Prius for long highway commute?

Your battery will be fine. A hybrid will get better MPG than a diesel in any condition other than steady speed cruising above 75MPH.

 

Maybe the thought behind that recommendation is that you don't have to pay for the extra complexity of a hybrid, and get close to the same fuel economy? In other words, the up-front cost is lower, so that even though the fuel costs are higher, the diesel might still be cheaper over the lifetime of the car. Of course, whether that is true or not for your particular case depends on a lot of factors.

Jimbo is right about the battery - highway driving is pretty much as easy as it gets on the battery, since highway driving relies almost entirely on the engine, unless you're accelerating and braking a lot (and then it's not really highway driving any more anyway). Many people are afraid of the replacement cost of the battery, but I don't think it's out of line with any other major repair you might get stuck with in 10-15 years on any car.

Of course, almost none of us buy a car based only on price - usually size, style, technology, reliability, safety, and many other things come into play here too. The Prius is a great car for a commute like that (for most people), and as an added bonus, will still be great when you do get stuck in rush hour traffic, or aren't driving on highways.

My suggestion would be to buy whatever you like the most, and are willing to pay for. I got a Prius despite not driving very much (and hence probably not saving money), because the engineer/nerd in me appreciated the technology. (Of course, several years later, the car is getting a fair amount more use from my wife, though still below the average for a car in the US.) You might want to consider renting some of the cars on the top of your list to commute with for a couple days, because a 50-mile drive might be annoying if you don't like the seats, and like every other car, the Prius's seats (and other interior features) don't satisfy everybody.

 

We have done a 4,000+ road trip in our Prius3 loaded with 4 large adults. It did just fine

My wife commutes about 50 miles / day, 5 days / week now in our Prius3. She loves it.

We have not seen any sign of premature battery failure.

 

I've learned years ago that when I need advice and people are joyfully jumping to advise you, take it as a gain of salt.

 

Some advice I was given at the time I bought my Prius was that it's "not for highway driving" only city. I find it excellent for both, but I tend to get slightly better mileage in the city. The complexity of the hybrid system doesn't worry me at all for maintenance; Toyota has an excellent warranty of 8 or 10 years on hybrid components, and Toyota has nearly 20 years of experience building the Prius.

 

I asked this question in Prius chat before buying my Prius. I travel I-95 and the Mass Turnpike quite a bit. Its comfortable, able to accelerate decently and I am surprised at how stable the car is. The mileage I get at around 64-75 mph is about 48-49 miles which is pretty darn good. That said, I haven't used my Prius in winter conditions. During these times I will use my extra car which is the Forester.

 

oh, you're the guy coming off 95 onto 128!

 

My Prius is the one with da Lobstah in da back of the trunk.

 

Very true, but the advice came from my boss, who was misinformed. I myself was initially lukewarm to the claims, and I only half-believed the cab driver who told me what sort of mileage he was getting in his Prius v taxi.

Toyota could do a better job of promoting the many advantages of the Prius line, but I'm sure they fear the backlash from being "too techie" in their marketing. It is the marketing MBAs after all, who prescribe that "everything is sold on emotion." If that were true, we'd all be driving Porsches.

 

Let me add one more point to the discussion. I live near Seattle and drive freeway most days in annoying speed-up, slow down, sometimes stop-and-go traffic. I generally set the cruise control a little above the posted 60 mph limit. The summertime mpg the car calculates is generally about 55, my calculations come up with about 5% less.

The magic occurs with adaptive cruise control maintaining speed/distance. It completely changes busy freeway driving. There is a learning curve with the fancy tech, and it shouldn't be used in all conditions, but it makes freeway driving relaxing. If I continue to do much freeway driving, adaptive cruise control is a requirement for my next car, but I'm not shopping anytime soon.

I bought a used 2010, trim level 5 with the tech package.

 

My guess is that comment comes from those who are interested in things like power for passing, entering freeways, etc., and have never driven a Prius. On our current trip, I pulled out on a 2-lane highway in southern Wyoming to pass the car in front of me. Much to my surprise, I saw I needed to pass not one, but four cars and they were bunched up, so it was do or die, so to speak. Since the road ahead was clear, I hit the gas and hit a high of 87 mph to make the pass without any difficulty.

The one situation I was concerned about was having enough power to get up the steep hills we encountered in Wyoming and Montana. Several times I was able to let cruise control take me up the hills, but a few times I got slowed down by shower cars/trucks pulling out in front of me and then had to play catch-up. While the Prius certainly wasn't stellar playing catch-up, it performed just fine, though you could definitely hear the ICE straining.

The one thing I didn't try to do was pass going uphill on a 2-lane road where passing was allowed. But then I didn't do that in my Montana van either. Too many drivers simply don't use the power that is available or are afraid there isn't enough power because they've never used it. Or they believe the hype perpetrated by Hyundai and Ford that you need their ~200hp Sonata and C-Max hybrids to drive on highways. Before I bought my Prius I rented one and took it out on a lonely country road with clear vision and no turnoffs for several miles to put it through it's paces. It might not win any quarter-mile drag races, but it works just fine on the highway. We've got over 4,500 miles under our belts this trip with no complaints and absolutely no problems negotiating hills, back roads or freeways.

 

Prius cuts through highway driving like a hot knife thru soft butter and is one of the most reliable and low-cost-to-own vehicles on the road. The only reason you would want a diesel is personal prefernce of diesel driving (max power etc).

We really need to know miles per year you plan to put a the car, unless it is 10000+ miles/yr you are in a zone where the fuel savings does not always pay off the extra cost of a hybrid (or diesel). EDIT: RI I believe is a CARB state so you would get the extended 10-yr/150000 miles warrranty, sort of a mini-incentive (good thing).

 

I agree. I-95 is posted 75mph here. I routinely set cruise-control at 81mph. Our Prius handles fine on the interstate, uphill, downhill, passing, etc.

 

do they give any small cars credit for highway driving? most of the authors are gear heads breathing a daily dose of corvette exhaust fumes. hey, why not take one out and form your own opinion?.

 

Here are the bits of data I usually pull out when this question comes up

A few years back Motor Trend did a piece that included steady state / constant speed MPG for a number of fuel efficient vehicles. Unfortunately they did not include the Prius, but it still provides a useful baseline for the competition for long distance cruising.

40 MPG Compact Sedan Comparison - Chevy Cruze Eco vs. Ford Focus SFE vs. Honda Civic HF vs. Hyundai Elantra GLS vs. Mazda3 vs. VW Jetta TDI - Motor Trend


This info can be directly compared to the data Bob Wilson has captured using the same AutoEnginuity package and similar methods.


2003 Prius

The other piece of data that I think is interesting to add in here is the Consumer Reports estimated 8 year Total Cost of Ownership for these (and several similar) vehicles:
Prius C2 '14: $35,500
Honda Fit '14: $38,250
Toyota Yaris '14: $39,500
Prius IV '14: $40,000
Mazda 2 '14: $40,750
Chevy Sonic LT '14: $41,750
Honda Civic EX '14: $43,000
Jetta TDI '14: $44,000
Kia Rio '14: $44,500
Hyundai Elantra '14: $44,500
Mazda 3 Sedan '14: $45,250
Ford C-MAX Hybrid '14: $46,000
Ford Focus SFE '14: $46,750
VW Golf 2.5 '14: $46,750
Chevy Cruze Eco '14: $48,750

Rob

 

Alls I knows....

Is the Prius gets excellent gas mileage. Highway and City.

When I take long road trips on the highway? I'm always happy with the gas mileage I can obtain, usually easily above 50+ MPG.

This is now about 5-6 years ago, but when I was thinking about my next vehicle purchase at that time, I gave some thought to VW diesels. I thought the fit and finish on the VW's was excellent, really beautiful interiors and good looking machines.

But the reason I never really got close to buying a VW diesel was two fold. First of all, at that time (it may of changed) but at that time, my VW dealers locally had a very limited or non-existent supply of their diesels. And when I went in to talk to them about their diesel product, they seemed very UN-motivated to sell me one. It was literally if "I" decided I wanted to launch a multi-state search, I could probably find one.

Secondly? Diesels themselves are a different machine with their own complications and maintenance requirements, coupled with the basic fact that they obviously run on "diesel". Diesel fuel in my area is usually about as expensive or more expensive than premium fuel. I really liked the idea that Prius ran on regular fuel. That is direct savings every time I fill up, as well as the convenience of NOT having to find a diesel pump.

That being said, I'm not adverse to diesels. Had I met a VW dealers more friendly or motivated to sell me the product? I might of become " The Diesel Me" and be spending way too much time in a VW diesel forum.

If your concern is that will a Prius give you economically return with long spans of freeway driving? Fear not. It will.

 

With relatives in Massachusetts I've been banging up and down I84, I91, the pike, 495, and 128 on a regular basis, winter or no winter. Decent gas mileage as reported by others here.
As regards winter driving: With the Prius-specific traction control (where the power to the wheels can and is cut when the fronts are spinning) and the electronic stability controlled (required, and it had better be good, because the regenerative braking hits only the front wheels, which can make the car unstable on ice before the friction brakes cut in if the ESC wasn't there), the car is a decent snow car. Not as good as a 4-wheel drive Forester, but I've never found myself stuck or even trying to go sideways on snow or ice.
Speaking of which: A couple years ago was heading south with the wife through Connecticut on I-684 during a sudden snow storm. Solid snow on the road, everybody slowing to 45 mph, not white-out conditions, but getting close. A couple hundred yards in front a car spun out; gently (the only way to go) steered around the guy, and kept on going, a little slower. Not a hint of losing control and, in the next few miles, passed a half-dozen cars in ditches.
Gen II cars had an issue where if the front wheels got buried in snow the traction control wouldn't allow one to skiz the wheels and back-and-forth the car out of there. That was fixed in Gen III; now one can skiz the wheels somewhat in snow. Somewhere in Prius Chat there's a complicated click-this-button, then mangle-that-button sequence to turn off the traction control, which I suppose could be copied down and stuck in the glove compartment for the day one gets well and truly stuck; I haven't needed it in the nearly 5 years I've had the car.

Conclusion: The Prius probably won't win 1st prize as a snow car, but it's not half bad.

KBeck