I remeber before I got a hybrid, I was a skeptic and thought buying a hybrid was all hype. I remember reading and even mentioning to a fellow coworker who was looking into buying a Prius that a replacement battery will be very expensive, like somewhere in the neighborhood of $10k! Boy, was I grossly misinformed and fell for it. While hybrid batteries are expensive, they're really nowhere near $10k! Nowadays, repacement batteries have dropped.

Remil, the first Insight was sort of a production hybrid prototype that Honda sold at a lost. It served a marketing and research purpose. The 1.0 liter engine can actually propel the car without the IMA battery, but it's important that you have a functional IMA system to make the car perform as designed.

For those who drive a prius, what mpg do you get on average. I really like the Gen. 3 Prius, but I know it makes no economic sense to buy one now. The EPA rating is higher.

Edit to add: If the VW Polo gets 80mpg why don't we get it since gas is such a big issue here? 80mpg? Wow!