What is wrong with this Article?

[Fibb222]

Why do we see this mis-information over and over again....

"The payback in saved-gasoline cost isn't by itself going to cover the higher price of a hybrid," .....

When driven on interstates as a daily commuter, the hybrid powertrain isn't contributing as much, so you might as well shop for a fuel-efficient gasoline engine, he said.

from Welland Tribune - Ontario, CA

Point 1 - In the USA anyway, where Prius' are dirt cheap, it's a no-brainer. The car doesn't have a hybrid premium.... In Canada where the cost is 60% higher, yeah maybe.

For other models that come in gas-only and hybrid versions... yeah there is a premium, but some drivers will easily hit break even. Studies have confirmed this, no?

The second point - what person never, ever drives at city speeds? I'm sure that overall the Prius is more fuel efficient than any non-hybrid car even if highway miles were 85% of the miles driven.

[donee]

Hi Fibb,

What is wrong with that article? Its not the first to be like this. The writter tries to not be brand specific. But the technology is too new, and the Prius so much more than a hybrid, that by writing the article this way they do not give much useful information at all.

[patsparks]

Mr Average is a mythical man who has a choice to buy a Camry Hybrid ($25,350) or a Conventional 4 cylinder automatic Camry SE ($22,390).

Mr Average like 90% of Americans does 80% of his driving in the suburbs and city where a SE will uses 11.2L/100km while a Hybrid will use 7.12L/100km.
Mr Average does 25,000 kilometres per year, 20,000 of that on suburban roads and 5000 kilometres on his annual holiday to the lakes which is on the highway.
As the fuel consumption of a Camry Hybrid and SE are within 0.6L/100km on the highway I'll allow that as error.
Around town the Camry Hybrid will use 1424 litres of fuel per year but the Camry SE will use 2240 litres. a difference of 816 litres per year.
Petrol currently costs about $1.00 per litre and if it doesn't it will by the end of the year so in the first year Mr Average in a hybrid would reclaims $816 of the $2960 hybrid premium leaving a premium of $2144.
Next year the price of fuel hits $1.25/litre, not out of the question I would think.
Given the same driving Mr Average reclaims a further 816 litre saving $1020 of his hybrid premium is now there is just $1124 remaining to be paid off.
The following year Mr Average is paying $1.50/litre still driving the same commute reclaims a further $1224 putting him $100 ahead.
The year after this Mr Average is paying $1.75/litre for petrol, used pickups and SUVs are lining the streets as people strip off the identifiers and dump them and Mr Average puts $1428 in the bank. As Mr Average changes cars every 4 years he heads to his Toyota dealer for a new Camry SE, because now all Toyotas are hybrids.

For a person who did 80% of their travel on highways it wouldn't be worth getting the hybrid on financial grounds.

[Earthling]

When driven on interstates as a daily commuter, the hybrid powertrain isn't contributing as much, so you might as well shop for a fuel-efficient gasoline engine, he said.

The author knows virtually nothing about the Prius, or he wouldn't write that.

We know that the Prius has an under-sized 1.5 liter conventional motor which is heavily modified for efficiency, so it saves significant amounts of gasoline even when the conventional motor runs. But we know from watching the fuel economy gauge go to 99.9 on any sort of downgrade that the car is excellent at coasting and borrowing a bit of battery to maintain speed.

I can get over 53 mpg with the cruise set @ 63 mph. What cheaper car can come anywhere near that? My '99 Civic gets 39 mpg highway, usually and at most 40 mpg.

Saying the Prius is not a good car to commute in is ridiculous. It just proves the author's ignorance of the Prius.

Harry

[patsparks]

I think the writer is speaking about hybrids in general not just the Prius.
It may be better to do highway trips in a Prius than a corolla but what about if you throw a Hylander hybrid or Explorer or how about the Chev hybrids, what a joke.

I think comparing same cars hybrid and non-hybrid the writer is right. But one must remember most people do most driving in town.

[donee]

Originally Posted by patsparks

I think the writer is speaking about hybrids in general not just the Prius.
It may be better to do highway trips in a Prius than a corolla but what about if you throw a Hylander hybrid or Explorer or how about the Chev hybrids, what a joke.

I think comparing same cars hybrid and non-hybrid the writer is right. But one must remember most people do most driving in town.

Right, because the writer wrote the article to be brand neutral. And that means, he cannot go into details that make the Prius what it is. Because that would be favoring one car in the eyes of the reader.

[hiremichaelreid]

Originally Posted by Fibb222

Point 1 - In the USA anyway, where Prius' are dirt cheap, it's a no-brainer. The car doesn't have a hybrid premium.... In Canada where the cost is 60% higher, yeah maybe.

That's part of the point. This is a Canadian publication aimed at Canadians. I just paid $1k less than the MSRP of $29.5k for the cheapest Prius here (but it's not the same as the US base).

That said, I'm also counting on $4k in Government rebates. You could get lesser rebates though of $1k for a manual Corolla (base $14.5k) or Civic (base $17k) though.

Regardless, gas is even more expensive here than in US. Tomorrows price in Ottawa ( The price of gasoline* for May 2 ) is $1.244 per litre. That's about $4.68 US per US gallon. In Montreal it's like $5.14 US per US gallon.

Anyway, I noted that Edmunds list the Prius as having the lowest true TCO for cars under $25g. Between that, the Consumers Reports stuff and the gas and oil prices seeming to inch up every day, I think Prius sales could take off if Toyota has the capacity to ramp up quickly.


It's funny, 2 weeks ago I started looking for a new car and couldn't have imagined picking such a "funny looking" car. But I'm a practical engineer (software and electronics) and functionality, reliability and fancy technology will trump looks every time. Now when I look (from the right angles, like direct side) I see a beauty. Especially black.


And then every once in awhile, I see a Pinto or an AMC Pacer bubble car of the 2000s'. But who cares, as long as it's not a pastel color...

[orenf]

Oddly enough, the Prius is the only hybrid out there where one cannot possibly calculate the "hybrid premium" - there's nothing to compare it with. For the HCH and TCH it makes more sense to look at the economics.

See also this ridiculous post - Hybrids the answer? - iReport.com (note the comments).

[pelewis2]

I get 65+ mpg driving on the highway(mostly) with my HCH-I, show me a gas only car that I could get 50+ in...

[Fibb222]

Originally Posted by patsparks

I think the writer is speaking about hybrids in general not just the Prius.

I think comparing same cars hybrid and non-hybrid the writer is right. But one must remember most people do most driving in town.

ok point taken, it's just that I do great on the highway, but I drive slow, always under 90 km/h and usually 75, so I get great mileage on the highway - no lights is gold for me. I guess most people who are speeding over 110 might get as good mileage with some of the more efficient non-hybrid's out there, but as you say, most people don't only drive on the freeway....