My Quest For An Eco Friendly Auto Leads me to Prius

I’ve recently found myself in the car market with my sights firmly set on an eco friendly auto.  It didn’t take long for me to zero in on the Prius.  I was originally scouting for a 2009 model until I heard the 2010 was coming and promised to be bigger, better and greener.  After some research,   I realized that appeared to be true.  In developing its third generation, Toyota didn’t mess with its fuel efficient crown jewel.  Toyota estimates that the 2010 model will only consume 3.8 L/100 km (74 m.p.g.), combined city and highway driving. That’s better than the 4.1 L (69 m.p.g.) for the previous generation (introduced in 2004) and the 4.6 L (61 m.p.g.) for its predecessor – the first Prius that went on sale in Canada in 2000.
It’s also better than its two direct competitors: the $25,775 Volkswagen Jetta Wagon TDI diesel (6.8 L/4.8 L, or 41/59 m.p.g.) or the new Honda Insight hybrid (4.8 L/4.5 L, or 58/63 m.p.g.), which may be priced to start at around $23,000.  Toyota also says the new Prius has the  ability to operate in electric-only mode and use environmentally responsible manufacturing methods and materials (such as LED headlights and plant-derived, carbon-neutral plastics) meaning the environmental footprint of the 2010 version is even lower than the previous model.  Is that an eco friendly auto or what?

Toyota says people mainly buy the Prius for three reasons: they’re worried that fuel prices will sharply rise again, they want to drive a car that has real “green” street cred and they want to own what they consider “the future of the automobile.”   Hollywood definitely helped fuel the rise in popularity with many stars proudly sporting their Prius all around town.

With global warming entering our collective conscience, the Prius seems like part of the solution.  Granted,  public transportation would be better and biking/walking would be best, but within the confines of urban sprawl, the Prius is proven the most eco friendly auto by far.

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