New technology is great, I’m all for it – when it works, and we aren’t just being sold something because it’s new and trendy. Toyota would have us believe that their range of hybrid cars makes them incredibly green, clean and wonderful, saving us from a doomed CO2 furnace. Hmmm.. is that really the case.

I was reading a Japanese car mag last week that took the new Lexus GS350 and the new GS hybrid model for a back to back/side by side spin. They travelled 900kms in these two vehicles, a combination of city traffic and highway cruising. At the end they did the numbers and surprise surprise there was nothing between them in the fuel consumption. Both returned 9.1km/l. The extra 200kgs for the motor and battery of the hybrid undid any gain it might have had.

When you add in the extra CO2 footprint these hybrid cars have at the factory stage you are actually behind the standard engine model. Not to mention the rather sticky issue of what to do with the highly toxic Nickel Cadmium batteries in 10 years time when they have to be disposed of. Maybe Toyota is hoping all the used car exporters, whom they love to hate, will export the cars and batteries off to 3rd world countries so it will no longer be their problem….