Obama’s Michigan trip highlights misguided federal push for ‘green’ auto batteries that cost and pollute more than market-driven competitors

Congress, meanwhile, has been considering the problem of price for Detroit’s government-sponsored long-range electric vehicles, and will attempt to bridge the bottom-line gap with more federal money on the consumer end. Cars sporting bigger lithium-ion batteries will receive an environmental tax credit nearly twice as large as that granted to the Prius, despite questions about the difference between their respective carbon footprints.

But Hanson remains confident in the business sense behind Toyota’s strategy.

“Incentives won’t be there forever, they can’t be,” he said. “The Prius has been so successful because of its appeal to mainstream buyers.”

WATCH: STIMULUS FRUSTRATION CONTINUES