Are you driving a Prius because you're Green or Frugal?

First of all, for most of my life, I've been annoyed that stopping a car was like throwing money out the window. I spent good money getting up to speed and now I have to convert that money to heat and brake dust??!! That's just stupid! Why don't they make cars that recover at least part of that energy? Prius answered the complaint.

Then, as we were preparing to move back to the US after several years in Honduras, gas prices were up close to $4/gallon. Prius made a ton of sense, so we got two 2005s when we got back here. Within four months, gas prices were almost down to $2/gallon, but I still think it was a good decision. When my wife's got totaled by a texter, we got her a 2007 that she absolutely loves. I later traded my '05 on a PiP, which I just traded for a Prime that I'm still gaga over.

It's still frugal, when you factor in maintenance and reliability, not to mention that gas prices won't always be this low. (They went up here about 25-26 cents a couple days ago.) And, being an engineer and a bit of a geek, this car fascinates and impresses me. The green aspect is nice, too, but that's a bonus for me, not a "Prime" motivator. I went to the Prime mostly for comfort factors, but the fuel stinginess of this thing is incredible.

 

No. 1


Rob43

 

Many years ago I was at the Chicago Auto Show and Ford had a big yellow truck and it had hydraulic accumulators that captured the wasted energy when braking and used it to launch that heavy truck. I'm sure there are other attempts to capture this wasted energy.

I found it it was called the "Tonka Truck".

2002 Ford F-350 Tonka Concept History, Pictures, Value, Auction Sales, Research and News

The HLA system, currently under research, is designed to improve fuel economy in large trucks by an estimated 25 to 35 percent in city driving. It A reversible pump/motor attached to the driveshaft through a clutch system and an energy storage module work in tandem with the traditional powertrain. The HLA system recovers energy normally lost during vehicle deceleration, stores it in the form of hydraulic pressure and then reuses it during acceleration.

 

frugal. i want to retire early , and then get the expensive gas guzzlers, when i'm only cruising the strip in miami. low mileage saves on gas at that point.right now commuting to work 5 days a week who needs a wraith or mclaren !

 

I wouldn't think of myself as "green", more a common sense decision for me. A plug in hybrid made a lot of sense in my situation. 95% of my driving is 20 miles round trip to work daily. If I can do that using a renewable resource instead of a limited resource like gas, why wouldn't I.

I haven't figured up how much it cost/saved me to switch vehicles. My feeling is at best it's a break even, and even if I end up spending a bit more I'm ok with that.

 

Frugal & the Tech.............maybe learning something new will keep me from getting Alzheimer's?

 

I have softened my reason for buying my second Prius. I had a guy where I worked say, "I bet you wouldn't have bought that car if you knew gas was going to be this cheap again". I told him I like the car so well I would buy another one because I like the car no matter what gas prices were.

I don't live in a very green area, large steel mills line the northern shore of Lake Michigan and I spent 40 years in one of the dirtiest industries in the country but hey, I drove a Prius.

 

yes

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Yes

 

What they said. ^^^^

 

I bought a Prius Prime the other night so I can experiment charging it off my 800W 400Ah 10MPG F250 truck Solar Array.

 

Green yes, frugal more. I have a separate go fast car (modified Miata), so the Prime I drive like an old man, in mpg mode. The Miata never goes slow.

 

I raced a Spec Miata once, it was the slowest* fast car I ever drove. (Fun)


Rob43


* Miata's are "momentum" cars, once they get going they're fast.