There’s still the inevitable corporate embarrassment of untold millions of Priuses needing new $10K+ battery packs a few years down the road. There will be more of those things littering the highways than beer cans at some point.
The new electric cars are more modular.
And remember, locomotives use electric motors to drive themselves. The diesel just charges them.
Whoops, it’s more like three thousand bucks or less.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1078138_toyota-hybrid-battery-replacement-cost-guide
Well, actually, the total production as of Oct 2012 was 2.8 million surprisingly.
I hear a lot of people downing the Prius, but I love mine. I have a horrendous commute — it was, at one point, six hours a day on the road (necessity — had to travel where the work was). My Prius has been a real life saver in the gas department. I really like my car. $10,000 battery down the road? I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. Right now, it’s making it possible for me to get to work.