When you are considering a new vehicle, waiting for delivery (can you say "Prius?") or have just bought one you tend to notice others of the same make & model more than normal. That was especially true when gas hit $4/gallon. It seemed to bring the Prius out of the woodwork, while the bigger SUV's are getting scarce on the road compared to their former abundance. Although the total number of Prii is still low (and I'm in an area with Ford and GM production) I'm bumping into others everywhere, including way out in rural areas that are more to my liking. With only ~30 cars in a history museum lot the other day, four of us were driving a Prius. And it is small wonder, when given the choice of driving a vehicle with mileage in the teens or one in the upper 40's/lower 50's we can find many excuses to park the full size truck/van/SUV. (So much for the CNW study assumptions about which would be the secondary vehicle, ehh?)
I see alot more small cars being driven and more Prii especially in Silicon Valley. It just more as a percentage probably than other cities. What ever the reason it helps both the environment and less gas being imported. We are a county in the decline becuase of the outflow of money to other countries and use of gas being a big reason.
It makes me feel great to see more hybrids on the roads. However, and I can't say when it will happen, using less gas will trigger a new way to collect road taxes ... probably tied to annual vehicle registrations. I don't believe the gas taxes will go away either, but I do believe the bureaucrats will find a way to justify collecting more when people use less. They'll complain that they sell less gas because of hybrids (true), and that they need to compensate for lost income due to fuel efficient vehicles. I believe this will especially true when factory PHEVs and EVs come out.
I always count the Prii I see on the way to work. I usually see 1 to 3 in the 45 minutes to work. (33 miles) I hope for the day I see mostly small hybrids not doing 75+
I have counted up to 8 Prius sightings in a day around Adelaide. On country trips I have only ever seen 1 prius on the open road.
I've experienced the same here in Arizona. They're all over the place but I rarely see them on the open stretches of Interstate when traveling. I only saw 1 Prius in the middle of the Arizona/California desert 2 weekends ago when I went on my road trip (800 miles round trip). I of course saw a ton in the Phoenix area, and at least as many in San Diego, but in between only the one. I think once people realize that the Prius is actually a very good long distance runner you'll see more of them outside of the city. For example, I went on a road trip about 3 months after buying my Prius 10 months ago. I took my SUV to Disney Land because it just seemed like the vehicle to travel with our two kids, wife, double stroller, an all our other luggage. The following trip was the trip about two weeks ago. I convinced my wife to take the Prius. She had a concern about fitting everything. I told her that the money we would save on gas we could rent a stroller the 1 day we'd be at Sea World if our double stroller didn't fit (and obviously save a lot more since a stroller rental is probably pretty cheap). I loaded the car and to her surprise we were able to fit the double stroller... and a cooler, 3 suitcases, 2 laptops, and more! Everything we put in our SUV and seemed like filled the SUV, also fit in the Prius! It was clear that the Prius would serve our family fine for our vacation needs. My wife this past weekend drove 650 miles round trip for a "girls weekend". They ended up taking my Prius. I have now proved to others and myself that the Prius is a great long distance runner and anything short of having to pull a trailer on a road trip we'll be taking the Prius. Mike
Its the same here on Long Island. The Prius is turning up everywhere. Saw three parked next to each other at Kohls the other day.
on my daily commute, it's not unusual to find myself in a caravan of 3-4 priuses on the highway. at work, I've noticed way more priuses in the parking lot.
66,000 + Miles since new Jan. 06. Still on original tires though. z e r o problems or dealer visits. That's the way I like it.
I think you notice cars that you are interested in or own more than other makes. That being said, there are quite a few in Sacramento now - just yesterday on the way to work I was the trailing Prius in a pack of 3. There are also several parked in the immediate area near my work, although there were more last year when one of the neighbors was an environmental consulting firm (they had a couple + HCH). The environmental consulting firm moved to a new location late last year. In the SF Bay Area, you can't throw a dead cat without hitting a Prius or two.
When I bought my Prii it was all alone in the parking lot where I work. Between 200-300 workers. Now I have 4 cousins (Prii}. And 1 on order.
i see soooo many prii over here that it's funny to see people driving the other cars... I drive my car a lot more than any previous car 100k miles in 4 years.
