Joined the Club!

Hello All!

My Mother's commute dropped precipitously for 48 miles round trip down to 11 ... and she wanted to lower her payment.

Caveat #1: My Father is in a wheelchair
Caveat #2: We are a "generously proportioned" family.
Caveat #3: Needed to have great FE.

So our first thought was Volt. She has some GM points, and the Chevy dealer is close to giving them away. Now the car is beautifully finished, etc but a wheel chair in the back is not going to fly ... and, well, it is SMALL. I wouldn't mind one (that's tomorrows project) but there is no way she's getting Pop out in that thing.

So my online research landed me on the Toyota website. Hmmm, Toy makes a Plug IN Prius? Never knew. (OK, so until Sunday I DESPISED hybrids). Wow ... Toy has $5300 in lease cash? Even better. Let's go!

Needless to say she now has a Winter Gray Plug In base, and absolutely loves it. Plugged it in, ran errands, ran it today and saw GREAT mpg's. And now, with a full charge, its showing 12.9 miles or range. I did do the HV/EV switch so EV was used in the city areas, and used B on some spots and let the car regenerate while it could.

I don't think I've seen her happier with a car....

 

So its been three and half days ... 348 miles The range indicator is showing 318 miles left on whats in the tank. 30% EV usage. Once Mom starts working again (she is off this week) I expect her EV% to skyrocket.

I have to laugh as the first thing that happens at home is ... plug the car in! Potty break - no. Unload the car - no. Plug the car in - yes! There is an issue with getting out and not turning the car off, but at least it beeps enough at you. And it sounds like R2D2 driving around the neighborhood. The kid next door was THROUGHLY confused as it backed into the garage without a sound. Only 2 close calls with pedestrians, too!

The good:
The best overall package for HER needs.
One of the best overall packages for anyone else, too.
Incredible fuel efficiency (everything above is with ECON and A/C on)
Best space efficiency I've ever experienced in a car
She (and I) really like the flying bridge console

The bad:
I hit my g*dd*mn knee on the flying bridge console when I get in.

The ugly:

I must figure out how to swing the payment on an Advance for myself. If I can't it may be a Volt. Of course, it would be a fun "experiment" to live with both for the same amount of time...