Driving a Prime--Are We Just Smarter?

Intelligence, the ability to interact and thrive with ones environment, to read the signals of ones environment.


I don’t feel more obtuse driving a prii.

I would prefer not to be so close to such a strong electromagnetic field, in 500 years my get hopefully, will realize my contribution to their environment.

If our Fallout4 numbers don’t spike to infinity due to the present apocalyptic course the of all groups, American politicians have the world veering toward.

 

That's a big plus to be able to shower at work, not many are so lucky.

 

Look: I'm not all that offended, but I feel like that's a disingenuous statement to be making given your wording (which is filled with references to "you"). I mean come on dude, this post is almost tantamount to the old forum "U MAD BRO?"

 

The faculty

 

In other threads a similar topic has come up. But IMO with how most vehicles are marketed, and how most people that can afford new or newer cars buy vehicles, whether it is a Prius Prime or a full sized Chevy SUV, I think few people really buy "best tool for the job".

For a lot of people, the vehicle they own is a psychological extension of image. Which IMO is why you see a lot of people in perfectly paved, urban environments, driving back and forth from home to the grocery store, in full sized all wheel drive SUV's.

I think most people (not all) but most people buy the vehicle they want to think they need, or want attached to their image of themselves and their life, not the vehicle that really matches the intended and likely usage.

For most of us?
How often are we pulling Tree Stumps out of the ground? Driving to isolated mountain tops? Called upon to haul tons of industrial metal? Or how often are we driving twisting roads that require or beg for sports car suspension?
Even if I owned a legitimate sports car, or SUV the times I would need to really use their capabilities would be very limited.

Ironically, I'd say The Prius is a great tool for urban living. The fuel efficiency is fantastic. But...it's often bought with the same desire to reflect and embrace an image.
Ecologically responsible. Thrifty, Fuel Saving...even "smarter" than everyone else...

A Prius, Prime or otherwise, can be a great tool for the job, by default.

But I often feel that if people REALLY evaluated what they are likely to use their vehicle for most of the time, very few people would be driving the vehicle they are driving.

Having NOT owned a Prius for a while now, I'd admit I do miss the overall fuel efficiency. I'm paying more for fuel now. But since I don't drive a whole lot either, it's not that bad, plus the Honda Fit is relatively fuel efficient in it's own right.

What I miss about the Prius the most?
The fantastic ability to take a long, long road trip and the fuel savings in that regard. Planning a road trip with a Prius, there was nearly no fossil fuel burning choice that could get me from point A to point B as cheaply. I was often amazed how far I could get with the Prius, if point A to B was mostly highway driving.

But maybe I'm being hypocritical, because in my situation, maybe I would take 3-6 long road trips a year. Max.
Is that worth the investment difference between a Prius and Kia Soul or Honda Fit? Not sure I could justify repurchase of a Prius based on my driving parameters either.

 

City driving was also great IF the distances were long enough to warm the Prius engine, at least 3 miles. But shorter ranges, not so much because the catalytic converter, engine, transmission, and tires need to warm up to operating temperature. This is where a plug-in hybrid makes most sense:

1. single parking place - a multifunction car that can handle short and long ranges.
2. EV efficiency - depending on utility rate, easily 2-3x cheaper and quieter to operate
3. gas speed - this is where the car can travel 1,000 miles in a day without a problem

This is one of those cases were the system is more than the sum of the parts. It isn't an optimized EV because it carries a gas engine. It isn't optimized as a gas car because it carries a battery. But the ability to smoothly combine both short range efficiency and long range, high-speed legs makes it more than the simple sum of the parts. It only takes one parking place, insurance, and tag.

Bob Wilson

 

This weekend I drove 800 miles, and got great MPG!
350 miles on the Natchez Trace parkway, no stop signs or signal lights, 50 MPH speed limit, so 45 MPG on that leg.

I drove a lot of eyeglasses to the Lions of Mississippi in Flowood MS, and bought 21 cheesecakes in Southhaven MS and drove them home. (somehow I wind up driving lots of cheesecake across MS repeatedly) Plus 4 days of luggage for my wife. So my v was a good choice for one weekend. And yes this raises the number of multiple hour cheesecake deliverys to 117, but it is like needing 4WD, we can remember more times than ever existed. It would not be sensible to buy a car based on the number of time some charity needed cheesecakes from the state line. We tend to buy cars for reasons that either are not ever sensible, or become silly over time.

My Subaru Forester made sense when my commute was 50 miles each way on a dirt road which started at 5000 feet and ended at 6500. It made way less sense in the MS Delta. My v made sense when I was commuting from 42 to 88 miles each way with enough electronics to fix any PC or wire any building for a network. Now that I am retired, I have dropped from 30,000 miles year to 5,000, and I carry much less gear around when not delivering cheesecakes.

 

We've gone well over a month without a gas-up, and still over half-full. Just not driving that much, shopping trips mostly. It's garage stored, and I keep the 12 volt charger on most of the time. Could be driving most anything, without breaking the bank. Still love it though.

 

Yes, I do feel smarter...

 

Let me quote Malcolm Gladwell from like 15 years ago:

Also; to be fair the Honda Fit (sport) has a fantastic stock suspension. It bested the Corvette Z06 in one of Car & Driver's handling tests. I really enjoy driving them.

2007 Honda Fit Sport

That said, the performance of a sports car is something you really use everywhere - every turn made in one has a completely different feel than say a pickup truck. The (typically) excellent brakes get exercised every time the car comes to a stop. It may not be hanging off the ragged edge of the vehicle's performance envelope, but there is a difference between having excellent on-road performance and driving on the roads 100% of the time vs hauling around something that has excellent off-road performance (compromising on-road performance) and never using it.