What was I thinking saying it was the Honda Leaf? I will edit the change in my post. True, but we have Solar Electric panels on our house, which generate more power than we use. So charging an electric vehicle shouldn't be much of an issue. I probably would have tried to purchase a Nissan Leaf, if it weren't so dang ugly looking. One of our neighbors just bought a Chevy Volt, he had a Prius prior to that. So I might have to go see how he likes the Volt compared to the Prius. Ideally, I would love a Tesla due to the much longer range of their vehicles but they are cost prohibitive for me right now. I want a vehicle that will cost very little in fuel and yet has a decent range. It must be comfortable and roomy, but doesn't have to be a 4 door. When I owned my Honda Insight, we took it on a cross country trip and we never felt cramped. There was plenty of room for luggage. The ride was fine, although cruise control would have been nice. Also, the tiny tires did pull side to side when the roads had grooves in them.
Here's someone (and couple others) claiming 45mph at 80-100mph. Perhaps they can help. http://priuschat.com/forums/honda-hybrids/86559-civic-hybrid-why-buy-one-4.html#post1303101 http://priuschat.com/forums/honda-hybrids/86559-civic-hybrid-why-buy-one-6.html#post1308154
at 15,000 miles a year the difference between 47 and 50 mpg is about 19 gallons of gas (less than $100) a year. I figure thats about 30 seconds of deprecation on the new Leaf. To save the most money it's always best to just drive your CURRENT car into the ground.
I tend to keep my vehicles at least 10 years, so even though I may want a new car I still have a few more years to go before I actually may need one. I also do the maintenance on them myself. When I do buy a new car earlier than 10 years, I sell the previous car privately and don't trade them into a "Stealership".
