Hybrid cars remove most advantages to IC engines as start-up and response times can be made irrelevant. Further, cars generally only need a small fraction of engine max power hybrids also allow for heavy engines relative to HP as most cars can maintain highway speeds with less than 40HP.

PS: As to fuel vs. energy costs. The vast majority of gas's costs has nothing to do with direct energy costs. Oil is already vastly more expensive than competing fuels so even a 2>1 energy loss could end up less expensive than current production methods.