Electric and hybrid cars are actually incredible bad for the enviroment. Fuel economy isn't everything when talking about enviromental impact. The place the battery for the Prius is made is so bad for the enviroment, NASA tests it's Mars rovers there because the terrain is all dead. If you want enviromentally friendly cars, get a Fiesta, Focus, Cruze, Dart, ect, something small and naturally aspirated, they cause less problems down the road. Plus, most use a CVT (continuosly variable transmission) transmission which is slow, loud, and not ideal. Unlike a conventional 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8-speed transmission, they don't shift gears; it has on continuos gear. Hybrid/electric technology is still being perfected so I wouldn't reccomend them to anyone.
Some of the most fuel efficient vehicles on the road are American. The Ford Fusion is, and has been, the most fuel efficient mid-size sedan on the road, a huge segment. Also, the Ford C-Max gets better MPG than the Prius V, while still putting out over fifty horsepower more, a huge number when talking about under 200-horse vehicles. The Lincoln MKZ is the most fuel efficient luxury vehicle in America, counting all luxury vehicles. Plus, GM made their full-size SUVs, Tahoe, Yukon, Escalade, into hybrids getting over 20 MPG. Did Toyota or Nissan do that? No they didn't.
Actually, American cars are now far better quality than Japanese cars. Fords, Chryslers, and GMs now have excellent overall build quality, and better materials quality. Japanese cars such as the Pilot or Camry are filled with out-dated, cheap, hard-touch plastics, while American cars, such as our Flex and Milan are filled with soft-touch materials and the Flex even has genuine wood on the steering wheel.
Reliability information isn't out yet for all the new American cars. They have new engines and transmissions that are way more advanced than any Japanese engines. Ford has their new 3.5, 2, and 1.6 Ecoboost engines that give you the power of a V8 or V6, with the fuel economy of a V6 or I4, respectively. Chrysler has their 8-speed automatics available in the 300 and Charger. With all the new technology American cars have, comes better reliability. All the turbo-4s in Japanese cars are less reliable than a naturally aspirated engine. Even if Japanese cars are slightly more reliable than American cars, though not near as dependable, durable, or rugged, it wont be that way for long. Japanese cars are behing in technology now compared to Ford, Chrysler, and even GM. Plus, American cars cost a heck of a lot less to maintain, and you can drive them harder.
