My husband has a 2005 Prius and I drive a 2002 Civic with manual transmission. He drives mostly highway as we live 65 miles from his work and thus the reason for the purchase of the Prius.

He averages 46-38 MPG. By comparison, my Civic consistently averages 38-40 MPG. So, his car is a bit more comfortable, but mine is still a decent drive.

He is very happy with his car. I realize that this study was to answer the question on which vehicle purchase was the better green choice.

However, from a pure economics standpoint, I would not spend the extra $$ again on the hybrid version. Now it could be that I have the exceptional Civic, but given the minimal difference in the MPG between his Prius and my Civic, I cannot justify the increased out of pocket for the higher payments and expected maintenance of the battery system.

Further, recently the Prius was damaged in an auto accident which destroyed the entire back hatch. It was repaired at a national, well known repair shop and took over 3 weeks to complete the repair. Part of the explanation for the time delay was that they must have a specialist disconnect the power supply throughout the car before repair and then reassemble after repair is complete.

We live rural and have been told by more than one volunteer fireman that emergency service workers have been electrocuted trying to rescue injured passengers from the hybrid vehicles. I spoke with the auto body shop and he said although it would have to be a situation of everything possible thing going wrong, it could happen. But if the rumor is out there, it could effect the willingness (and rightfully so) for a fireman or other emergency worker during a serious accident.