We all remember seeing all this before... when the Gen II Prius came out.
Here is cnn saying the car does not get the mileage it is supposed to
http://money.cnn.com/2004/06/28/pf/autos/prius_test/index.htm
Here is car and driver (
http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/car/04q1/toyota_prius-road_test/green_machine_page_3) saying, among other things "we'll never be convinced that this car, selling at this price, earns what any Ivy League CPA would recognize as a profit. We therefore expect mass-market hybrids to be more spartan, more expensive, or probably both" and also this "The fuel saving is measurable but not worth the trade-offs. If you want to be green, buy a bicycle. If merely appearing green is enough, go for the Prius. If you want the best car for the money, look elsewhere. "
of course there was this article:
http://money.cnn.com/2004/01/06/pf/autos/detroit_gm_hybrids/ where Bob Lutz is quoted after the Prius won North American Car of the Year "Lutz also argues that it doesn't make economic sense for consumers to pay several thousand dollars more for hybrid cars"
We had the crazy "Dust to Dust" report - now widely discredited - that claimed the environmental impact of a Prius is worse than a Hummer.
Remember comments like this: "The guys at Edmunds.com, who run hard numbers about the car business as well as anyone, estimate that a Prius owner would have to drive at least 66,500 miles annually for five straight years, or gasoline would have to soar to 10 bucks a gallon, to equal the cost of operating a cheaper, conventional Corolla."
Or This: "if we pay attention to the Cassandra-like fulminations of the liberal media, we might be led to believe that hybrid vehicles are our only hope to save us all from ozone asphyxiation and indentured slavery to the Arab oil barons...The Pious—oops—Prius costs about $5000 more to manufacture than a conventional Corolla and retails for about three-grand extra. ... Then we have the battery pack, that heavy lump of nickel-metal hydride juice boxes that presumably improve fuel efficiency (but not that much, according to our road tests). Although the warranties are for eight years or 100,000 miles, battery replacement will cost $5300 for the Toyota and Lexus hybrids, and the Ford Escape replacements run a whopping $7200."
And then there was endless blogger and chat board entries like: "Sure they're efficient and all, but since it's got an engine and a motor it's got one heckuvan oddball drivetrain (and a couple of other similar quirks). If anything happens to the powertrain you've got yourself quite a hefty repair bill. All the money you saved on gas would probably make up for it so unless you're a hippie you're no better off."
Most of it was nonsense. The batteries did not wear out, the environmental impact was proven to be significantly better, and most importantly the buying public has found it to be a car good enough that last month (Jan 2011) It was their third best selling car, just behind the Camry, selling more units than the other five car models (Toyota and Scion) combined or twice as many Priuses than the Lexus division sold in total cars.
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/toyota-reports-january-sales-115030724.html
Just got to turn off the noise.