This is a really dumb idea. But if they'd scale it up to adult size, increase the top speed to 45, and sell it for under $18k I'd give a serious look. I want an electric commuter car with some style, but I'm not going to fork out $40k.

I'd say BMW pretty much killed the Mini. Their modern take on the car is so expensive and gets such poor gas mileage that it's a mockery to call it a Mini at all.

What an annoying article. Get over the color, lady. Most of us can't afford one electric car, much less a garage-full.

We have a car repair place in Sanford, NC that specializes in Prius battery repair. They can often replace a few offending cells and restore the pack to full capacity. That seems more reasonable than sending the whole pack to the recycler, particularly when the now again car may not last another 150,000 miles.

I don't think a 33 MPG really warrants a story in a website with "green" in the title. Now if it was a pick-up or something, perhaps, but not a 2-door passenger car with truly average mileage.

I don't see how this is newsworthy. They only bought four cars.

I'm leary of this article. I know there are no clutches in the current Prius Power-Split module (i.e. "transmission"), nor any belts like the photo shows. The Power Split device is MUCH simpler than a standard transmission. I think there are only 40 parts.

I saw one of these at the Plug-in 2011 Conference in Raleigh. It looks like the battery takes over both the spare tire well and the storage area above it. Where did the spare tire go? And is there someplace for tools?