries.

They have become more trendy, but I still wouldn't drive a Prius or Hybrid. At some point the big vehicles will become hybrids and I would probably drive it if I could afford it. My basic test for driving a vehicle is," Would CHarles Bronson or Robert Mitchum have been caught dead in that thing?" It doesn't have to be an expensive ride, but it has to be something a man's man would drive for sure.

I don't know about everyone on here...but I haven't ever had energy on short supply...I always seem to have enough.