As a young man with eyes on beautiful sports car, I adore the exquisite looks of Lamborghini Gallardo Balboni, Bugatti Veyron Pur Sang, and Ferrari F430.  On the other hand, as an engineer, specialising in sustainable processing, I am inclined to take a look at the Toyota Prius and Lexus Hybrid.

However, the current usage of these hybrid cars is only as a ‘fashion statement’ by A-list Hollywood celebrities. The point of driving a hybrid over there is not to save the planet but to be seen trying.

When hybrids first went into the eye of the world, mile-per-gallon estimates float around uncontrollably as people rushed to the dealership to get their ‘piece of the pie’. Toyota claims Prius looks like and performs like a normal car but delivers 50% better fuel economy. In my opinion, that’s not exactly spot on.

A Prius is not that pleasant-looking and it will do only 45mpg or 19.13 km/L. And get this; our own Proton Persona returns fuel economy of 41.2mpg, just 3.8 less mpg than a Toyota Prius! This just proves that hybrid cars have long been under-performing what's advertised.

I believe that most companies and organisations (Toyota and Lexus please stand up) aren't so-called green because they care about the environment. They’re in it because it will make them lots of money. Is there any easier way to market your product other that designing a 'Save the Environment' logo and sticking it on your product?

These companies want to market their products, fair enough. However, being a typical Malaysian, we would be lying if we said money didn't cross our minds from time to time. The average Malaysian is much more concerned about paying his bills than saving the environment.

Furthermore, think about this. If you remove the heavy electric motor and the batteries from a Toyota Prius, you could have save so much weight that it would become more economical and therefore even kinder to the environment. I mean, I don’t know about others, but that is just my logic.

I’m not saying that is the hybrid cars are bad. I’m just a little bit concerned for the consumers as the advertisement for these cars are more often misleading than not. We as consumers shouldn't be settling for this; we deserve better.