Could you learn to love a Prius? The social science of hybrids

Could I learn to LOVE a Prius?
I do not know.
Unlike 99.44 percent of the posters here....I didn't buy my Prius, and I had VERY little rudder input on my beloved company's decision to stick one in my parking lot.
The relationship that I have with my Prius isn't LOVE per se, but it's a helluva lot more cordial that I thought it was going to be!!!!

The article has some interesting points to be sure...bit I wouldn't start writing the ICE's obit just yet.
I always tell people that you can get an ICE to run on peanut butter if you could figure out how to squeeze it through the injectors - and diesels (which are almost cars) are people are tinkering with gassification, bio-fuels, and on and on.
The electro-car also has a bright future, but Max has a point.

People are connected to their cars in ways that go well beyond solving a transportation need, otherwise mass transit would be a more popular and viable option. How many people out there name their cars or anthropomorphize them? This isn't just cultural inertia from when we used to power our personal appliances with hay and oats.
I don't even OWN my Prius, but I had an outside tech ask me the other day who "Goofy" is.
GM used to run an ad saying "It's not just your car....it's your Freedom!" which is yet another indication of how complex the human-auto relationship is.

You don't have to knock down sub 5 second zero to sixty times, or be able to stop on a dime and give nine cents change to fall in love with a car.
Reformed hippies and other libs buy EVERY Vee Dubbaya that they can get their paws on, and the second best car that I personally have ever owned in my life was my 94 Geo Metro XFi.
(The best was my 94 Miata. Bar. None. Period.)

People tend to want to fit the human animal into just a few neat little categories....and they like to "scientifically" explain why we're wired the way we are.
Yeah.
I guess that there is something to learn from social "science", such as people WILL get a little miffed at some point if you don't give them access to food or let them sleep indoors, but in my never to be humbled experience?
"social engineers" fumble the snap a LOT when it comes down to what beans will or won't do.

Want proof?
Easy!
Two words.

Pontiac Aztech.

Don't laugh.
They sold just over a hundred thousand of them, and according to Edmunds.com?
Humans have made four cars that were WORSE!

 

Most readers of performance car magazines like Road&Track and Car&Drivers are looking for speed and maneuverability at the expensive of all else. So it isn't unexpected that many performance car enthusiasts don't care for regular commuter cars like the Prius. However, in the real world, most people who have only one or maybe two cars require that their vehicles serve multiple functions and therefore must be to compromise between cost, functionality, fuel efficiency, reliability, and operating cost. It is a story I hear over and over again - a married man gives up his performance car for something more practical when his family gets its first kid. IMHO performance cars make great toys but lousy tools. (and who doesn't love their toys?) While I have a high opinion of the Prius design and the technology - I don't love it.

 

I've gone full circle. High fuel mileage was always appealing. I remember when the Geo Metro, promised high mileage. I was interested in a high fuel mileage vehicle but the Metro wasn't it and there were very few other options in the early 90s. For the past eighteen years, I've had a very reasonable work commute. High fuel prices have been more of a irritant, cost of life issue. In January of this year, I was in the market for a another car. I spent a Sunday, visiting the major new car dealers. Everything was an option. What caught my eye was a new Prius. I joined PriusChat for additional information. My Prius Plug In is the right vehicle for me at this point in my life (63). Eleven months later, I haven't been disappointed. I've added wheels, and a few mods, coupled with great list of options on the advance model, I'm set. My car, my choice. If someone asked me if I liked my Prius, I'd reply, "I love it", because I do.

 

I always got amazed by automotive technology. Sports, fun, dependability...and lately...environmental...
Prius is my daily fun! That makes my family car as enjoyable as a sportscar!!
I love it!

 

Does the Prius v do everything I wanted it to do? Yes.

But as I was driving last night on an emergency grocery run for something my wife could eat and choose to go down the road 15 miles, it struck me that I missed my Porsche. The Prius was utilitarian and practical but I didn't have a love affair with it like I did the Boxster. And it wasn't even like I was on twisty roads or doing anything but 55 on a divided highway, its just the Prius does it but without the same fun factor. But it does everything my CRV did and it wasn't a fun car either. Just the kind of cars they are.

That is ok, I made the choice.

 

I love the Prius for its fuel economy, it impresses me every day. Part of me still wants the more comfortable interior, for me, little more robust ride, but those are not deal breakers. Trouble is the top selling sedans are very inviting inside, so Prius has to compete against that.

Also, many still comment on Prius looking like and egg or what not. I don't mind the exterior looks since I see the inside of the car when using it.

 

I don't know about Road & Track, but I'll defend Car and Driver against your argument.

I find Car & Driver's buyer's guide to be pretty level headed. For example, they always praise Accord sedan 4 cylinder car and just a great all around car that's a pleasure in the way it drives. Obviously a 4 cylinder Accord is not hugely powerful nor built for tearing up a racetrack.

They are hard on Prius and rightfully so because they are looking for a bit more balance with comfort and all around driveability in the car. I think the 4th generation Prius will be a nice improvement in driving manners as the 3rd gen was a decent boost over the 2nd gen, comparing base models.

 

This isn't unique in technology or business. A pretty good recent report on the topic:
http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy13osti/55638.pdf

In the nrel study, I liked the reference to the book on disruptive technologies. Disruptive techs don't always progress in nice orderly fashion.

 

I don't know about love, but I'll give my Prius a hug now and then.