We had to hand back a work car a few weeks ago and we've replaced it with a second-hand Toyota Prius. Its the greenest car you can get, but it didn't qualify for the bank's green car loan rate because it was second-hand... It's really cool. It feels quite spacious inside for a smallish car. It's hybrid electric/petrol, so it changes from one to the other as you drive. Because we can see how much petrol we are using, it seems inevitable that you try to take it on almost as a game to beat it down. So I do find myself driving a bit slower and smoother, and trying to get under 5 litres/100km each trip, which seems the average. That translates to about 55mpg. 

I don't know if there'are any politics involved in the marketing of the cute smart car that Amy points to today, but you always have to keep it in mind in the energy debate. The importation and distribution of a tiny electric car from India (the Reva) was stalled for about 18 months while the governent here in Australia tried to work out under which catagory to register it. The oil and coal lobbies are powerful and it seems quite likely that things like this are just ways of throwing obstacles in the path to the adoption of alternative energy solutions.