Is the Prius worth the hype?

The Wall Street Journal ran letters to the editor on the topic of hybrid cars. The feeling was that hybrids and the Prius in particular are:
- Not necessarily a good environmental desicion: their highway mileage is about the same, toxic material from battery can harm the environment
- Not usually a good financial decision: Purchase price often well over MSRP, Battery replacement costs very high,

In addition, I had suspected that gas savings do not compensate for high purchase price, so decided to run some numbers.

Assuming 16,000 Miles/Year and $3.00/Gallon, I compared a Toyota Corolla with the Toyota Prius. The HTML from my analysis doesn't seem to post here correctly, but I found it will take more than 10 years before the gas savings will recover the ~$6,700 extra paid for the Prius.
Even if the Prius was fully electric (Infinite MPG/$0 annual gas), 3 years would not be enough to recoup the cost.

The environmental benefit is questionable at best and the financial cost is significantly more. The hype is just that.