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| Re: Prius vs Corolla |
| Cars & Trucks, Etc. : Bicycles |
| 03/15/06 |
Hey, thank you for the spread sheet and calculations -- really. But you and some others posting here just don't seem to get it. The thing with hybrids is not about saving money. The Prius costs a LOT more than a similar car w/o the hybrid drive train, about 25% to 30% more in many cases.
It's about doing something to lower fossel fuel consumption and lowering emissions. It's also about driving the latest in a production level alternative to traditional vehicles.
I own two alternative power vehicles (four actually including my bicycles that I ride whenever I can). I own a bio-diesel as well as a hybrid. They are very different from each other, but both lower the dependency on the fuel pump ... I heard the price of gas is up today; so what? I don't need much
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I won’t do any long speech but my guess is that the Prius is a wanna be utopia. Always look at the things simply and ask yourself those questions. How long before I catch up on the price difference on gas saving? Those extra batteries are they recyclable? (I heard Toyota is working on it; does that mean “no”?) Would those extra batteries still hold charge after few years? How much to change them? (I heard around $10,000; that would be the car blue book value.) Here is the answer for the first question, at least an answer according to my driving habit. I drive about 18,000 miles/year. Maybe 25% is city, and 75% HWY. Let‘s take that the gas will average $3.00 a gallon, or for the pessimists $3.50. The Corolla LE advertised at $15,135 The Prius Advertised at $21,725 I then have to save $6,590 in gas. The Corolla advertised: 32 mpg city/41 mpg hwy The Prius advertised: 60 mpg city/51 mpg hwy Here is a little comparison scheme.
city Hwy if gas average $3 if gas average $3.50
miles/year 4500 13500
Corolla gas needed 140.63 329.27 469.9 1409.7 1644.65
Prius gas needed 75 264.71 339.71 1019.13 1188.985
390.57 455.665
$6590 cover after this years ==> 16.87277569 14.46237916
I might be wrong but 14 to 16 years seems to me a long time to see the saving.
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