Come on, you expected Clarkson to like a Prius? That would have been more James May's speed, if you'll pardon the pun. But no car enthusiast is going to get off on a hybrid that focuses on fuel economy as a main selling feature.

Speaking of the Prius, I saw an interesting story on the weekend that looked at the total environmental footprint that the Prius causes, from absolute birth to death, and found it to be much more damaging than people want you to believe, and it is all about the batteries. The nickel mining process is not even remotely environmentally friendly, nor is the production of the batteries (in China, that bastion of environmental protection). When you factor in the disposal of the batteries at the end of their life-cycle, this article claimed that a Prius has a total cost per mile of something like 30% more than a Hummer H2, which uses more gasoline but isn't anywhere near as destructive in production or disposal.

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Jonathan

2011 Mazda2
2000 E320 4Matic Wagon
1994 C280 (retired)