Please participate in a study by Aalborg University!

Can you confirm that we should only reply if we are in California?

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...502-2010-prius-school-project.html#post979468

 

See above. If a problem for mods, let me know.

 

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I love surveys!
I love Denmark too!
Maybe I could trade - I'd take me a survey for a
nice Danish tart.
:eyebrows:

 

I'll repeat Jimbo's question, since it has not been answered: I live in Washington State, and would happily answer the survey if answers from non-Californians are wanted.

 

Trading a national treasure for a few survey answers? Uhhh...no.

 

Toyota 4Runner

Same 4Runner

me

28 miles to and from work, 14 each way!

I can't speak for others, I am a cheap bastard, 5 bucks a gallon is STUPID, but it will get there.

8gal = 400 miles, what more needs to be said?

It's a car, it does not have a personality, if my car spoke to me like "KITT" in Knightrider, I would put a bullet thru the CPU!!!

8 gal = 400 miles! The monthly payment for the car is less than filling the 4Runner up each month!

Uhh, "Your a legend in your own mind", it's a fuel efficient car, not a God!

It saves me money, I love the car, it's easy to self maintain!

8gal = 400 miles, say something once, why say it again!

 

Denmark is a nation with a high standard of living, so I would imagine that tarts there charge at least as high a price for their services as tarts do in, e.g. Las Vegas. They probably wouldn't give you one just for taking a survey.

Oh, you didn't mean pastry, did you? I wouldn't say no to a nice Danish tart, but pastry is much too fattening for me just now.

 

I live in Mississippi, the US state with the fewest hybrids per capita

Household vehicle history:
• What are past vehicles of the current household?
Me
2009+ Toyota Prius pkg 5
2000-2008 Subaru Forester S
1989-2000 Toyota Corolla All-trac Wagon
1987-1989 Ford Escort Wagon
1981-1987 Mazda GLC hatchback

Her (at least since I have known her, she has driven company cars assigned to her, not picked by her)
2006+ Nissan Xterra
2004-2006 Jeep Liberty
2002 when we married to 2004 Honda Accord Coupe
1989 to ???? Toyota Corolla sedan

• What car did the Prius replace? (or why was the Prius added?)
I sent the Subaru Forester to be driven by my daughter in Washington state

• Who primarily uses the Prius?
Jimbo Palmer

• How far and where to is the Prius driven on a daily basis?
I am a contractor, each day I have a different client, I rarely drive less than 110 miles a day, as three major towns in my area are all 55 miles away, in different directions.

Symbolic meaning
• How would you define a typical hybrid car driver/buyer?
Unconcerned by what others think about them,they buy a car for what it does, not how it looks (I only know one other hybrid owner locally)

• What do you tell about your car when friends/family/strangers ask about the car?
It is the best car sold for people who drive very long distances.

• What kind of personality traits would you apply to your Prius? (such as “intelligent†or “cutting-edgeâ€(example from another research paper))
it attempts to mimic (often successfully) a normal car

• Why did you buy the Toyota Prius?
1) My wife wanted a hybrid. When mama's unhappy, everyone is unhappy. I was waiting on the Saturn Vue 2 mode Hybrid, a car which will never be sold, from a company out of business, as I doubted a Prius could hold my networking gear.

2) It holds all my stuff. I was very skeptical that it would, but the dealer offered to let me take a test drive over night so I could load all my gear in it and test the mileage. Wise choice on his part. Many Hybrids are sedans, I can't get a 17 foot ladder in a sedan, but I can in a Prius

3) I fit through the doors. I am very tall and inflexible in the torso. If you cut off my head, I would still bump my shoulder on a Toyota Matrix​.

4) It pollutes less than any other car that meets 2) and 3). While owners may buy a Prius for mileage, I suspect the Toyota engineers designed the Prius for reduced emissions. (One of the solutions to less emissions happened to be: use less gas in the first place)

5) I like good gas mileage, some day we will be out of petroleum, and wonder how we could have thought it was a good idea to burn it up.

6) It is quiet. I like not being the 'loud exhaust' in my neighborhood. The less my neighbors think about me, the better!

7) My wife complained about my owning a manual transmission, I set out to get a CVT so my car would be 'more automatic' than hers. She hated my manual in the Forester

8) Both my wife and I's most reliable car ever was a 1989 Toyota Corolla, buying another Toyota appealed to us. (My Alltrac wagon is still in the family, 20 years and 230,000 miles later. Her sedan fell victim to nephews)

• Are you aware of the symbolic meaning in buying a HEV?
Treehugging? I have no trouble with being thought a treehugger.

Toyota Prius benefits and disbenefits
• Please identify perceived or expected advantages (or disadvantages) to buying a Toyota Prius
Toyota Reliability. Large Cargo Volume, with many ways to trade cargo for passengers. Best gas mileage sold. (Between my accent and my car, native Mississippians regard me as foreign)

• Please explain the importance of these advantages (or disadvantages) in your own HEV purchase
To make money, I must first arrive. Many days I must arrive with a wide range of parts and tools. Lastly, I feel best if I did not use up much resources, just to get there. (I am never going to be a 'Good Ole Boy' in Mississippi)

 

I live in Spokane, WA, USA.

Household vehicle history:
• What are past vehicles of the current household?

1956 Willys CJ-5 Jeep. (Purchased used. All the others purchased new)
1976 American Motors CJ-5 Jeep
1989 Honda Civic station wagon.
2004 Prius (still own)
2006 Zap Xebra SD (3-wheel electric car)
2010 Tesla Roadster (electric -- this is the car I drive daily)
(I also own a 2003 Porsche 911 Carrera, purchased used, converted to electric in a botched job, partially repaired, but still not in service. Maybe never will be. Long, frustrating story.)

• What car did the Prius replace? (or why was the Prius added?)

The Prius replaced the Honda Civic. The Civic was 15 years old and I wanted a car with more safety features. (Air bags, ABS, stability control.)

• Who primarily uses the Prius?

Me

• How far and where to is the Prius driven on a daily basis?

Originally it was my daily driver. Shopping, errands, commuting, road trips. Maybe 5,000 miles a year. Now it's just for road trips, parking at the airport, or transporting more than the tiny Tesla can do. Less than 1,000 miles a year.

My daily driving (formerly the Prius, now the Tesla) ranges from 3 miles to the grocery store and back, up to 30 miles downtown and back, and occasional trips up to 60 miles or so. Road trips, in the Prius, are in the 300 to 400 mile range, generally to summer hiking locations in British Columbia, Canada.


Symbolic meaning
• How would you define a typical hybrid car driver/buyer?

When the Prius first came out, the majority of buyers were "tree-huggers." However, the car has gone mainstream, and I think there is no longer a "typical" hybrid car buyer/driver. Hybrids today are just cars that use less gasoline.

• What do you tell about your car when friends/family/strangers ask about the car?

In the early days I explained about the very sophisticated technology and high fuel efficiency. Nobody asks any more. Everybody knows what the Prius is. The car people ask about now is the Tesla Roadster, which is now my daily driver. When asked I explain about the advantages of electric motors, and the benefits to the environment and the economy of not burning gasoline. Electric motors have full torque from a stop, for powerful acceleration, and use about one-third as much energy as gas engines, and electricity is produced domestically. Hybrids are yesterday's technology, and they still burn gasoline, even if they are more efficient than non-hybrid gas cars.

• What kind of personality traits would you apply to your Prius? (such as “intelligent†or “cutting-edgeâ€(example from another research paper))

I do not assign any personality traits to my Prius. It was originally cutting-edge technology (but that's a descriptor, not a personality trait) but now it's yesterday's technology.

• Why did you buy the Toyota Prius?

My Honda Civic was 15 years old, and the Prius had safety features I wanted: ABS, air bags, and stability control. I selected the Prius over other new cars because of its hybrid technology: I was fascinated by the gas-electric hybrid concept and by its ability to drive under pure electric power for short distances, and I wanted a non-polluting, fuel-efficient car.

It was the Prius's ability to drive pure electric for short distances that got me interested in electric cars, and eventually led to my buying the pure electric Zap Xebra SD, then later attempting to have the Porsche converted, and finally buying the 100% electric Tesla Roadster.

• Are you aware of the symbolic meaning in buying a HEV?

In my opinion, there is no symbolic meaning. A Hybrid is today just a car that uses advanced technology to achieve better fuel efficiency and (in some cases) to reduce pollution.

Toyota Prius benefits and disbenefits
• Please identify perceived or expected advantages (or disadvantages) to buying a Toyota Prius

It burns less gasoline, it pollutes less, and like Toyotas in general, it has an excellent reliability record.

Disadvantage: It still burns gasoline. I choose to drive pure electric as much as possible.

• Please explain the importance of these advantages (or disadvantages) in your own HEV purchas

In 2004, the above advantages, along with the safety features of a new car, were critical. It was of the utmost importance to me to have the latest safety features, and I wanted to drive a car that was less environmentally unfriendly. That is, pollutes less and uses less gasoline.

Now, the disadvantage that it still burns gasoline has relegated it to the place of secondary car, for use only when the electric car cannot do what I need. That is, road trips of over 245 miles (the range of the Tesla) or carrying large cargo, or parking at the airport (since the Tesla is too new and too nice to leave at an airport parking lot.)

I continue to be of the opinion that the Toyota Prius is the best gasoline car on the road. But it still burns gas, and I'd rather drive any electric car than burn gasoline. The emergence of plug-in hybrids complicates the discussion. If the plug-in Prius gets better gas mileage on the highway after depleting the grid charge, then I'd consider it an improvement over my 2004 Prius. But I don't think it would be worth the price of an upgrade for me, since I have the electric car for use in town and anywhere within a hundred-mile radius of home.

 

If only! Here in the UK, it is two dollars a litre, so well on the way to ten dollars a gallon.

 

A) Over my life I have had more than 40 vehicles... some just for racing, fooling around in the sticks... others because of work requirements... we currently have five vehicles. ('08 Prius, '99 Voyager, '90 Corvette, '86 Cherokee, '41 Chevy Master Deluxe)

B) No cars were replaced with the purchace of my fine little Prius. I stopped driving the Corvette into work because of the $6000 a year fuel bill just getting back and forth to work... now my fuel bill is less than $1000 per year to get to work and back.

C) I am the driver.

D) I commute about 40 miles to work and back daily. Weekends I may drive to the coast or the mountains for entertainment or to visit friends and family - usually about 80-800 miles depending if it's to LA or Oregon and back or not.

E) Conscious about their impact on the environment, and resources... as well as wanting to get the most out of their $$$$$

F) It works great... I will get another one when this one wears out.

G) Dependable, small-yet roomy, friendly driving experience.

H) It was the best car for the price and the mpg was the best in class... factors that were important in the decision to acquire the Toyota Prius as opposed to the Honda or the unavailable as of then Chevy Volt.

I) It is put in my face every day I am on one or another of the social forums or automotive forums I post on frequently.

J) The advantage was reduced fuel costs that would help to fund the payments of the Prius used for commuting back and forth to work.

K) My personal fuel costs for the Corvette I used prior to buying the Prius was between $450 - $530 per month; my current fuel costs with the Prius are $70 - $85 per month. The savings in fuel bill are more than the payment for the car note on the Prius.

Hope this helps
Bob Jr

 

Mmmm....Æbleskivers