I sat in a hybrid car a few times. Its very smooth and quiet. I fell in love with it instantly.

Everyone's talking about its 'perceived' fuel economy, but no one talks about it being more environmentally-friendly than diesel and other cars.

I'm just curious though, since this car runs on petrol and battery, does it mean that you'd have to change or charge the battery more frequently than a normal car too? Or its maintenance and fuel is just like that of a normal petrol car?

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Because everyone here is selfish about their own pockets and don't really give the environment a damn, LOL. Seriously though, in my honest opinion, for environment, bicycles are the best way.

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The battery charges itself during braking and whatnot, so it should be just like a normal car. I am clueless as to how that magic works, but bottom line it works. In fact, my friend was keep the batts charged up all this while, so at this point it seemed like it was not possible to "run out of electricity". Now, after several years, perhaps the battery will need replacement, but they claim there is one on the road here at its 7th year now and never needed replacement in that area. Yet.

On a side note, I just had a drink with said friend, he told me the 130K price is actually a tax break. This will end soon, so the car actually costs about 160k, and the Prius may be even higher.

The car is now on sale in two trim levels, starting at AU$36,990 for the base-level hybrid Camry.
http://www.cnet.com.au/toyota-camry-hybrid-2010-339295353.htm