Not about green tech pollution, but since Keith and I have discussed the Prius before, here's my experience with the matter...
Went car shopping with my oldest daughter this past week. She's 19 and in the market for a somewhat high-mpg vehicle for commuting back-and-forth to school (30 mile round trip). She's interested in the Honda Fit or the Toyota Yaris and we drove both, but also drove a Ford Focus (nice ride) and sat in, but did not drive, a Ford Fiesta (seats too narrow, uncomfortable for both of us). I tossed out the idea of a Chevy Cruz or Cruz Eco, but she wasn't really interested and since I have no interest in rewarding Government Motors or Obama's crony capitalism, Gov'ment Motors is out of the picture.
Anyway, after driving the Yaris, there was a new Prius C Four (the top trim level of the economy version of the Prius line) on the lot. Very nice, but pretty much a Yaris turned into a hybrid. Push-button start, navi, cool touch-screen displays...loaded. Price tag $23,000. 53 MPG city, 50 combined, 48 highway. Cool. Not a bad price for a hybrid, I thought. So we drove it. My daughter liked it and moved it to the top of the list......until I ran the numbers.
A comparably equipped Honda Fit gets 27/33. A Yaris gets 30/38. A Corolla gets 27/34. The Fit is approximately 3000 less than the Prius C. The Corolla is $4200 less. The Yaris is $5000 less. Based on sticker price (or the True Market Value from Edmonds.com), the price difference means the ROI for the Prius C is just over 5 years, even with the Prius getting approximately 23 MPG more than the Fit.
Doing the ROI compared to the Corolla and Yaris pushes the ROI out to over 7 years if the car is driven 1000 miles per month.
Not having ever run the numbers on gas mileage comparisons when purchasing a vehicle before because they were irrelevant to the purchase, it's somewhat of an eye-opener to "do the math" and discover that unless one can negotiate the price of comparable cars (say the Prius and the Fit or the Prius and the Corolla) to within less than a $1500, even HUGE MPG variations don't justify the extra expense.
So, whether or not the Prius C comes back into play will be determined by how much of that price gap can be closed between other models being considered. However, since one of the other contenders is also a Toyota, I don't figure it'll happen unless they have a fire sale on their stock of Priuses.
Also, on a rather surprising note, one recent article I discovered found that . The reasons as to why folks don't buy another hybrid aren't provided. Given the number of vehicles most folks usually buy over their life, such figures don't bode well for the future of such "green" vehicles.
I'm Ed Thompson, and I approve this message.