Just thought I'd quickly update this thread, now I'm nearly two weeks into Prius ownership!I remain extremely impressed with the Prius. The fuel economy continues to impress; on my way into London, which I've worked out is largely downhill over 25 miles, I see around 62mpg (the last three days it's been 62.3, 62.1 and today was 62.8 - amazingly consistent) and heading back this dips to between 50-55mpg. I think this is mainly because the last part of my journey is on a motorway, plus mostly uphill, and I can only switch the EV mode a short time before arriving home. It's still saving me £10 per week if I was running my Audi A3 Sportback 2.0TDI which never delivered more than 45mpg along the same route. Love the ride quality and the visibility too, and with the push-button park brake and small gear selector, you can secure the car at stop lights with little effort, as opposed to dipping a clutch and pulling up a handbrake in a manual car. It's incredibly stress-free to drive. The only aspect of the car that surprises me is how often I have to use the EV button to force use of the electric motor. I recall on my first ever test drive of a different Prius that the engine was running most of the time - I put this down to a depleted battery. But even when the battery has a good charge, the engine starts all too easily on very light throttle, and I find myself pressing the EV button at every sub-30mph opportunity. If I didn't do this, I doubt I'd get anywhere near 60mpg. Anyone else notice this? I realise in the US you guys don't have the EV button, so you must have pretty light feet if you want to get decent economy!
Which bits in particular do you like? But do remember Petrol is about $9 a US gallon, but I suppose that makes the savings bigger.
