Thinking about buying an "Advanced Plug in Prius"

I use the EVSE that comes with the car, and I installed a 20A circuit, but that doesn't mean you have to. Any 110V circuit you come across will be 15 amps at least, but 20A is common. In your case, the worst thing that can happen is a thrown breaker, which could happen if there are too many light bulbs on the same circuit. Each bulb draws under 1 amp. I suggested the middle of night charging only because it minimizes the likelihood of someone else using the circuit, but it's also better for the car.

 

Keep the one you have until its dies. I'm in Binghamton and it won't work for me due to longer than 11 mile commute(65). Prius pays for self after 40,000+ miles. Keep running your Gen 2. I have 2 Gen 2's and 1 Gen 3.
They are paying for themselves once milage gets into 40k range. With PIP you could lease since your commuting is ending, still would have to keep anuall milage under 12,000 per year. Savings would not be there and you would have to negociate with Condo Assoc. to get dedicated plug-in port (in Ithaca????????????????????) good luck. We have one cab Co. running used Gen 2's with high milage. they are paying for themselves due to high milage use.

 

Wow, a Prius paying for itself in 40k miles? I need some help with the math here. I figure at $4 a gallon with the Prius getting 50 mpg, a car getting 35 mpg would only use about $1,400 more in gas. The Prius costs 6k to 8k more than most cars getting 35 mpg.
How did you arrive at your 40k break even point?

Calvin

 

why do you pick 35mpg as a fuel economy benchmark . . . . . . the last time I checked the nationaL average fuel economy - it was WAY beLow 35mpg. If you count all the trucks and SUV's that the EPA doesn't even count in the mix - you'd be looking at about 20 mpg national fuel economy, or worse. Price the Prius against a 70,000 dollar dualie long bed ( OF WHICH MANY around here get purchased just for the look) that gets 15mpg and suddenly the prius is a bargain. I'm just saying you can skew anything to look like the results you want. So yeah - in 2004 we Sold a ford explorer - 17mpg then bought a prius - and yes, it paid for itself in 40,000 miles but that's based against the alternative that we might have purchased -


SGH-I717R ? 2

 

If the breaker trips, another possibility is to get one of those EVSEs that allow you to charge at a lower current (e.g. 7A).

 

When I compare the PHEV to the regular Prius ... I think Package 3 vs PLugIn base. Or, Package 5 vs the PlugIN Advanced.
I factor in the $2500 tax credit for federal and $1500 for the CA state credit you get in-hand pretty quick.
Then, I start ticking off the differences, ie. PHEV's seat heaters, real alloy wheels, the pre-cooling A/C ... and my own ability to get 17-20 miles south after work without using a drop of gas.
There are other small accounting issues that also, for me, factor in. The fact that the PHEV has approx. 2% markup between MSRP and dealer invoice vs the Prius III at approx 5-6% markup in it depnding on options. You can get a better discount from a regular Prius ... but it's not always about "the deal" ....as for the III, you CAN get the sunroof if wanted also for about $1400 more.
Then I do some very loose, estimated math. Depending on the car you want vs the options, these #'s are kinda general.
A III with mats costs an average of $25000.
The PHEV is $32,500-$32,985 right now.
Let's call it approx an $8000 difference with the tax calculated in. Deduct the tax credits, and you're at $4K diff.
Wioth gas hovering between $3.50 and $4 a gallon... it would take me a looooooong time to make that $ back up in gas alone. For me, the decision was always about time. The HOV lanes. The Commute.
Because I spend SO much time in my car (bought it May 9th, already have 6200 on the odo and I do have a 2nd car too! I'm just addicted to 70+ MPG) I decided to buy the leather and the Homelink EC mirror. May even try a set of HIDs ... I already have the illuminated entry doorsills and side chrome stripping because it just looks great.
I don't need all that extra technology for the Advanced. A power seat would have been nice but not necessary. And, while the era of the softex is here, even making its debut in Tacoma trucks next month, I like real leather.
Those were my rationalizations...
The question came down to: what's my time worth? The difference in the car payments after factoring in the tax credits was negligible.

Just some thoughts.

 

I never mentioned national average fuel economy in my post. I agree that I didn't make it clear that I was comparing the Prius to cars about the size of a Prius, many of which get 35 mpg.
Your points about the lower mileage vehicles seem quite valid to me. Sorry for the lack of clarity in my post. I certainly wasn't trying to say you were wrong, I just wanted to know how you arrived at your figures and you explained it quite well.

Calvin

 

Sorry, I think I kind of combined the post from nickfromney and the one from hill in my answer but I think my response addresses both.

Calvin

 

it's all good
.

SGH-I717R ? 2

 

I'll agree with the other guy who said just keep your '08. It's so tempting to get the PiP now and the '08 seems so boring. Having said that, I did trade in my 2000 Olds minivan with 200,000 miles on it for the PiP base, but my wife hi-jacked it, and now I drive the 2010 Prius. My dilemma was go with my pre-order or try to drive the van for another year. Logic and finance said drive the van some more until the wheels fell off, but I got the PiP base instead. So maybe when the next Gen PiP comes out with more range, I'll trade in the 2010 Prius. I too am addicted to 55+ MPG, and nobody touches the Prius family right now. Tesla costs too much, the Volt is a GM car (sorry after my 1999 Catera experience, I've sworn off GM), and the leaf doesn't have enough battery.

So if money is no object, then of course get it. If money is an object, then keep driving your '08 prius as there is nothing wrong with it and it sounds like you don't drive that much anyway.

 

Ah, BTW, We plug the PiP into an outlet that the soft water machine is on. 120 V. Just a normal outlet. The house was built in the 80s. I've overheated that outlet up in December with too many christmas lights, so it is battle proven. With the PiP charging, it doesn't get warm - christmas lights were much harder on it. I did move some of the lights to another circuit, and now it doesn't get warm anymore. Hmmm - so that brings up a point - no PiP charging in December between the hours of 5pm and 11pm.

 

The question to ask yourself is "will the reason you purchased one today apply in x amount of time in the future." So, if you take a lease for 4 years, will the reason you leased it today still be applied in 4 years.

A specific example:

We live in a relatively small city in SE Wisconsin where most of our activity can be reached within about 6 miles. So, a maximum distance of 6 miles to and 6 miles back will still apply to our community in 4 years for EV use. We doubt that our city will grow that much to warrant us purchasing a newer Prius to gain the difference in more distance in 4 years. On the other hand if you seek a vehicle with much more distance capabilities in 4 years either you shouldn't have purchased the current Plug-in design or else your needs have changed.

Leasing will protect you by always having a known value after x period of time. But only you can decide if buying or leasing will be best for you. For us we believe we made a good decision. We purchased ours. The combination of all EV travel within a short distance works for us. But the Prius Plug-in also works as a regular Hybrid so that allows us to use the same vehicle for vacations or other long distance commutes. The fact that it will re-charge using only a 110 volt source with a maximum time of 2 1/2 hours is huge for us.

In short my wife and I believe this vehicle will serve us for many many years.

Cheers

 

+1

 

My PIP and I are in the San Francisco area, and there are plenty of hills but I haven't tested the worst of them. Beyond local trips, I've had a number of 10 to 25 mile runs, mostly freeway with a few miles of local streets.

Using HV on the freeway (avoiding the PWR range) and EV when possible otherwise, I get in the 50's to 70's for mpg on those combined trips. This is my first Prius, but my sense is that the PIP is more superior on the freeway than the EPA mpg figures would indicate.

The PIP has tons of torque running in EV, but I bet if you run up that steep hill on East Buffalo St. you'll use up a major chunk of the battery capacity. (You'll get a lot of it back going down.) I'd be tempted to try staying in EV but pushing the pedal to turn the ICE on for extra boost; then the car will try to restore the EV range when possible.

If you're the kind of Prius driver that likes to play the car like a video game for max score, you should see from these comments that the PIP will be the same kind of fun except a lot more.

 

our l.e.d. christmas lights use 1/6 of the energy of our old incandescent style holiday lighting. problem solved


SGH-I717R ? 2

 

Calvin thank you. Got me to do hard numbers.
Other sedan at 25mpg for 40,000 miles per year, at $4per gal = 1,600 gal or $6,400per yr.
Prius at 50mpg for 40,000 miles per year at $4 per gal= 800 gallons or $3,200 per yr
a yearly savings of $3,200 x 4 years = a $12,800 savings in 4 years.
$3,200 x 7 years = $22,400. It pays for itself in 7 years at that rate.
Other sedan at $17,000. Prius at $24,000 so I only need to save $7,000 during ownership period in fuel costs to make the math work.
Still one needs ot OWN it long enough and put the high miles on it to make up for the price difference.
Here in NY they might be forced to come up with a lease that works for PIP
If I can keep OPEC a few Grand poorer, while saving my cash so be it.

 

If the $17,000 car got 37.5 mpg (halfway point), then you'd use 1066 gallons or $4266. Then you'd only save $934 per year and at the end of 8 yrs, you'd break even on the price of the car. But you'd not have use of that $7K for the 8yrs and the money value would have depreciated due to inflation.

Then again, if the 25 mpg car was more comfortable to ride in, and you are willing to pay extra to sit in a nicer car, then that is another story. Bottom line is that cars are "consumable" items. You have to decide how much money you are going to spend on transportation.