Hybrid Cars

Considering the heavy environmental burden in both production and disposal of batteries, does the the production of a hybrid car actually make more sense (in terms of spent carbon) than a similar size vehicle?

No (to the first question). a swiss study which examined the environmental impact of 6,000 car models found the prius to be the greenest car on the planet: http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentnews/idusl2733658020070727?feedtype=rss additionally, a 2006 study from argonne national laboratory concluded that around 75% of all hybrid and internal combustion vehicle energy use comes from the operation of the vehicle. the rest comes mostly from producing the fuels and the manufacture and disposal of the vehicle and its materials. other studies have found that 80-90% of the lifetime energy use comes during operation. see pages 4-5 of the link below for further details. http://www.pacinst.org/topics/integrity_of_science/case_studies/hummer_vs_prius.pdf the energy for the construction of a car - including hybrid batteries - is minimal in comparison to the amount of energy the car consumes during its lifetime of driving.