What doyou think about hybrid Cars? Toyota Prius 2008?

[Aussies-Online]

If you go to this page. you can find good info about hybrid cars, and compare side by side cars. What to buy and what not to buy. http://www.fueleconomy.com

[EricS]

I have heard the next generation Prius will be out in the next year or two with many improvements, including significantly improved mileage. I am hoping my 97 Civic will hold out till then.

[Rider]

How do we 'dispose' of all the nasty, toxic, polluting batteries??? More landfills? Dump them in the ocean? Stockpile them in your backyard?

[Paul]

have to agree a little bit with doctor j on this one... the average battery life for the gas electric hybrid is 5 years... average cost to replace the battery is $3000-$5000 and the batteries are made of toxic materials.... plus recent surveys state that a new civic or camry that gets30-35 mpg will have the same cost over 5 years as a hybrid and the pollution difference is minimal... they have started testing lithium batteries that have shocking results - improved battery life of almost 10 years and increased fuel economy upwards of 90 mpg... will probably be available in the next 2-3 years hopefully...

[grvygoolie]

Battery disposal consists of either:#1 call the 800 number on the battery itself.#2 follow instructions given by the person you talk to#3 Toyota pays you a $200 bounty to get the battery back for recycling or to be refurbished.Or:# 1 make note of the codes that indicate which blocks are bad.# 2 sell battery on EBay with a statement telling which are bad as many would want it for spare modules or to experiment with (Each module is roughly the same capacity and voltage as 6 D cell NiMh recharge ables in series..# 3 pocket the money or use it to help pay for another battery.Luckily unlike what the naysayers would have you believe they don't fail that often and usually not at all. Toyota has sold 516,783 Prius cars in the US alone so far and if batteries were really failing left and right as they would have you believe there would probably be either a huge class action suit or Toyota would be bankrupt as the HV battery is under a full warranty for way more than 5 years and they would go broke replacing them.