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So just how green is that eco-friendly driving choice of the Hollywood celeb culture, the Toyota Prius? The short answer is: a lot less green than Leonardo diCaprio, Susan Sarandon and the eco-glitterati were told when they bought it. In fact, according to recent research, Messrs diCaprio and Sarandon would have been doing the planet a bigger favor had they invested in one of CSI Miami’s famous SUV Hummers rather than a Prius – or any hybrid currently on the market. How so? Well uncovering the true – i.e. hidden economic and environmental production cost – of green cars and other green ‘alternatives’, holds a few surprises. Let’s start with the industry’s leading green car, the Toyota Prius. Powered by two engines – a standard 76 hp, 1.5-litre petrol engine and a battery-powered engine, the Toyota Synergy System that propels the car and its hybrid engines, is an eco-dream combination. Or so it seemed under the old Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standard tests. Acknowledging that these tests were unrealistic the US government has established new EPA tests that will affect performance figures for all 2008 models. Under the old EPA regime the Prius could claim an impressive 60 miles per gallon in the city and 51 outside the city, under the new the average in city drops to 45 mpg. This puts it within spitting distance of other non-hybrids, many of which cost half as much to build. But that is only part of the story