Should I buy a PIP or regular Prius?

the only way to get pricing is to contact dealers. as far as mpg's are concerned, you probably get an extra 5 because of the li-on battery. every time you plug in, you'll save around 40 cents, unless you plug in for free which saves about 90 cents. all the best!

 

Even on drives over 30 miles, the Plug-in will get much better mileage than the standard model if you can start with a charged battery (it may get slightly better mileage even without it due to the much larger battery to regenerate in to).

The Plug-In is basically a Prius 3 so start there for your comparisons. I would not spend a lot of extra just to get the plug-in function which would take a long time to pay for itself, but in late 2013 many people were getting the plug-ins for less than the cost of a regular 3, so it's worth taking a look.

 

Do you have access to and a need for, charging multiple times a day? The more often you can charge it, the more sense it makes.

Let say your occupation takes you to 4 locations more than 5 miles apart a day for at least and hour each and they all allow some form of charging, payback could be very reasonable. If you only drive 4 days a week to a single location with no charging, a Plugin will be a harder sell.

On the other hand, you may just enjoy thumbing your nose at gas stations.

 

If you want a spare tire get a standard liftback. You don't often need one, but when you do, standing by your car for a hour waiting for a tow truck is not fun.

 

that's why i keep one on the rear deck.

 

12 miles on EV means 18 miles on gas. 18 miles at 50 mpg (approx for HV) uses 0.36 gallons.
Your 30 miles using 0.36 gallons means 30/0.36 = 83.3 mpg (gas only)
However, you should include the energy equivalent of the approx 2.9 kWh to charge the battery at 1 gallon per 33.7 kWh. 2.9/33.7 + 0.36 = 0.44 gallons. 30/0.44 = 68.2 mpg-e

To get that 50 mpg to 68 mpg improvement you should use the EV where it is most efficient, that is, level, downhill or very modest uphill. If you have some long downhill you can pick up some more EV miles, just make sure you are in EV when the battery is charging on those downhill runs. In HV it will only charge a small amount same as a non-plug-in Prius.

 

Go with a regular Prius.

DBCassidy

 

In California, one huge benefit of PiP is CA HOV access.
You also get $1500 CA rebate and $2500 Federal tax credit.
After that, it's a hard call.
I would think PiP is to some extent best for those interested in Plug-Ins. I tend think of plugging-in as a possible inconvenience, but those who own them love that aspect. Of course, if you don't feel like plugging-in all the time PiP is the perfect plug-in "lite".

 

If you drive PiP wisely, you can get higher MPGe than Leaf and higher MPG than a regular Prius.

You can get 40% EV (12 miles) and 60% HV (18 miles). At worse, 1/3 EV and 2/3 HV. If efficiency is important and you think you will be happy with that fuel ratio, PiP is right for you.

 

The other day i drove home from work, 45 miles, maybe 15% of that downhill. Had run out of EV, so just on hybrid power. Didn't need a/c or heat. My PIP is so much more efficient than even the '06 Prius that I drove for seven years. In my old car I averaged 52-53 MPG going 65 on the freeway. On this trip: averaged 88 MPG. That's right, I used just a half gallon of gas. Buy a slightly used 2012 or 2013 PIP, save 20% right off the bat, and don't look back at that regular Prius.

 

Great input...anything to back this up? Owned a PiP ever? Owned a Gen3 ever?

 

If you can still get the 0% APR plus the $2000 TFS rebate I'd say get the Plug-in as long as it comfortably fits your budget. HOV Stickers are pretty sweet, and the $1500 California rebate plus $2500 federal tax credit sweeten up the deal quite a bit. I find the Plug-in is quite well equipped for a "Base" model.

 

I've owned all 3 generations over the past 13 years. Even the 2010 couldn't compete with what I experienced today with my 2012 Prius PHV. The high temperature was under 0°F. Despite the extreme cold, which included spending over 3 hours parked in a shopping lot, the drive back and forth to home with a side-stop along the way (23.5 miles total) resulted in an average of 49 MPG. That's amazing for such nasty conditions.

Being able to plug-in is great, even when the engine runs to provide heat. Today was a perfect example of how well thought out the system is.

Summer is much nicer. Engine warm-up is rapid and the A/C runs using electricity. MPG is double as a result. But with a lower temperature forecast of -26°F tonight, the warm season is a long way off for me. Blah!

 

Do you have an opportunity to charge at work? Is that thirty miles one way or round trip? What type of driving (freeway/side streets/mixed?). There potentially could be a lot of good choices PEV or BEV wise that might fit your needs in this price range.

 

Did you already buy a regular Prius? Your side info says you own a 2013 level two.

 

So with the 100 mile trips probably a BEV like a Leaf is out unless you want to keep around a second car or worry about finding L2 or DCQC spots. Either way if you went with a PiP, Volt, or one of the Ford offerings you'll have a more efficient vehicle. You'll get more EV range in a Volt if that's important to you but less efficiency on gas but at 60 miles you might be only doing 20 or so on gas. On the longer trips 100-150+ you might find the PiP overall more efficient there. I'd say go with what fits your needs from a size and cost perspective, don't think you'll make a bad decision either way.

 

I think the hit you would take by selling it back to the dealership would not even be close to what you could save by going with a PiP instead. I would recommend sticking with what you have, at least from a financial perspective.