No Prius yet; doing the research

Well if you have any questions to ask, we are here.

Some things to keep in mind:
The low aerodynamic drag of the Prius means that even on the highway you get better fuel economy in a big car with big utility.

You don't live on a highway, so you will have a couple minutes at least of non-highway driving. The Prius excels in this and will blow any non-pure-electric car out of the water.

There are lots of things about a hybrid that make driving more pleasurable and maintenance lower. The Prius has no "transmission" in the normal sense. It is a planetary gearset which allows an infinite number of gears with no transitions. This means it is smooth. On the highway, when you go to pass someone generally the car (automatic or manual) shifts down to speed up faster and pas. This is jerky. In a Prius, no jerk. The engine just gets louder, but nothing else. The brakes last hundreds of thousands of miles. I have over 100K miles and most of my original brake pads. It is also really nice to be at a light and have pure silence. No engine roaring or anything. The really good fuel economy is just a bonus.

Depending on what you are looking for, there are other hybrids out there too. Stick with the Toyota/Lexus brands to get the best. The Ford Fusion hybrid uses the same type of system, but you lose all the utility of the Prius hatchback and 20% or more of the fuel economy in the name of "not looking like a Prius" which some people make the tradeoff.

 

Look at a hatch back prius, open the hatch, put down the rear seats, it's a station wagon, front wheel drive, abs, steering stability, with winter studs I'm getting 55mpg, I prefer to drive the prius on snow covered roads vs my '11 ford f-250, it stops.
55mpg, with summer tires I get 62mpg at 65mph, just tryin' to help

 

On the highway driving my 05 Prius 200 miles home from the dealer where I purchased it, I got over 52 mpg with surprising acceleration and good handling. Now 2 months and over 5,000 miles later I still love driving it, learning about it, and talking about it. Maybe being rated so high by so many on reliability, safety, and being environmentally friendly are factors but I think it's just a fun car to drive and save gas money. I love this car. I hope you love your next car as much.

 

What are your needs?

What is your typical commute like?

I am guessing your topography is well, er, flat?

 

It might not be the best choice, but it is a choice, right? I never thought I'd be driving a Prius, but after two test drives (and a third in the "C") I was sold. For the price (and I bought a base 2012 in December, so it was a good price) it is solid car with the added bonus of getting a little more miles for your gas dollar. Take a test drive and see for yourself, you may be surprised by what you discover.

 

Because of your average round trip, the only plug-in you should consider is the Volt. Mixed feelings from many people, but I have been told the newer ones are better then the previous. I was in one of the first and it was not my cup of tea. Other than that, a plug-in does not seem like it would benefit you at all.

I see lots of reasons a hybrid would be a better choice.

Anything over a few miles trip is prime Prius territory because the warmup cycle can complete. 20K miles a year means that you drive more than average. So higher fuel economy means much more to you. With snow tires going 80mph to 110mph on long multi-thousand mile roadtrips, I get about 45mpg. Same trip in the RX350 gets 16mpg to 18mpg. Intown and "normal" drivings nets the RX 27mpg to 28mpg. The Prius gets 48mpg to 65mpg normally. The low CD is a big benefit for high speed highway driving.

My Prius lives in the Rockies so don't think that it can't do hills.

 

I am going to post a link to who should NOT own a Prius: considering a Prius | PriusChat

I own a Prius v now, as a semi decided to run a red light, but that is mostly about the Gen 2, traction control is less obtrusive on the v. (The v is as close to a station wagon as anything is these days)

On a 156 mile stretch of the Delta, I gain 60 feet, so I know flat.

 

Sounds like a good match for the plug-in model.

With mine, in town mileage is 5 miles, daily commute is 16.5 miles each way (recharging at work), quite a few +100 mile trips each month, several +200 mile trips each year... all coming to a 20,000 annual distance. The 50 MPG after depletion is great. The +100 MPG driving in the suburbs is outstanding.

Overall, my recommendation is for others to consider one. There are a number of circumstances it fits well.

 

Go drive one and see how it seems to you. Do you fit? Does what you typically need to fit in it fit?

I have a 6-8 hour 300+ miles to the big city trip early tomorrow with enough luggage for me and my wife for 5 days of very mixed dress visits (meaning lots of luggage) before we return. I have a choice of a 2011 Avalon plushmobile or a Prius V. I made this trip about 10 days ago in the Prius. Will do it again tomorrow.

Perfect...no car is. But surprisingly good and easy to drive. I don't know of another car that gives the room, the versatility and the mileage. It is the little things, 2 glove boxes, 3 front seat cup holders, 2 hidden under the rear mat compartments... And I don't try to hypermile, I cruise at 72, I still get the mileage on the sticker without doing anything special.

Like I said, explore the car, read the reviews. It may not fit you but it certainly is worth spending the time to find out.

 

My commute of 100 miles a day is 98% freeway. Winter mpg is low 50s and summer is high 50s.

Don't let the diesel boys fool ya. A hybrid is very efficient on the highway.

Go do some searching at fuelly.com to see what cars really get for every day people.

 

20K miles with a 20miles R/T daily + the 5 in town limes means about
9000 miles Commuting (mostly highway).
20k total means about 11000 miles on road trips with say one 2000 mile vacation (you did not specify period)
that leaves 9000 miles of family trips at 100-400 miles, or about 50-25 such trips (one every other week or so).
Lets estimate that as 25 100 mile trips, 13 250 mile trips and 8 400 mile trips. (If those numbers seem high there is likely more "around town" than you said).

In a Volt the gas used for commuting would be very minimal (only for low temp days).
Lets look at the other presuming only 1 plug in (can generally do better on road trips to family where you can plug in a bit or at hotels, but I'll err on the conservative side).

25 trips of 100 miles (using 40mpg highway and 38 EPA EV miles) would use 38.6 Gallons
13 trips of 250 miles would use 68.9 gallons
8 400 mile trips would use about 72.4 gallons
1 2000 mile trip would use 49 gallons
For a total of about 229 gallons over your 20000 miles or about 87.3MPG

If each trip could plug in once for 38 added EV miles per trip you could raise that to 108MPG.


A PiP would need 100 gallons over the year for the daily trips
25 trips of 100 miles (using 49EPA highway and 11 EPA ev) using 45.4 gallons
13 trips of 250 miles for 63.4 gallons
8 trips of 400 miles for 63.5 gallons
1 2000 mile trip using 40.59 gallons
For a total of about 313.7 gallons over the 20000 miles or about 63 MPG.
If you could plug in once per long trip you could raise that to about 65.

The Energi could be interesting for you, if it one believe is EPA numbers (which are being questioned)
you would use about 5 gallons on the regular/daily (its range is 21, so it depends where your extra miles are)
the 25 100 mile trips 48.2 gallons
the 13 250 mile trips 72.6 gallons
the 8 400 mile trips 74 gallons
the 2000 mile trip 48.3 gallons
for 245 gallons over your 20000 mile trip or about 80.7 MPG
And if you could plug in once per long trip you could raise that to about 89M


With a classic Prius liftback, you would be getting around 48-50MPG, using about 400-420 gallons of fuel.


Careful drivers in any hybrid/EREV can get better milage, so all of this is using EPA numbers for comparison.

Your trips may not break down as in this computation, and it makes a difference.

All of the plug ins will get your pretty good milage give your description of your daily drive.
If you are looking at it from a per-cost point of view, the savings may not be worth it (depending on gas /electric prices) over a standard entry level prius or a Prius-C or a good used prius (or even used Volt if you can find one), but there are many other dimensions only you can consider (fit/ power, comfort, quietness, etc..). if the nearly town has dealers for each, I strongly recommend you take a test drive of each and see what you like.

 

With that 1500-2000 'periodic' trip and the 100-400 'periodic' trips I would say a standard hybrid is perfect for you.
The hatchback gives lots of room, although the plug in would help eliminate a chunk f the short range daily trips. Not sure how much of your mileage is those daily trips, I am guessing not much if you put on 20,000 miles a year.

I would suggest seeing if you can either take a multi-day test drive or rent a Prius hatchback and see how it meets your expectations.

 

That is a good thing because the Prius is pretty numb... but not as bad as our 2011 Corolla S... wow that is completely disconnected.

Certain tall people do well in the Prius... with its seat adjustment and and telescoping wheel, it might just fit you.

I have to ask, why does it put you off?

Absolutely the best way to find out if it will work for you. Only took me a 10 min test drive.
Good luck and enjoy.

 

The Prius is not as "connected" of a car when compared against the steering found in German models. No Toyota is (apart from some of the super cars I am told). However, I have never understood why that is important. I have many cars, one with no power steering old-school steering. It is as connected as it gets. If there is a pothole in the road, the steering wheel turns as the wheel goes in and out. It is very connected, but really there is no benefit. It comes down to preference really, and then you have to figure out why do you prefer that? Just because you have told yourself you prefer that, or is there really a situation from your vantage point where the more connected steering makes sense? Do you autocross or race? Then maybe it does.

If you want a plush ride, then you might want to add the CT200h to your test-drive list. It is basically a Prius with a Lexus badge. However that badge gives you a sport mode that really works, more sound deadening, and a much nicer ride. Lower MPG because of the added weight and more form over function styling, but still pretty good with Toyota reliability.

A bold statement for someone who does not have one. There are many intricacies in the system that even owners for many years or owners of multiple variants never realize or figure out. If there are certain things you are put off about, feel free to list them. Many here have very intimate knowledge about the PSD throughout the Toyota line. If there are things you really like about it, feel free to post that. We can correct any wrong information good or bad. Don't want you to have an assumption about something you really like about it only to find out that was wrong. Likewise it would be foolish to have a negative assumption about something that doesn't exist.

Many Toyota/Lexus dealerships will let you test drive a car for a couple days for free, or pay for milage above a certain amount, something like that. Also many (but not all) Toyota dealerships offer rentals. You do not have to fain interest in buying one. You can literally just rent it like any Hertz/Enterprise/Whatever rental car agency. When I am travelling I try to rent my business car from a Toyota dealership. Then you can keep it for however long you agree to rent it. The rental rates are all over the place from my experience though. Some are on par with local rental cars, some are much higher, some were so cheap I thought they made a mistake...