My Prius vs My Volt...

Hey there everyone - long time, no post. Since 2002 or 2003 (can't remember), I've had 6 different Prii, and have loved all of them - and I still do. I own a hotel in Phoenix so we've used them as hotel shuttles, as work cars, and as personal vehicles. I picked up a Volt in LA last Tuesday and drove it back to Phoenix and here are my initial thoughts:

BTW, this is the first American car I've ever, ever owned... then again, the sticker on the Volt shows (under parts content information) that 40% of parts are US, 20% Korea, Engine is Austrian, Electric Drive Unit is Japan.

Cargo Area
1) I love the Prius cargo area, with the seats down I can truly get as much stuff in that car as many people can in their pickups, and I've fully loaded the Prius with everything from 25 cases of water on one trip to 40 ten-foot long galvanized pipes to a million of other things, and have always been able to close the hatch.
2) Volt cargo area - not sure, haven't loaded anything up yet, not really planning to use the Volt as a vehicle to load a bunch of stuff in, yet. Still, it should be okay, but the Prius wins here

Seating
The Volt's seats look better, but I'm not convinced that they're any more comfortable than the Prius.... the lack of the 5th seat in the back is a minus. Prius wins on function, Volt on style.

Body Style
People love the Volt, I'm getting a lot of attention over it... people hate the Prius shape... however I've always loved it. The Volt seems more like a regular car to me, but I'm growing into its style. I think the side mirrors are waaaay to big though, and it has very, very low clearance, so I have to watch every bump and dip carefully.

Gadgets and Gizmos...
The volt wins hands-down on this - The Prius seems so ancient and basic to me compared to the Volt, and this is what completely set me on getting a Volt. It's the little things that count, that startup and shut-down sound-effect alone completely got me. The free 5-years of On Star, Traffic Navigation, and XM Radio are nice. I'm extremely impressed with the myvolt.com application as well as the Android application so I can check everything with my phone.

Note on gadgets: I think the screens are a great touch, but I also think that cars can/should be built without navigation, cd players, radios, bluetooth, etc., etc. - all I need is speakers, as my phone (HTC Thunderbolt) has everything I need on it, including all my music, pandora, an fm tuner, navigation with traffic, etc., etc., etc. I've had bluetooth in the Prius and have it in the Volt, and just hate using it - because it always ends up that someone calls me when other people are in the car anyway, so then I have to take the call off the bluetooth.

Charging
Wow - this is a totally new concept for me. Charging on a standard outlet works totally fine for me, and the entire 35-38 mile charge from empty takes about 9 hours, but on most days I don't need to charge this much so I'm done in just 2-5 hours. Ecotality is installing 960 chargers in Phoenix, including a few "Blink" chargers that charge the car up in 30 minutes, but then again, I'm guessing that this will cost money, so I'd rather just use an outlet at work during the day.

Overall - both are great cars... the Volt has the edge for me because of its new-ness and the fact that I don't have to put gas in it as long as I keep on driving less than 35-40 miles between charges, which is pretty easy for me to do.

BUT, I will say this: if Toyota makes the interior of the Prius a lot more snazzy and high tech, and once the plug in version comes along, I'd probably consider. It's my guess that as batteries become more efficient, lighter, and longer lasting, we'll have most of these cars with 100-200 mile ranges for under $30K within 4 years. I've got my deposit down for a Tesla S, and that'll be the next big thing if I decide to take delivery.

Ah, last thing: cost for my Prius - about $2500 out the door, $199/mo+taxes = $226/mo on a 3-year lease. Cost of Volt - $2100 out the door, $349/mo+taxes (and I think it was a little higher than this) = $419/mo on a 3-year lease. Not buying gas at all at 1250 mi/mo, saves me ~$110/mo over the Prius, and this is because I'm charging for free at work.

Anyway, hope this was a nice read... if you have any questions, ask away. If I have problems with the Volt, I'll share them as well, as I think it's fair to talk about the positives and negatives. And I hope that we're all of a mature mind-set that this is all about reducing our dependence on foreign oil, saving money, doing the right thing, etc., not a flame-war of the "Apple vs. PC" mindset... god I hate those!

Thanks/Ben

 

Thanks! Oh, and I forgot to mention one of the most irritating things: the keys don't just activate/unlock the doors when you approach... booooo. This is a big mistake in my opinion - I am so spoiled by not having to take keys out of my pocket. The doors auto lock when you close them after turning the car off, as long as the keys aren't inside the vehicle, so it seems that this was just a major oversight.