Car & Driver Says Prime Ugly, Too Slow

what percentage of potential prius buyers read car and driver?

 

The only efficiency number I care about is $$$ efficiency. I imagine that is what the majority of people are also concerned about. They want to travel for as cheap as possible (with their toys and gadgets). I think that is why commute distance and electric range are important factors for most people. As pointed out before, if you have a commute that is longer than a Prime's battery a Leaf is a better option. The downside is when you want or need to go farther than the Leaf's range you need a second car or be prepared to rent one. The Volt is compelling because the greater electric range covers more peoples typical commute while not requiring another vehicle if you might need to go farther.

 

The problem is, right now the Volt costs more to drive on electricity than the Prime does on gas.

 

Yep and the Prime costs more to own and drive than say a Civic.

 

I was answering this statement:

 

Yep and I'm expanding on that by implying that the vast majority of people should not buy a Prius, a Prius Prime or a Volt at this point in time if they are looking to save $$$. With the low gas prices it doesn't make financial sense to pay a premium over something like a Civic. The rub comes in because I think the majority of people get committed to a car for 3 years when they buy it. If they buy say a Civic, Trump takes office tomorrow and first thing he does is accidentally nuke Iran ("I thought it'd ask me for confirmation after I pushed that button") the economics of HV/EVs changes dramatically. But if gas prices continue to remain low you're better off just buying a Civic.

If gas prices jump considerably, I think the Volt becomes the better option for many people due to the longer electric range.

 

There's really only a very, very narrow segment of society where the Volt would cost less in fuel to own - those people who commute longer than the Prime and hardly every go on a long trip.

I did an extensive (multi-month) analysis of the NHTS and very few people fit that sliver. The vast majority of people drive about 1/3 of their total miles traveled on trips longer than the Volt's electric range.

 

Got a source for that?

 

I gave it to you.

 

To be fair the article in question only compares the Volt with the Prime.

Both are vehicles that are only economically viable with cheap gas and federal kickbacks, and only a moron would buy a new car to "save money."
The Prime isn't particularly under powered.
Anybody who is old enough to have driven in the 80's when cars weighed twice as much and had half the BHP knows that even a Prime is capable for pulling interstate duty (if not a small trailer.)
There's no doubt AT ALL that the Prime has efficiency advantages over the Volt.
There's also no doubt AT ALL that the Volt is attracting a group of drivers into the ecobox fold that just would not consider driving a Prime for the very reasons that the article vividly illustrated.
If you ask me?
That's a win-win.
Everything else seems to me (as an owner of neither) to be typical 2017 tribalism.

If were forced to make a choice RIGHT NOW then the article would be an important data source.....BUT one may rest well assured that I would investigate both cars thoroughly before I flipped the coin.
Performance isn't a deal maker, but the lack thereof could be a deal breaker.
Same with efficiency.
Same with price.
Same with looks....gas is way too cheap to drive an ugly car!
However some people actually like Toyota's styling and consider the Volt to be a warmed over Civic.

One thing is for certain.
If I pay $30,000 for a new car, then I'm not going to be looking for mags like C&D or TMEN to validate a purchase that I have already made.

 

When I had looked at the NHTS it's trip distance maxed at 31+ miles.

 

They don't make it easy to download the NHTS data. I was a huge PIA, and that was part of the multi-month process.

 

Life's too short to care about how things - especially things you don't design yourself - look.

 

1988 Honda Accord: 2,500 - 2,700 lbs Source: 1988 10Best Cars - 10Best Cars - Page 8 - Car and Driver

2017 Honda Civic: 2,742 lbs Source: Honda Civic Reviews - Honda Civic Price, Photos, and Specs - Car and Driver

Cars today are heavier than their 80s counterparts. I went with Accord to Civic because the Accord is huge now compared to what it used to be, I believe the modern civic is more about the size the Accord used to be.

 

Hmmmmm.....maybe I'm older than I thought.
I was thinking of late 70's to early 80's before the ricer revolution.

 

Tell that to Jobs or Musk.

 

I removed the efficiency word since it has little meaning. Buy a used Toyota Yaris or Corolla or Civic, do your own maintenance, and keep the car until it dies. Your should be able to get close to 10 cents a mile TCO

 

You might want to consider supply and demand too. Right now, gas prices are low, so demand is low. You can possibly get a Prius cheaper. When gas prices go up, people will buy more and costs for the car should go up.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

To you.

Since I have spent my entire career in Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, I disagree.

 

In the context I answered.