Moving on to a Volt

Right now, it costs less to run a plug-in hybrid on just gas; Compare Side-by-Side

 

. . . . . or? it looks like
many Volt buyers upgraded to Gen II Volt? Don't forget, the Volt is sold nationwide - so there would certainly be a good volume of them around - compared to the Pip, which is/was only sold in CARB States.

IOW's - it would be equally presumptuous for anyone to say that folks dumped their gen 1 pip due to buyer's remorse - once the Gen II Pip finally (hopefully in all states) arrives - because they may simply want to get the next better model. My fear however, is that Toyota is not all that anxious to build a Volt killer, because although i know they can - such improvements clearly fly in the face of their hydrogen car - making sure it gets lots of CARB credits ... along with negative plugin advertising. But we'll see ... hope i'm wrong, and that Toyota ups the ante.
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... Depending upon where you live.
For me, gas has to get down to about $0.60/gallon before it would be cheaper.
Then, I would only have improved convenience, performance, quality of drive, safety, cargo/passenger room and not having to dealer with an auto dealer to convince me to buy the same car again

 

Yikes!. What is your electric rate/gas price?

 

our electricity costs zero due to fully amortized PV. The link fails to account for the substantial ratio of plugin owners that either have , or are planning to install solar. That being the case ....

.Solar panels can power the home and electric car, from the roof top — can’t do that with gasoline cars | The Long Tail Pipe
So for some - you'd have to give gas away - but then due to the pollution, they might not want the gas - even if it was free. You'd be surprised how liberating running gas and oil free can be.

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LOL-paid for Photo Voltaic! Not fair!

 

My grid electricity is on time of use, and is 5.7 cents/hour when I charge overnights.
That rate is available to customers of most coops in MN.
Some have slightly lower rates.

Of course, some in Texas get free electricity at night.
Others in CA have electricity that is much more expensive.

Which Is why I qualified the earlier statement made by another poster that gas is now cheaper than electricity for plugin vehicles. It is for some, but definitely not others.

 

And others like myself prefer to buy renewables.

Yet another fly in the ointment in this comparo' is actual driving habits; as in YMMV.

Me? About 75% of my trips are under 3 miles where even the Prius's MPG would plummet due to cold starts/warmup penalty so using a 50 mpg metric is way off. And due to time of year, I have little to no HVAC use so my EV MPGe is through the roof (150+ MPGe is not uncommon). Factoring both of those in and the calculator shows gas is still about twice as expensive for me.

But the bottom line for PHEV owners is the power to choose your fuel. What a concept!

 

well, la de da, aren't you special.

 

I think I recognize that Village, great Christmas lights every year!

 

did I mention our Duffy boat is electric too?

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i have a golf cart. that needs a trojan battery.

 

In Florida or Bastan?

 

Ribbed?

 

i'm in fl, battery's in bastan, frozen trojan.

 

Ahh, wicked hard then.

 

I think what your seeing, at least in my area is that most of these people turned the Volts back in on lease returns so they are out in the market. I see far more volts in Los Angeles than I do PIP's. On my street, we have four Volts and my PIP. They are both appliances in my opinion (not a car guys car), however having driven both, I'd say the Volt is a much more refined car. Having bought this appliance based on my specific needs at the time, the PIP fit my bill better than the Volt. Is it more reliable, mine had a substantial issue just a few thousand miles into ownership, since then it's been fine. If you live anywhere with hills or need to get moving faster than a kid on a tricycle the ICE bumps on. The inefficient generator you speak of, regarding the Volt is why it's so much quieter 99% of the time compared to the PIP. Let's not forget about the torque, none of which is available on the Prius. Enjoy your new ride, as it serves a specific niche nicely, but I wouldn't bash the Volt, it really has decent vehicle dynamics.

 

Good luck with your Volt. I will still stay with my Prius plug-in Advanced.