Prius vs tesla..looking for input

Both. If you can't have both, be happy with the Prime. I would never own a Tesla as a main car. I have two on order (MYP and Cybertruck), so I love Tesla, but there are too many issues to have it as a main car (reliability, range, tire cost, unknown battery replacement timeline at 20k for the battery, etc). I would buy something like a Rivian or even the Lucid Air, but the charging network is a major concern as well as dealership support and availability.

If you are worried about storage, get a Rav4 Prime.

 

Fast forward now in 2022. Not sure by now if you already have gotten a Tesla or a Prime. If your 2010 prius wasn't as beat up and worn as you described... and can continue to run, doing the math here as of today:

1. Given $US 5.00 per gallon of petrol/gasoline. 2012 Gen 3 prius 11.9gal X 50mpg = 595 mile/tank
2. 11.9gal X $US 5/gal = $59.5 /tank
3. 595mile / tank($US59.5).

Now with Tesla model Y LR+ tax and stuff, avg $US65000. How many more miles can you drive with $US 65000, at $US 5/gal with a prius Gen 3?

1. $65000 / $59.5/tank = 1092 tank.
2. 1092tank * 595 mile /tank = 650,000 miles.

So, if your prius can last that long. Which could be possible given a good maintenance and factor in some probability, even half of that mileage, 325,000 miles is it worth $US 65000?, and there are actual examples of prius run passed 600K miles.
Now, how long can a Model 3/Y last? Out there, they say 300,000 to 500,000 max until battery pack runs out, or even a million. So it's like unproven for now without actual mileage. If model 3/Y can run passed 500,000, then that's different. Because your $65000 can run more than what the prius could possibly do. And passed 500,000 miles, instead of 10miles/$1, tesla can run 20miles/$1.

Let's say Tesla can continue to run another 500,000 miles, then 500,000miles/20miles per $1 = $25000 needed for a Tesla to run that 500,000 miles.

Compared to prius 500,000miles /10miles per $1 = $50000 needed for prius to run that 500,000 miles.

So for a 1 million mile total cost for your existing Prius $65000 + $50000 = $115000 give or take...
Tesla MY? $65000 + $25000(1st 500k miles) + $25000 (2nd 500k miles)= ? I don't know if my math is correct now... but it seems about the same.

But if we are conscious about CO2 emission, prius MY2012 CO2 emission 0.32lb/mile x 1,000,000 miles = 320,000 lb of CO2. That's another story though...

If you are buying prius prime, I guess you can plug in (;D) the numbers accordingly, except that you probably won't need the gas for your first 25 miles, and if you can charge at work, so basically you are not using gas for work round trip!!!

Let's say you buy the top trim, tax and everything, $US35000, $65000-35000 = $30000. You get that much more money to pay for the mile/dollar. If the prius prime can do 20miles/$. That difference can last you $30000*20miles/$ = 600,000 miles. but that 20miles /$ might not be correct since that number is from Tesla. In a way, you're still not spewing out CO2, paying half the price and drive it like a EV, except charging time might be limited and no fast charging. Continue to pay for engine oil, coolant and other maintenance, but maybe not as much as paying for new tires as often, update the 12v battery every 5 years or so and you're not "stranded" at a charging station for more than 10 minutes because you can use gas.

I'd say until Tesla 4680 comes out or a $25000 tesla is available, or a million mile battery is proven, it seems like a good approach in your case to get the prius prime. If you really need a car now yeah, but if 4680 can charge 80% in 15 minutes and can last for 1 million mile... and you want to use Model Y to camp, Camp mode has an advantage over prius, you can sleep in your car in camp mode and probably with heat/ac on and drains about 20% of the battery per 10 hours? ballpark numbers. So that's not so bad even at some camp site, they have outlets to charge.