Eagle County County Colorado looks back on three years of having 20 Prius in their fleet of county vehicles. As originally reported on priusownersgroup.com back in 2007, Eagle county bought these Prii replacing Jeep Libertys and Chevy Tahoes. They managed to save almost $45,000 in fuel in the first six months. Over the course of three years they've managed the following: Each Prius has an average of 36,379 miles on it. Total operating cost of the Prii, .14 per mile, 20% lower than the average fleet cost of .17 per mile. The county estimates the Prii used 175 percent less gas than the sports utility vehicles that they replaced. The previous county vehicles averaged 18 miles per gallon of gas. The Prius' average 49.58 miles to the gallon. Harry Taylor, Eagle County Colorado Fleet Manager said, "Building inspectors don't always need a four-wheel drive vehicle to drive through mud. Or when a county employee needs to get to a meeting or run an errand, they can use the most economical vehicle. The Prius is essentially the staff car." So not only has Eagle County polluted less and saved more money but they've also done something a little more subtle. They have, through direct experience demonstrated that a four wheel drive SUV isn't required for all tasks. By adding these vehicles to the fleet, Eagle County has taught their staff that very old proverb, the right tool for the right job. And for most driving, the Prius does just great. Cheers to Eagle County Colorado. [Eagle Valley Enterprise]
The Prius makes even more sense when you consider they will need less repairs and will give a much better return on the initial purchase price when it comes time to sell them.
Hey, that picture of "Eagle, Colorado" (it's "Red Cliff", actually) is of a bridge I happened upon on a random drive! It took me forever to track down where it was after I started trying. I began to think I saw the thing in a dream! Anyway, the bridge is pretty cool in-person.
As usual, read the fine print. That's an additional 8ct in cost. quote: The 20 Prius cars, which make up about half of the county's light vehicle fleet, were purchased at an original cost of $23,897 each. A few months later, the county successfully obtained rebates of $3,013 per vehicle through the Colorado Department of Revenue's alternative fuel income tax credit program.
Even the maintenance and repair costs seem high for a new vehicle over 4 years/36K miles. Why ? quote: average lifetime maintenance and repair cost for each Prius is $3,503.
Depends what is included. Some fleet operators would include car washes and bodywork repairs (since drivers do sometimes have minor accidents) in maintenance figures. after all, if one car was cheaper to buy buy ridiculously expensive to replace the front bumper, you'd want to know. Short answer, we don't know, they don't tell us.
well they didnt talk about depreciation costs at all, but operating costs. ... and in general, prius has best in class depreciation, it is excellent in holding value.
Cool article. I've driven over and under that bridge several times. Shorter and much quicker than going through Redcliffe. Some of the reporter's statements beg for more information or border on nonsense, though. First, does the "fleet average" include the Prii? If so, and if Prii comprise half of the fleet, the average cost of non-Prii is $0.20 per mile and the Prius is 30% less costly to operate than the non-Prii. Second, you can't "use" 175% less gas. That means you've manufactured gas in the course of driving the Prii. What they mean is that the Prius is 175% more fuel efficient. I wish they'd stated how much they've saved over the course of 3 years of ownership. The comment about saving $45k (in fuel savings alone) in the first 6 months is incredible. Now they've been spoiled and can never go back to the gas hogs of the past.
They could have made big savings going to Corollas. They went from Jeeps and Tahoes to a Prius, a reduction in operating costs isn't really surprising.
#1. That's a beautiful picture. #2. I think Prius advantageous in a lot of "Fleet Service" type of situations. #3. My admitted guess is that most vehicles, Prius included, once obtained and pressed into "service" by a local, state or federal goverment agency as a fleet vehicle, do not hold the same value as their like counterparts in the civilian world. So I would "discount" the depreciation part of the equation. Near end of life, they are likely going to be sold at significant discount or simply wholesale auctioned... But that doesn't change the fact that it's a beautiful picture, and that I think more operations should consider Prius as an absolutely fantastic choice as a service or fleet vehicle.
