Thanks for the input. What is the deal with warm up and cold weather issues? We will be moving ro Maui, Hawaii in a few months where the average temperature is around 80 degrees. It seems short driving distances amd a warm climate are ideal for a Prius plug-in.
there is no deal. no warm up issues. cold weather means not over regenning if you wnt to stay in ev. you won't have any problems in the south pacific, enjoy. if you want to learn more, there are plenty of threads here discussing the issues.
Short trips are bad for all cars, including hybrids. PiP can cover them with EV miles. That's the beauty of PiP. If most of your trips are short, PiP is a really good candidate for you.
Are you in Hawaii now? Keep in mind that TFS incentives discussed on the forum are only good on the mainland. However, Toyota Hawaii might have incentives of their own.
if november 2013, i'd almost say just wait until next year – the shipping costs are probably going to outweigh any potential savings if november 2014 – now is probably the best time to buy an Advanced PiP from a state in the northeast see the pricing thread (linked in the FAQ) for more details on that
PiP should be ideal for Maui. However, you might want to check if it is better to purchase in HI as they have pretty good EV incentives (I know PiP may not be avails in HI yet). Just be careful when a move is involved, at least one state I moved to charges sales tax for all vehicles coming into state with new residents (based on book value of vehicle).
Electricity is more expensive in Hawaii than it is in Cali. If you can get some off-prime rates maybe it's all good, but 40¢ per kWh is going to make any savings nil. You might not even be reducing your carbon footprint. Depends on how Maui is producing electricity.
Check Plug-In America website for Hawaii PHV incentives, but HI is trying encourage PHV with one of the best state subsidy programs for the car purchase as well as charging EVSE etc. But I do not have any reports from PiP owners in HI to be able to quantify incentives for PiP.
I entered a Maui zip code and the emission is the same as using US average (210 g/mi). That's an improvement over a regular Prius (222 g/mi).
Nah. Saving the environment is not the magic question. That question is answered by various laws set up by the government. The primary magic question is the money you can save by getting a much more efficient car. With this money saved by buying a Prius Plug-In versus a more gas guzzling car or SUV, you can make a better future for your children by funding their college education. Compared to an SUV that gets 18 miles per gallon, the Prius Plug-in saves about $4500 a year in fuel cost. If you have a baby and invest that amount over 18 years, by the time your child is ready for college, you will have OVER $225,000 saved for them (assuming 10% annual return). That can fund your child's college education so they can have a better future.