THE MOST COMPELLING REASON TO BUY PRIUS? Oh.... I thought it was because Cameron Diaz was driving one. 8)
:jester: The folks I work with have taken a real interest in my car and its capabilities - every time it shows up in a magazine or someone hears about it on the news, I get a little update. Today my supervisor brought me a little snippet from US magazine or some such rag with a picture of Cameron Diaz and her Prius.
I've got a Google search re: Prius that produces a rash of articles every day. The common threads of late appear to be "gas prices -> Prius interest", "no one can find a Prius" and "celebrities drive Priuses". While I react to the celebrity Prius articles with :roll:, I did smile to read a quote from Will Ferrell, who said "Other Prius drivers wave at me all the time, just because we all love our car -- they have no idea who I am." (Surprised me (as rflagg reported) that the "Prius drivers waving to one another" habit has become so well-known that it was lampooned on Curb Your Enthusiasm.) Though to me, the real Prius celebrities are the guys who figured out how to get EV switches into American Priuses!
And you know, after reading all these posts from all these happy Prius owners and owners-to-be, I didn't think I'd ever run into an indifferent Prius driver, but the other day I cruised past an identical white one and waved, and the driver just looked at me like I'd lost my mind completely. Come on, man, you had to really want the car to get it! It's not like two Camry drivers having a chance encounter. Maybe I was a little over-anxious - or maybe he just hadn't seen that Curb Your Enthusiasm episode yet.
Prius is so scarce in Oklahoma, there's been no waving here. I still do get drivers of other types of cars pacing along side me on the freeway, trying to get a better look.
Prius is so scare (and therefore unknown) in Fargo that nobody even looks at mine. Occasionally somebody asks me what it is. It would surprise me if gas prices ever go so high that a Prius becomes cheaper than a high-mileage econo-box. I didn't buy mine to save money. I bought it 'because it's a great car, and it's super-cool, and the SULEV & AT-PZEV ratings let me feel like Kermit the Frog. (Thanks to Toyota, it's now easy being green.)
This chart is quite scary, but without going into details: My interpretation of this long-term chart is that Crude oil price above $40 is not imminent (18 months horizon) but quite probable. In this case it will zoom to $46 pretty quickly. But I doubt we'll see it there this year, but more likely in 2005. High oil price is aggravated by apparent shortage of refining capacity (matching higher environmental standards, specifically) and some logistical problems (ocean tanker tonnage and US terminal capacity shortages). As a result: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- So, hedge yourself, buy Prius!
Ask Reuters about discrepancies (if any). Article address is here: http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?t...nt§ion=news However, you can clearly see that US gas price is more volatile than crude oil price due to some of the factors mentioned. Silver lining of this story: Higher oil prices will accelerate process of transition to the alternative sources of energy/energy saving technologies as it will have much more economic sense. Despite some initial pain, we may have cleaner environment as a result. Fasten safety belts anyway, it will be a tough ride!
