Los Angeles Commuting and HOV

I bought a Prius Plug-in this year, and I have a similar daily commute distance. My previous car was a Toyota Corolla, and I can easily say my fuel costs are now less than half. The plug-in EV range will help you for approximately a third of your commute (if you plug in at both places), and it will save you approximately half a gallon of fuel.

This is calculated before any additional subsidies or benefits. I think you'll find that it's not really a big economic benefit overall, but it sure is nice spending less than $30 to fill the tank.

 

The price of electricity in California negates practically any savings that might come from using less gasoline. There's not much benefit to having a plug-in Prius besides the novelty and possibly the ability to use HOV lane.

So you're right, unless you would save some time by using the HOV lanes where you live, you won't find that you're saving much money elsewhere, even with cheap electricity rates. It would take you decades to recoup the extra $2-$3K you'd spend up front.

Time is a benefit that can be used, too, but if you're not saving it by using the HOV lanes, it's not relevant to your decision.

For your proposed commute, and since the HOV lanes in L.A. are pretty much a 5th or 6th regular traffic lane with no time benefits, I'd stick with a regular Prius - or look into a pure electric vehicle. Teslas are nice, but unless you're a full professor at UCLA, that might not be in your budget. (Even a full prof might find the Tesla's sticker somewhat shocking…)

I can say from my own experiences that I'm getting better "mileage" with my Plug-in over my old Gen II Prius. (70mpge to 5ompg). That, however, still doesn't really offset the expense difference. I don't get much time savings (yet) on the HOV lane. When the 805 HOV lanes open next year, that should change - I'll probably save 15-20 minutes a day or about an hour a week. Still, it'd take decades to 'break even" on the initial outlay. However, I didn't buy the plug-in to "save money", since I knew ahead of time that it wouldn't.

Now if you were able to locate and purchase a used PHEV, that would change your outcome quite a bit.

 

you can't plug in at home? .09 is cheap juice.

 

If I still lived in SoCal I would be lane splitting on my bike all the way to the front of the traffic. Forget the prius.


So I guess what I'm saying is get a bike.


Just sayin. Can't do that now where I live so it's a toss up if I want a rush (bike) or a relaxing (prius) drive to work.

 

Buy a bike to get to work; save a ton of money, and probably die within a year.
Or ride in comfort.
It's about 60/40 against the bike for me.

 

WOW!!

although I have lost some very close friends to motorcycle accidents, that comment was unnecessary.

I survived 5+ yrs of SoCal on a motorcycle and am still going strong on the east coast now riding a wheel.

So yeah prius is nice and relaxing but I'll never stop riding...

 

I've noticed that in certain areas the HOV lanes do slow down regularly. But overall I think they move faster than the other lanes. I average about 78 mpg with my Plug in, but a lot of my driving is for short EV trips in town. YMMV
Good luck, whatever you decide.

 

If I had a spare sarcasm-meter, I'd send it to you.

 

I don't really know what deals are being offered currently, but if they are close to what I paid, it's pretty much a no brainier in favor of the plug in. With all the rebates and discounting, why would you buy a much lesser car for similar cash. PIP gets you more options and a car pool lane sticker for nearly the same cash as a III. It's more car, better wheels and better resale. Most importantly it gets you in the car pool lane. It doesn't matter if the lanes are congested, the point is, you can drive in them and regular Prius's can't. It's one extra option, and even if you save 5 mins a day, that's a huge gain in my book. Trust me it's a great feeling passing cars who don't have the privilege of the HOV lanes.
Honestly the car is much improved as a plug in. If you charge it, forgetting any cost differential between fuel and electricity, it's simply much more tolerable in mostly electric mode. It's the noisiest rattle box I've ever driven when the gas engine kicks in.

 

confused, in your original message you said the price difference was 2-3k, in the numbers you provided here, it's $1400. looks like northern California has slightly better deals, I'm seeing TFS incentive of $1500 cash back + 0% APR for 60 months for the PiP.

i'd see if you can bring down the price some more as well as hunt out plugs. i wouldn't pay an extra $3k for the PiP, but $1k isn't so terrible. The best case scenario is a saving of 0.4 gal/day = 146 gal/yr, at $3/gal gas, that's a payback period of under 3 years.

 

I went to school in LA so I know how much the traffic sucks. Even carpool lanes get congested, but it's pretty rare to go slower than regular during rush hour. Maybe if there is an accident in that lane or the other side of the freeway. $1400 premium to go 20 mph in the carpool lane sucks but if the other lanes are going 5 mph, it's a no brainer to buy if you can afford it.

A lot of my co-workers think I wasted my money as well because hwy 80 to the bay bridge is always congested. I'm not sure why they can't understand even if it's 5 mph in the HOV lane, I am still traveling infinitely faster than them not moving in the regular lanes. I paid a $500 premium over a Prius three and will likely get it back on higher resale meaning no premium at all when I sell.

 

I got my stickers finally on Friday. It's saved me 15 minutes each way. I think the car is so totally worth it just for the stickers!
Now, I drive the 10 and the 60 from Claremont to Riverside and back every day. It's definitely not the 405. .......

 

HOV lane access is the primary reason for me and the additional cost of my PiP has paid for itself many times over in many forms.

 

I drive Irvine to Claremont daily. It's the darn CA57 that is killer in that five miles of no HOV. And of course, 57 does get sticky even in the HOV lanes on the trip home around 5pm near CSUF.

Still, the HOV sticker saves me a minimum of 30 minutes each and every day. Gift of time: priceless!

 

I've put 31,000 miles on my bike in the last 11 years, many of those lane splitting the LA freeways. Oh yea, and I'm still alive. ;-)

 

Motorcycle will save lots of time but having given up on riding for 10 years, I don't miss it. ....and now there are way too many crazy riders on the hwy.

Hov lanes in socal won't save you much time, unless you're on the fast trak lanes

 

I disagree with this. Maybe the Inland Empire HOV lanes are faster than the DTLA ones.