Realizing an automotive landscape today where almost every automaker promoting vehicles with some kind of electrified powertrain, it is hard to recall how 20 years ago electric or hybrid cars were seen as an oddity. Back then, Toyota raised eyebrows with the production of a small car that combined gasoline and electric power to move. Advertised as a more environmentally-friendly way of travel, the idea also presented some practicality. The first Toyota Prius was bold technology for the 1990s based on an idea that actually dated back around the turn of the 20th century. To many, a gasoline engine and electric motor working together was a wacky premise resulting in the Prius being received like the stereotypical nerdy kid. Bravery of the Toyota Prius allowed it to survive critics who dismissed the advantages of the hybrid vehicle as a green fad or bean-counters who believed hybrids can never be produced profitably. No longer the era where the majority of Internet came through a di...