Yep, right up there with saying that someone sounds like a broken record.

Sorry, but no. The concept car was much different. It had... I don't know... a chiseled look to it, but as Ignatius has pointed out, was no doubt as aerodynamic as a brick.

If I run my new home air conditioner with all the windows and doors open on the hottest day of the year, it will run continuously and rack up for me a huge electric bill. Had I done the same with my old air conditioner, the results would be essentially the same, perhaps even better because it had less cooling capacity.

Now, how many people would consider this a fair test?

Used the way an air conditioner is supposed to be used... windows closed, doors closed after use... the new unit runs about a third as much as the old one did, which more than compensates for the additional capacity.

All the Top Gear test did was show that if you are trying to decide which car to pick for your NASCAR career, the Prius shouldn't be your first choice.

I've never agreed with you more, phanbuoy.

Actually, a true nuclear engineer would actually be an actual, true nuclear engineer. Have the degree, work in the industry for a few years or so, that sort of thing.

Otherwise, he is simply a pro-nuclear guy who clearly knows very little about the science involved. Jeez, a guy watches Back to the Future a few times and he thinks he has mastered the neutron transport equation.

Flashpoint,

So what do you say to a nuclear engineer who drives a Prius?

The problem, Josh, with producing a car "that looks like a regular sedan" is that your average sedan is about as aerodynamic as a brick. As far as making one that "is as safe to drive as a normal car," many of the safety features you refer to are only necessary if every other driver is driving a tank, and every one of these safety features adds weight.

Part of the problem is that terms like "regular" and "normal" are entirely subjective. What people think of when they hear such terms can be redefined, and needs to be. And will be, I promise you. Start producing cars with a drag coefficient in the 0.1 range, with the resulting jump in mpg, and boxy sedans will quickly begin to look quaint.

When gas was cheap, efficiency lost the safety vs. efficiency argument before it began. Don't get me wrong... I do safety for a living. But while it is a virtue, it is not the only one.

Going from x to 4x is a 300% increase.

BigD145: Empty assertions, and wrong ones at that.

Jandalf,

What gets me is that I am almost 42 and I heard "turn off those lights" from the time I was in the womb. My dad was no environmentalist, but he _was_ a penny-pinching Scotsman. We didn't recycle, per se, but we did return the glass Coca-Cola quart bottles for a dime each, which is more like a quarter or so today. So many things one can do that simply spring from not having a lot...