If you haven’t owned a Prius, then you can’t really say anything about the car. I own a 2004 Prius and a 2005 ford Mustang. I love both cars equally as much. The Prius gets my kids to school and me to work and i save 60% on my fuel bill compared to regular ICE only sedans. I drive a lot so it’s a big deal to me.

On the other hand I have a Mustang which I imported and I love driving it. I take it to the track and do weekend hops through the windy coastal roads. I love it because of it’s power and style and get lots of positive comments at the track.

I don’t know what all this Prius hate is about in the US, but all i know is that the US is pissing on its constitution when it sees an idea and then destroys it for some idiotic political reason. The EV1 would have made the US a country where the production EV was born. Detroit could have still remained to be ‘motor city’. Instead it killed it and let Japan take advantage of it in the future. Then GM claws back with the Volt as it’s fairly obvious that they have acknowledged their past mistakes.

So next time you pass a Prius, think about your ‘home grown’ corporations and what their real agendas are and then you will realise that you are pissing on the constitution. Your government wants foreign imports and labour and it doesn’t matter what the political party is in charge, they all have the same agenda.

I was enjoying a lovely dream about horses…

As a proud driver of a Prius we respond with the following truths:

1. Toyota have long been masters of lean manufacturing: less waste, less material. This ethos drives everything they do and explains why they’re suffering from a dip in profits and sales while other car-makers, engaged in cruise control, drive off the cliff.

2. Did you know the Prius is 90% recyclable and dedicated battery collection centres exist across the markets the model is sold in?

3. Or that the Prius emits less than half the tank-to-wheel CO2 emissions of a petrol car?

4. Its advantages over other cars don’t just stop with CO2, my dear Prodigal Fool, they also include silent, emissions- and petrol-free driving when in electric vehicle mode.

5. Regenerative braking is also included in this technological tour-de-force, a simplified version of which you will now find in F1, no less.

6. You clearly haven’t heard of Toyota’s Eco-Vas process either, so please spend some time looking it up online.

Oh, and electricity doesn’t power the Prius, petrol and its own battery pack do. A battery pack which is guaranteed for 8 years, far longer than most owners will keep their cars for.

Truly, it took balls for Toyota to launch the first gen. ugly-duckling Prius in 1997. Everyone laughed and laughed and laughed some more, saying diesels were the only way forward, failing to acknowledge that hybrid technology could be applied to any fuel source (diesel, petrol, hydrogen, etc.).

Over 1 million sales later, and with 90% of the ballooning hybrid vehicle market its clear Toyota was brilliantly prescient and deserve their reputation as the car world’s greenest champion.