There are those who will argue for days that the toll the Prius takes on the environment is greater than a non-hybrid powered car. They argue that the resources and materials it takes to create the hybrid system, more importantly the nickel-metal hydride (Ni-MH) battery pack, is very harmful to mother earth. Well we will leave the professionals to argue that point and we will strictly look at emissions.
The Prius burns less fuel and is considered a Advanced Technology Partial Zero Emission Vehicle” (AT-PZEV). This little hybrid produces far less Carbon Dioxide and other green house gases. Just look at the chart below to see just how much gas can be saved by switching over to a Prius. Lets say you drive 20,000 miles per year. You would save 336 gallons of gas and almost $1000 by driving a hybrid. And the harmful carbon dioxide and green house gas you would produce would be pretty much cut in half. I think Al Gore would approve.
Use the Hymotion calculator to see for yourself:http://www.a123systems.com/hymotion/plugin/calculator