Just to add to your fuel economy information…I had an 05 Prius and I averaged 47 MPG. Not 60 MPG like Toyota advertised. This mileage was from a combination of city and freeway driving, mostly freeway driving. Also they get worse gas mileage in colder weather. And, yes, they do look ‘funky’ but I think the design may improve with time.
“I’ve got a minority opinion about Hybrids. May I share it? Hybrids could possibly be even more environmentally distructive than SUV’s! And totally electric cars are EVEN WORSE!”
I don’t think that’s a minority opinion, there is just a very vocal minority that is making a lot of money off this gimmick. Lead isn’t the issue, but there are certainly contaminates that will have environmental impact if not disposed of correctly. Just wait a few years for this fad to go away (just about the time that the domestic manufactures jump on the bandwagon), it’s not going to be cost effective in the long term anyway.
The problems you describe, however, are solvable with a little bit of work. The limited supply of crude oil, however, proves to be quite tricky.