Honestly, jgranzier It sounds like you didn't like the idea from the beginning, so you are prejudiced to not like your wife's Prius. Your gas mileage sounds low; our got 49.6 over the last 1,950 winter miles.
When I found my Prius, I wasn't looking, but I thought it was really cool; & after owning around 250 cars; it's hard to get excited about any car anymore.
I bought it really, really cheap, it needed brake work.
I really like mine; it rides nice; I don't know why your rides like a buckboard.
It's smooth power, no shifting and watching the computer dashboard readout of current MPG & last average 5 mins and the graphing and power transition from battery to engine to recharging; is novel; I dig the multi function touch panel. This is like a 'Star Trek" car; everything is reprogrammable and you can get a readout on any function. ... The brakes are mostly not brakes; they are re-generators; there is no transmission; just a motor/generator and gas motor. I found the transition, is similar going from a gas car to a diesel, except with a lot of techno marvel and a thick owners manual. Many Owners are getting 300,000 miles plus & counting out of the original batteries and original everything, some cars over 500,000-600,000 miles. They seem to be very reliable cars; the gas motor only turn on and off when needed; and only when the oil pressure is up. It is at first startling when the motor quits; you think the car died; resisting immediate temptation to start it again.... Sitting at an intersection in silence...... Driving around in silent "stealth mode" startles animals and people alike.
Prices for the originally expensive parts have dropped significantly; rebuilding battery packs is a yawner; replacing other parts is well documented now as the techno wiz owners are a very do-it-yourself sort of crowd. Some owners are quite anal about record keeping and experimenting and sharing results; sort of like the alternative diesel fuel crowd.... except clean and scientific.
I like it!.....so far. ....Like I told the wife; this is an experiment. & Most of all, my wife loves this car. Nice and quirky.