Extensive Spreadsheet shows PIP / Volt not for us

I think that really depends on your geography. My friends in this area with regular gen 3 Prii struggle to break 50mpg in the best of conditions. Whereas as long as I stay off the interstate, the rolling hills mean the PiP nearly always does 60mpg or better for me. That's 20%.

 

That difference can be readily explained by driver differences.

My Prius v(agon) is sitting at 60.1 MPG on the fuel display for the most recent 780 miles, and 52.8 MPG since the car was bought 56,000 miles ago. I think I have gone under EPA twice, yet Fuelly pretty much agrees with EPA. However, my car is also driven by my wife, so I know where the MPG discrepancy is coming from

John1701a owns a PiP now, after some 4 years with a Gen3 Prius. Same driver, same routes. He reports IIRC a 5-10% improvement with the PiP in HV mode.

Anyway, for purposes of discussion like these, averages from a large group of drivers make sense. At ~ 340 cents per gallon, 8 cents a mile works out to 42.5 MPG. That is considerably lower than the group G3 average.

 

To take a page from the ad marketing guys...

Any car will seem to "win" if you only look at it's strengths, and ignore it's weaknesses. But when you put all the desired features on a five-point scale; fuel economy, interior space, power, EV range, reliability, noise and ride comfort, the Prius isn't at the top with most of them, but no car can give you the highest combined score across all categories.

That's why I bought the Prius.

 

You're describing a loaded Tesla. Since your spreadsheet leaves out Price...

 

This may not be as significant as you think. At 12000 miles a year the difference between 50 mpg and 60 mpg is only 40 gallons of gas a year (or $160 @4.00g).

I applaud the OP for using his spread sheets.

As others have said I would wait for the Gen 4 to come out. Then you can see if you like it or there will be some great deals on new/used Gen 3s.

 

Then over the life of the car the savings are over $3000. Funny, I thought it was that amount that convinced people not to pay the 'hybrid premium.'

Spreadsheets do not seem to be helping people to think.

 

You misunderstand the point of my post. The PiP does 60mpg under that one specific circumstance to the regular Prius' 50. There are plenty of other times when the split is much greater. With my short trips in town I often use no fuel at all in the PiP whereas the regular would be in the mid-30's at best. I would be lucky to have a lifetime average of 40mpg in the regular Prius, yet it's over 70mpg with the Plug-in. What's the lifetime savings of 70mpg vs 40?

Further, as I paid less for my PiP than one typically would for a regular III that spread is all money in the pocket.

 

I agree with the last part. That is why I have a PiP, the cost was about the same as the III. With out the incentives and tax deferral, I would have a III. I don't drive my PiP too much a year. I figured it would take me 18 years or so to make up the difference. Gas here is now 3.25 and I saw gas below $3 last year. Winters here kill my EV range or the engine starts up no matter what I do.