They should market these cars better....

Inverse here (Greater Vancouver, BC, Canada): currently our nearby dealership has 2 Prius and 12 Primes.

New Toyotas for Sale in BC | OpenRoad Toyota Port Moody in Port Moody

And I believe neither of the Prius currently in stock has a spare: one's an AWD, and the other's "Technology", an "upper" level, Toyo Canada speak.

 

someone here just bought a prime at my local dealer. $5,500. rebate, a couple thou more in discounts.

they have over 40 on the lot rusting away with dying 12 volts

 

gas is anywhere from $2.90 to $3.30 around here, a small percentage of most peoples budgets.

after housing, food, entertainment and taxes, peanuts really. many people think nothing on spending several hundreds of dollars a month on cable tv, and the same on cell phones

 

Hehe, to be fair, he's driven plenty of times on forest service roads too gnarly for the Prius.

I think the Ford 150 Lightning, judging from the 100K pre-orders, is going to be that major part. Ford is promoting it heavily and they made it look *good.* People are especially going nuts about the "frunk" and the ability to charge your house from the Ford (the Texas power grid debacle is still fresh in people's minds).

Yeah, I live in Seattle's densest neighborhood, and I'm glad I have a compact car. I wouldn't buy *any* truck. But many people who need a truck need it for work, and they tend to not live in the city proper. So I don't think the charging is such a big deal for people who have houses in the 'burbs. Hell, if I even lived in my old neighborhood (Ballard), I could have run a cord from my duplex to the street.

 

If I only ever drove in the city, I wouldn't care about 13 seconds. I'm already crawling to avoid insane pedestrians, cyclists, and morons on electric scooters. But I try to avoid city driving. I'm basically just a weekend driver on the highways -- and yeah, there are some places, especially merging or on the mountain passes, where it would suck if I had a slower acceleration time. I already have a problem with people tailgating me on occasion (I drive 5 above the speed limit), and I know it's just because I have a Prius, because I drop over a lane to let them on ahead, and half the time they don't end up going any faster than I am.

 

I may not be a "demanding" driver, but I don't find my 2017 Prius to be a "slow" car. I may tend to drive it "slowly" - that is - gentle acceleration and letting the terrain influence my cruising speed. But when I put my foot in it to get onto a road with traffic or enter the interstate - it goes pretty well.

The car is light, so it's not like you're trying to accelerate a huge mass.

Come to think of it, even 13 seconds 0-60 isn't terrible. No, you're not gonna be a quarter-mile contender, but it's more than adequate for the thoughtful, competent driver. With planning and some driving skill, you could safely drive a car with even less acceleration.

But, I suppose with the impatient, "I want it NOW" mentality most people seem to have, I suppose that I'm in the minority.

That I save enough money in fuel to pay a hefty chunk of the monthly car payment is another nice perk.

Let the guys who want 300+ horsepower and are willing to feed that beast have their 0-60 in 8 or 9 seconds. I mean, how often do you really need to accelerate that quickly? Not often enough to justify the expense IMHO.

 

There's rationales for fast acceleration, but most if not all of them seem to involve "keeping up with the pack". When you think about it, that's a bit of a tail-chaser...

 

While 0-60 in 2 seconds is definitely not something I need, every time I merge onto the highway (especially with heavy traffic) I am thankful I have a car that can respond quickly.

They are getting a reminder right now just incase they forgot.

Texas power grid asks users to conserve during blistering heat wave - CBS News

 

Perfect example.

 

I also think the hybrid Maverick will do well.

I saw this article the other day and did a double take :

http://www.torquenews.com/8113/v8-owners-are-choosing-toyota-prius-solve-their-commute-problem

It makes sense...but I *never* thought those 'truck guys' would do anything other than scoff at the Prius. However, when gasoline prices rise...they need to make some 'tough decisions'. Oh the irony...

 

By "keeping up with the crowd" did you mean "not being a safety hazard"?
If so, then I agree with you.

Typically when I hear that phrase I take the meaning to be more like "keeping up with the Johnsons" which generally refers to a sequence of unnecessary purchases.

 

The guy going 65 in a 60 mph zone isn't the "safety hazard". It's the guy going 85... or the guy tailgating less than a car length behind at highway speeds... or the guy passing in the no-passing zone.

The number of people I see driving on the road these days that have apparently forgotten everything they (should have) learned in Driver's Ed is staggering. I could pick any street corner in town with a stop sign or traffic signal and find that 80% of the "drivers" fail to stop as they should, run red lights, forget about the "right turn on red after stop" rule, or can even make a proper left turn.

When a school bus (WITH kids on board) speeds on a narrow residential street - you know that the standards are pretty lax.

Any of these guys who dare to think that me accelerating and decelerating at a normal, sensible rate is a "safety hazard" can kiss my butt.

 

I agree!
In addition, the driver that merges onto an interstate doing 40mph in heavy traffic is also a safety hazard.
In some cases it is also a design issue with the access ramps that don't give drivers a long ramp to get onto the freeway/highway.

I'd love to see more stringent enforcement of unsafe driving.

 

+1, same here, I'm a gear head, sports car guy, etc.

I was shocked as well, nothing actually compares with the Prius in its price bracket and what it offers in tech features, appointments, practicality, and efficiency. The only thing it lacks is a slicker exterior design, which Gen 5 will fix right up. Looking forward already to getting a Gen 5 when those finally arrive in a few years.

 

I think you’re being optimistic, saying 20% do a (legal) full stop, with the car completely behind the white line. There are several reasons for doing the legal stop, that no one much thinks about; maybe driver ed should spell those reasons out, not just present the rules. The reasons are readily apparent, say when you’re a pedestrian crossing the car’s path, or driving in the through-traffic.

Oh and: signals??

 

Yes, I was being generous...

 

We have some pretty short entrance ramps here in Texas - and some that are "Siamesed" with exit ramps so that if you can't get up to speed in a real hurry, you may be exiting rather than entering.

Sure - folks who don't understand "merging" - like the need to be up to speed, timing their entry to slip into the space between vehicles, or grasping that it's their responsibility to yield to traffic already on the interstate - and not for others to get out of their way - ARE a safety hazard.

OTOH - people driving 10 or 20 miles an hour over the speed limit really shouldn't be in the right lane. Even my ICE vehicles can't get up to 85 or 95 MPH on a short ramp. The entry ramps are designed to give a "normal" vehicle time to get up to the appropriate speed of the roadway - not the excessive speeds that too many drivers drive at.