Are you driving a Prius because you're Green or Frugal?

Primarily I was looking for a car that's good when stuck in traffic. Can't beat electric power when inching towards a red light.

If frugal was part of the reason, that largely went away when the price of gas plummeted a month after buying my prius.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Yes, and yes.

 

No. 1

 

When it comes to cars, If I was truly frugal I would have bought a new Nissan Versa that was priced at $12,500 back in 2016 . But I'm sure the Prius quality is higher, and it definitely gets better mpg. I am very frugal in other ways, and sometimes just cheap. I'm retired, (but certainly not rich) and feel it is wise to be very conservative with my savings. Thankfully, I am debt-free. I have a very simple and humble lifestyle.

Green? Just in a very modest way. I do little things such as recycling, saving as much water as possible, use the least amount of electricity, etc. And I drive a Prius for what it's worth. I read an article recently that said California still leads the nation in air pollution. With all of our rules and regulations, and environmental laws, and approximately 2 million PriI on the road, we still have very dirty air at certain times of the year.

Sadly, most people here just don't give a rats a**.

 

I purchased a Gen 2 back in '04 for the same reason I am getting a '18 Prime.
I feel they are the most technologically advanced vehicle on the road and
you don't need to give up reliability but I'm not ready to give up the ICE just yet.
The "range anxiety" pure electrics come with isn't something I want to deal with.
I've always embraced technology therefore the Prius is my kind of automobile.
J

 

i can't believe the o/p fell for that old canard.

 

Here are my reasons 6 months after I bought my first Prius. (since totaled by a semi trailer)
2010 Prius School Project! | PriusChat
My reasons after 9 years are very similar.

 

my wife and i have driven hybrids for the best 14 years, and i am currently at 85-90% ev in my pip. we do it for environmental and geo political reasons.

the 'mining and disposal of batteries is fud, and you won't see any of those authors writing about the process of extracting oil and making gasoline.

what i don't believe is that hybrids and plug ins save you money, although it would be easy to convince oneself of the opposite.
there are cases (prime is an example) where if the car can be had cheap enough, or if gas prices go high enough, or you put enough miles on, you might save money. but compared to what?

 

Yes squared

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

It used to come up frequently, although I am not sure I have seen a Gen 4 or Prime version.

 

3. National Security. We are (or were, at that time) very dependent on imports of foreign oil, and many of the world's largest oil producers are not friendly to us. (And that was before Canada was declared a national security threat. ) I wanted to reduce their leverage to blackmail us, and the transfer of our national wealth to them.

 

Stephen Hawking gave humanity 100 years before self destruction. I think there is real, real truth to that, and the mass collective doesn't realize it. But the mass collective does not care as long as they can get food on the table and cool stuff here and there. But the consequence no one wants to face or address. Like the huge garbage floating in the Pacific ocean. Hawking I believe is more than 100% right because most of our important and key resources that is known to be available is only expected to last about 20 years. Beyond that humanity would have to resort to drastic recycling. 20 years is not a good diagnosis for our resources given that we project human population will only be increasing. He recommends that a escape plan be hatched to seed humanity outside this planet before self destruction begins. Now Elon Musk see's the same prognosis and he is getting the ball rolling with Mars.

With that said. Hybrid offers the best of both worlds. Running in electricity and running on gas. That's why I chose it. There is no range anxiety. A quart of gas can move your car many miles, that no battery can even match size for size and power for power. Plugin would have been nice for me but I don't plan to drive a lithium powered car for personal reasons. Like the cost of replacement and potential for fire. NiMH is a safer choice. That is just my choice. Until something like solid state batteries comes along. By that time I'm hoping Toyota will be generous enough to give all us hybrid owners an upgrade to solid state.

Buying a hybrid is not bad for the environment because Toyota is recycling all old packs to build new ones. This Toyota claims will continue to bring the cost of the packs lower over time as more packs are being recycled.

Personally I have no dislike for gas. Energy for energy and weight for weight it is a wonder material that gave humanity a big industrial boost. Now I do think that will be dwindling over time and we will need to find alternatives. The good thing is car makers are going all electric by 2040. But we will need massive solar and renewable sources of energy to successfully switch to pure EV. Gasoline will still be around and because of this switch, the gas crunch may not occur.

 

Gas savings and reliability, new technology and HUD. Had a Prius 2 and 3, haven't seen a reason to change to something else yet.

 

Grew up in a GM/Toyota dealership - have driven about everything out there and have literally owned more cars than I can remember. Admittingly car purchasing is an "impulse buy" for me. Always has been and it was no different with this Prius. The gas savings was / is for me an added bonus, but nothing more. My typical length of ownership for a vehicle is about 2-3 years, though I do keep a "beater" on hand at all times. (Currently a mini, but also have a Nissan Titan to pull the boat)

Looking to get out of it already though as I've tired of striving for that unholy MPG. So I just drive it like a regular car. I'm not a believer in the thought of driving a Prius to save the planet. There are too many of us on this rock and it's only a matter of time before "something" out there wipes 3/4 of us off the planet. If anything saves this place, it'll be Mother Nature herself with a weapon so small you can't even see it without an electron microscope. So why try.

 

I prefer intelligence, the ability to conform to your environment
My environment is crumbling, water is becoming polluted, air is becoming toxic.

Not to mention the weekly gas bill has been cut by 3/4th’s.

 

Currently unemployed (due to retirement,) I can't afford gasoline.

When working, I could not afford gasoline.

Curiosity, these are fascinating cars.

Bob Wilson

 

Because HOV sticker and all speed cruise control.

 

1. To be as green as practical
2. Safety features
3. Toyota reliability.
4. To avoid pumping gas. Ever been to Minnesota in January?