Planning my next Prius, plug-in or no?

I have a 2014 gen3 that gives me consistent 3.5 l per 100km or 68 mpg in town. I do much better in town than I do on the open road. I wish I would have gone the pip way! Good luck with whatever you decide. H

 

Who knows. It all depends on what your EV ratio is. I live 6 miles from work and get free charging at work. I get about 70% of miles EV, and this includes a few long trips a year, such as SF to LA.
You'll like the PIP...but without incentives you won't get your money back for many years.

Mike

 

Hmmmmmm.

First of all....you're a long term driver, so you aren't going to fall for a lease (fleece.)
With the federal tax kickback pips are now below 30K if you shop wisely, especially outside SoCal where they're in demand so that people can use HOV lanes.
Gas is NOT going to stay at $3/gal for the next 10 years, and people who hate hydrocarbons for a hobby are whimpering that low fuel prices are depressing hybrid sales. This will probably skew the numbers a little in favor of the pip.
Also....the next gen hatchback is due for a reboot in 201? so the G3's will REALLY be on sale when the G4's come out. Expect the G4 pip to follow one year later.

I'm thinking that if you keep the car for 10 years and maintain your urban driving patterns then the pip might be a decent choice for you.
If you didn't pluralize "kid" in your original post, I would have suggested a Volt which is sold in your state, and would allow you to charge at work and have almost no out of pocket fuel expenses based on your daily commute.

If you're wanting a Pip, I'd get one with the expectation that it might not be cheaper to operate over 10 years than a G3 but if it's close enough that you have to take a pencil to paper to figure things out then I'd probably go for the one that you WANT, which for the moment?
Sounds like a Pip.

I'd wait a few months though, and see if the prices come down a little more.

Good Luck!

Let us know how the coin toss goes.

EDIT: Crap. I forgot the MOST important thing....
What does your CFO think?

 

I'd definitely get the Pip, then.

Start negotiating either now or well after tax rebate time. Avoid the tidewater area (DC) and start looking in some of those itty-bitty blue sates up North. Somebody up there will want to make one more December sale and you'll have an excuse for a road-trip.
You'll miss out on the federal kick-back, but there are lots of off-lease pips that you can get fairly cheap if you shop right.
I don't do it that way myself, but my kid is already out of college.

Since your CFO has "her" car.....chances are that the ROI on that one will be less than the pip----if that ever comes up.

Best of luck!

 

I like the used 2012 PiPs coming to some dealers in Va/Md...maybe I see if these are not moving I'll try for a long shot deal.

 

have you driven a pip in ev? that's what sold me, had nothing to do with money. but yes, your calcs are off. it depends on how much you plug in and what your electric rates are and, of course, where gas goes the next five years. one thing people don't think about is that, after you start driving a plug in, you start looking for more places to plug in, and charging more at home for errands and things. i thing it will add up to a lot more than $1500. over 5 years. the pip is gonna run you about $2-3000. more than an equivalent lift back. (of which, there isn't one.) all the best with your decision!

 

There is a disadvantage to the pip in that you lose both trunks and the spare tire.

 

Yup, that's off. You'll exceed 100 MPG with a 18-mile drive each way with a recharge in between. I easily see higher than that with a slightly shorter commute and charging at work.

My lifetime average (currently at 50,151 miles, with a 19,000-mile annual driving distance, which includes a number of long no-recharge road-trips carrying bikes on back, along with having to endure Minnesota winters) is 73 MPG.

Huh? The battery-pack only uses up the space under the false floor. All the cargo space above that is retained. You get the same large area as the regular model.

 

I think I am talking about the area under the floor where you could keep stuff tucked away, and the space below that where the spare lived, and you are talking about the area above the floor that is the back end of the passenger cabin?

 

Actually, neither of our posts are truly accurate. You don't lose all of the storage under the floor. It shifts from horizontal to vertical. I've got a surprising amount of stuff crammed into mine too. It's nice having a hidden space to put things. It's not totally rectangular. A quick measure of the biggest dimensions is 34" long, 12" deep, 6" wide.

Basically, all you tradeoff is the spare tire.

 

you can find many pics in the pip forum.

 

yeah, you're right.

 

yep, it's not bad. i keep car emergency stuff in there. it's probably about 25% of the full one. it's the spare that's a pain, i keep mine above decks.

 

on top of the hatch floor. makes it a bit awkward to put a lot of stuff there, but easy to rearrange.