While I don't disagree with your general concept, you do have one point wrong. The Prius uses an NiMH battery pack. It contains no lead whatsoever, and while there's some strongly alkaline potassium hydroxide electrolyte, it's a smaller quantity and less dangerous than the sulfuric acid in a lead-acid battery.

So, to clarify:

People give the giant hybrids like Escalade and Suburban a lot of crap, since they still only get like 20 MPG. But actually, that's a greater percentage fuel saving than adding hybrid drive to any midsize sedan. The number is less impressive, but the actual fuel savings are tremendous.

A Chrysler Crossfire, sometime around 2007.

Maybe this?

Of course the guns all start out at licensed dealers; gun manufacturers don't sell directly to anyone but dealers and the military. Short of breaking into the factory and stealing them, there could be no other source.

Guns Do Not Work That Way.

Of course most guns used in crimes are locally-sourced. They are, as you say, available. But what if they weren't? Why are you so sure the import market wouldn't just expand to compensate?

I don't think anyone is under mistaken impressions regarding hydrogen power. It's not a substitute for fossil fuels, it's a substitute for batteries. In both cases, you put in more energy than you can take out, but it's something you can't avoid if you want to get the local efficiency, light weight, and hilarious…

"The amount of gas that Dodge ram would use is INSANE."

True, but I can see Machiave11i's point. It could just as easily have been saved with ONE V8, and would have been a lot more useful for it. And if you need more power, well, forced induction weighs a lot less than a second engine. . .

Mine's white with a small spot of rust on the hatch, and got hit hard enough in the August hail storm to look a bit like a golf ball. I rarely venture north of Dodge, though. Your car's pretty distinctive; I'll wave if I ever see you.

Too fast for traffic in the area, yeah. Also rides a bit hard for the roads in the area, but we make sacrifices for our toys.

I love my Protege5. I think it's a fairly attractive car without really calling attention to itself, and it's economical and practical. And it just happens to be one of the best-handling FWD cars I've ever driven. More fun even than a lot of RWD cars - I think the only things I've liked better were an MR2 and a…

This is something I've always intended to do if I ever buy a factory-new car, especially if it's something cool. Of course I'm buying with the intention of driving the car for as long as it'll hold together, but things change. Completely aside from the geek amusement factor, I have to think it'll do some good for…

The Miracle Carburetor story should have died with the advent of fuel injection. It was borderline believable when all cars had carbs, because, sure, there was always the possibility of making a better one.

The daytime running lights issue doesn't bother me much. Modern DRLs are at least as bright as a lot of the tired, age-fogged headlights still rolling around out there. Someone equipped with such DRLs forgetting to turn on their headlights is only increasing their own chances of hitting a stationary object - they're…

Maybe it's obvious to you, Mr. Expert Starred Commenter, but I'm completely baffled by how comments sort on this website. Also, I probably didn't reload the page immediately before responding, so I could easily have missed a few comments. I offer my sincerest apologies and hope I never have to question your…

Autogyros are really quite safe, with proper pilot training. Their big limitation is that you can't do anything that causes zero or negative G-force or bad things happen. That's not actually a huge limitation, as plenty of conventional airplanes lose engine lubrication if they go negative, and helicopters generally…

Easy - with an off-center weight. The wheels are all carrying a weight inside, mounted at the top. When you bump it the weight falls and causes the wheel to roll up the ramp.