The reason I bought a Prius is because I was looking to replace a first generation Toyota Matrix. That was a great car with great reliability and no problems along with 30 plus mpg. The next generation Matrix wasn't all that great in terms of gas mileage and transmission options. Looked at the Prius. This was at the time dealers were giving $1K off due to the bad publicity and it seemed liked a no brainer. That's why I bought a Prius.
1. MPG 2. Super cute, cool and futuristic looking. Every time I saw a Prius on the freeway, I wanted one. The look just really appealed to me. Now if only the interior could match the exterior's beauty ....
3 or 4 years ago there was a lease deal that was zero down, $180/month. If you went from a 20MPG car you would save over $100/month in fuel savings. I knew more than one person who was both anti-lease and anti-Prius who figured for an effective payment of $80/month they would give one a try for a few years.
Despite the almost irresistible temptation afforded by that question, I'll give you a straight answer: I love electricity because I've spent most of my life using, experimenting with, designing equipment for, and enjoying the benefits of electricity. I'm less keen on using gasoline because it's more expensive per mile as a transportation fuel and, if I want it, I have to go out and get it instead of having it delivered to my garage. Ancillary reasons include the profusion of units - gallons, imperial gallons, quarts, pints, liters, cups, tablespoons, teaspoons, gills, shots, barrels, minims, drams, hogsheads and many more - that are used to mete it out. Give me the noble kilowatt hour any day. Richard
Technology and economy were key with reasons for being: 1.8L vs 1.5L Echo - the larger engine gave higher peak and sustained power Cooled EGT vs. Echo fuel enrichment - improved efficiency at high power Exhaust heated coolant vs. Echo thermostat - better cold weather operation Larger, more usable hatchback volume than Echo - better utility 2001 Echo - only backup to 2003 Prius Lower center of gravity than Echo - better handling in turns and curves Hybrid vs automatic transmission - improved efficiency at all speeds However, there were reasons against: accident avoidance - an important safety feature, requires $8,000 of eye-candy paid-off, depreciated - the 01 Echo would not further lose value nor improve Every year the 2001 Echo and 2010 Prius would age. But the Prius would always have lower cost to own and greater utility. Although the 2001 Echo was only two years older than the 2003 Prius, the Echo hydromechanical transmission would always be half a century older and less capable. Bob Wilson
