Question for the prius owners could you spend 8 hours stuck behind the wheel on a fairly regular basis?
It depends on whether you spend 8 hrs mostly round cities or motorway. If it was the formal, then its Prius, nothing will beat it, if it was the latter, I guess it would be BMW with that powerful diesel engine, and most likely to have similar fuel consumption as the Prius.
But in terms of overall practicality and running cost, I think the Prius would win.