When the other car you just put in your garage is a 2012 Prius Plug-In...LOL! My 2009 Honda Civic was at the end of its 36 month lease and my Toyota dealer had too good of a lease deal to pass up: $32,215 Silver Metallic Base Model Plug-In Prius with...$3,150 Federal (Subvention) Cap Reduction + $2,500 - 2012 Federal Tax (Return) Credit + Dealer MSRP Reductions + "Toyota Loves Teachers" 1st month's lease payment is FREE special promotion - WOW! 35 monthly payments of $307 - nets out to about $236 a month after the 2012 $2,500 federal tax credit is factored in. $17,600 residual with .00001 money factor. My wife and I are both super excited about our growing Prius "family." She drives the Plug-In about 18 miles round trip to work each day with about 14 or so of those miles in all EV mode. Her first week of commuting - 100 miles or so with some errands - is registering 96 mpg on the Trip 1 display. Costs about $.35 to $.40 per day in electricity usage to charge it up each night - 3 hours with a regular outlet. You do the gas equivalency calculations... I work out of my home office, and I'm lovin' the Prius v as I tool around town on errands and as we visit our children and grandchildren - all that space! Showing 46 mpg on the display for this type of use over the past few weeks. Bring on those higher gas prices! We are ready. WePriiMore...
My v is definitely not the gas guzzler in my garage. That title goes to my 4Runner, which I've driven once since we got the v 2 weeks ago. That said, I love my 4Runner and when winter rolls around, I'll be happy to leave seVen in the garage. The right tool for the job and all that. Congrats on the PiP!!
I'm experiencing something similar: it's my smartcar that's the gas guzzler!!! I keep it in reserve for those times when I have a little extra money to spend on gas..then...just fire it up and splurge on driving the "thirsty" little devil!!
^^^ Yeah, if I had a Leaf a my other car (have been wanting to lease/buy one for awhile, long story why I don't have it yet), I'd get a "Prius is my gas guzzler" license plate frame for my Prius.
Never would I make a statement like that. High gas prices are a serious drag on the economy and a handicap for so many drivers, many of whom simply can't afford to replace less fuel efficient cars. Show a little sensitivity for them.
It's really difficult, because Jeff is right. On the other hand WePriiMore has a point too. The one thing that slows the growth of atmospheric CO2 is going to be economics that make gas and other fossil fuels more expensive than other forms of energy. And I really do favor internalizing the costs of net CO2 emissions through pricing mechanisms (e.g., cap and trade; taxes)--including making ME pay those costs.
