At what gas price does Prius demand increase?

I paid $2.72 today for regular. I think that once it gets above $3 in most parts of the country, and if it should stay there after the summer increase should have already abated, then you'll see a moderate level of demand.

I thought that it was interesting that I was approached at the pump during my previous fillup by a woman driving a small SUV, asking "so what do you really get for gas mileage in that?" (or something to that effect). Obviously, she at least was thinking about the issue. It was interesting that she wasn't asking "so how does that drive?", or some other performance related question.

 

If people are buying new cars to save money on gas, then the Prius will not be the best choice. As the Honda Fit, Corolla, Yaris, and other less expensive cars are better value in the long run even if it gets less mileage than the Prius. You typically have to drive a Prius 150,000 miles before you can see the savings instead of buying a car that is $5000 less, depending on long term gas prices.

I think last year when the Prius had the buying frenzy, it was a combination of $4+ prices with no hope in sight. The government was clueless on explaining what was happening to the market. So people through it whole world was ending and we will be seeing $5 or $6 a gallon with no chance of the prices coming back down. I think this year is different, people are smarter, calmer (maybe), and more importantly, the economy is hurting and less people can afford to buy new cars and less can get new car loans.

This is not to take away the great work Toyota's engineers did with the improvements they made to the 2010 design. They deserved the excitement and demand for their new 2010 model. I purchased my 2010 Prius for the smart designs on the engine and hybrid system. The price of gas did not affect my buying decision in May.

Instead of using simple gas prices as a barometer for hybrid market, I think we have to look at the long term or consecutive weeks of gas prices climbing as a better indicator. If people see their gas prices climbing for 25 weeks straight, they are going to feel more compelled to look for a different car or mode of transporation that is going to save them money, not necessarily the car with the best mileage. When the Prius was selling like hot cakes last year, the Scooter dealers were having even higher sales numbers.

 

imho, it's different now than last year, because now the economy is worse off, there is the insight, there is the fusion, and iirc, there is more production of prii by toyota...

And on top of that, oil won't go to $145 this year, because demand is low and there is a crazy amount of oil being stored in tankers off-shore by the oil speculators. This $72 oil won't last long, they'll be lucky if they can hold it above 60 for the whole summer.

 

I fully intend to drive a Prius (or any car, for that matter) well over 150,000 miles. Toyota=Built to last (don't tell Ford). :cheer2:

 

There is some validity to your argument. However, for some people, the Fit, Corolla, Yaris, etc, are really not in the same class as the Prius. Either because of the interior size, the hatchback configuration, some combination of these, or for other reasons.

Also, the for most people, the cost of owning a Prius will be much less than that for traditional ICE designs, due to the brakes lasting longer, ICE lasting longer, transmission lasting longer, etc, before major servicing of these components is required. The issue is that many people don't know these other upside advantages to the Prius. Rather, most only hear about how "the hybrid battery is very expensive and needs to be replaced after 100k miles, right?"

If someone wanted advanced features such as the Prius offers, and was already looking to spend in the mid 20k range for a new car, then I think that the Prius will capture more of those sales as the price of gasoline rises.

 

I do a little investing in the oil and gas markets and believe, based on what we saw last year, large scale behavior changes occur when you get to $4 a gallon for gasoline. This seems to be the point where the psychology of consumers changes fundamentally. I am certainly not an expert on this but I would be surprised, based on current very weak economic conditions and Toyota's apparent decision to import large numbers of the Prius model, to see demand for hybrids outstripping supply until you reach the $4 a gallon range.
Just my thoughts.

 

People shouldn't make life changing purchases over summer gas price spikes anymore than they should run out and buy gas guzzling SUVs when gas drops to $1.99.

Short attention span. Knee-jerk reactions.

 

In my area of San Diego County, La Mesa, unleaded regular is already $3+. If unleaded regular gets to $4+ for unleaded regular, then people will start looking for a higher mileage vehicle than theirs'. Gas savings alone will take many years to break even on a Prius.

 

I think Dolce nailed it. But to the OP, it's not a threshold, it's a continuum - there is no magic number. There is a strong correlation between higher gas prices and sales of higher mpg cars including but not limited to the Prius. The higher gas prices go and the longer than stay high, the more demand for fuel efficient cars. With the current economic uncertainty and high unemployment, and given that people have now experienced $4+/gal gasoline and a subsequent decline, I believe the effect will be muted compared to last year. IOW, I think once the pipeline is full and initial buyers have been satisfied, it will be a good time to buy a Prius at below MSRP (it can already be done in many regions) - because I do believe over the life of a car purchase today, gas prices will go quite a bit higher even if not sustained. My 2¢...