If you're able to charge at the bank, the 15 mile Prius PHV may work for you (esp. if you're going back and forth between the bank and other businesses. You can charge between trips).
Have you considered a Leaf? 100-mile range in town, more if you can charge between trips. No gasoline at all.
I highly doubt the c will be available before summer since there has been no mention of a release date and we are not even sure what it really looks like yet. You may want to look for a deal on a 2011 liftback at the end of the year or swoop up on a used model. People are already selling their 2010-2011 cars for the v and will do the same for the PHV.
I personally didn't expect this "c" out till next summer either but heard otherwise a few months back about the buildtime etc. It may be too much new product that is hybrid related for the c to come out when the 2012 Prius AND the PHEV does (early spring 2012), but it may also be just what Toyota wants.
If I wanted to maximize fuel use (w/out going PiP or full EV) above all else then heck, the C is the way to go. .
I don't know, I'd consider the "available Spring 2012" shown at Toyota Prius Family to at least show they expect it to be available before summer...
It's definitely possible but it is hard to imagine the general public has not even laid eyes on the car and there are no specs to be found other than the Japanese leak. We'll see. I'd be very happy to see it available so soon. BTW, I couldn't find any mention of "Available by spring 2012". Where was it printed?
Go to Toyota Prius Family then use the arrows on the left and right to cycle through the different models. When the C is chosen, on the left under the left arrow, it says: available spring 2012 prius c concept Thanks to its high mileage, this city-friendly, stylish Prius is affordable, while being fun and eco-chummy at the same time. see more
Although I wish it looked like the prototype in the commercials with the very unique style hood/headlights, it's still a very smart car! If it's very close to the Yaris in size and interior room and relative comfort, it will get great fuel economy. I have not seen it, and seems that it pretty closely resembles the all new Yaris in the hood area.
Unfortunately, those high-mounted headlights won't come to production models until the states pull their butts into the 21st century - some states have both a minimum and a maximum height the primary lights can be above the ground and/or in relation to bumper height (4-wheelers that care, or live in an area where the cops hassle them, often install custom bumpers with the headlights frenched into them).
Why don't all of you check the following site about the availability? Toyota (Build Out Final Order Start Up Dates) Ken@Japan
Hmmm, interesting. So Toyota considers "order to build date" as "available", rather than "delivery". Bizarre. I wouldn't consider it "available" until you can get it, which would be summer.
It looks pretty good. The interior looks like the typical economy car but I really didn't expect much better. I'm just disappointed that they didn't give us the EPA fuel economy rating. >50mpg city doesn't impress me much and unless it can get closer to 60mpg highway I will not be purchasing one. I think the lowered GenII looks better anyway. : p
Knowing HSD, the chances of getting 60mpg on the highway is slim. 60mpg in the city, maybe. 60mpg on the highway would mean 61 or better in the city and I don't see it getting those numbers with an older engine. As you can tell with the Gen 3's numbers, the new family of engines are much more fuel efficient. I wonder if Toyota thought about putting the 1.33 litre engine from the iQ and pairing that with the HSD? They might have and then thought it may not be able to handle the highway well enough.
I won't argue that. I had hoped they were going to put one of their new tech engines where they were talking about 40%+ efficiency. I didn't expect them to just cobble a bunch of old parts together to create the car. My guess is it wasn't cost effective so they are going to continue to refine these/this new engine and put it in the 4th Gen Prius. That is my hope anyway. By then I'll likely need a new car.
If Toyota had done that and made the iQ a hybrid I would probably be buying the iQ. I've been waiting for the iQ for years, but Scion has frustrated potential buyers by not offering the turbo-diesel, or the manual. The car, as it is outfitted for the NA market, gets mediocre gas mileage for its size. And many potential customers will not buy it with the CV transmission.
