Survey of 130 Prii in Northern Virginia

I wanted to know if HOV access was "driving" Prius sales in Northern Virginia (NoVA).

To find out, we recorded the following data for any Prius we saw in NoVA during the last two months: (a) first 3 digits of license plate, (b) Prius type 1,2,3,c,v, and (c) HOV access as regulated by Clean Fuels license plates - three versions, logo on the left, right , middle . We deleted duplicate entries, and ended up with 122 Prii on our data base.

Survey Results:
122 Prii total
4 Gen1's and 100% with HOV access (all CF logo on left - best free HOV access)
61 Gen2's and 44% with HOV access (40% CF logo on left; 60% logo on right)
51 Gen3's and 21% with HOV acesss (~40% CF logo on left; 60% logo on right)
5 Prius v's and one with HOV
1 Prius c no HOV
0 We saw no Prii with newer Clean Fuels (logo in middle= lousy HOV access)

Conclusions
Bottom line is newer Prii are not getting good HOV access, but older Prii get great HOV access. I do not know enough about Prius Gen2/Gen3 distribution in other regions, to determine if reduced HOV access is hindering Gen3 sales here. We saw about 50/50 split of Gen2/(Gen3+c+v).

An amazing 100% Gen1 and 44% of Gen2 Prii have HOV access in VA. Unlike California, Virginia has given "lifetime" full and free HOV access to the early hybrid adopters who got their Clean Fuels license plates before July_2006. These are the happy "logo on the left" golden HOV plates. Any Gen3 with this best type of HOV plate , must have transferred it from an older Prius (or other qualifying hybrid). Between 2006 and 2011, VA offered restricted free HOV access (CF logo on right). After 2011, you can still get Clean Fuels plates, but the HOV access is slim pickens. The Clean Fuels plates for HOV access cost $25/year in all cases.

There is quite an incentive to buy another hybrid or plug-in (to transfer your clean fuels registration and plates) if you rely heavily on the HOV access. My family does not need to use HOV, so we never paid for clean fuels plates. But for some, the HOV access can be important. So the HOV access does have some positive impact on sales, but the HOV benefit is less than it once was.

Re: EV and Plug_ins somebody correct me, but I believe the same system applies. I heard a Tesla Model S owner say that EV's have free HOV access in VA, but I assume that means he has transferred older plates from a prior hybrid he must have owned. Am I right?

Disclaimer- informal survey... I am sure we made some mistakes in data gathering. Many, many Prius on the roads here - amazing - we missed recording many of them if we could not see the plates, etc.

 

Your assessment (goofy set of rules) is quite accurate. There was a review article about it in Green Car Reports last year:

Virginia’s Hybrid HOV Lane Perks: Anything But Easy

I am not aware of complaints, but I wonder if the new hybrid fees $64/yr are partially caused by legislator's blow back, being upset about the HOV rules. Also if you are a HOV grandfathered hybrid owner with "life of program" access to HOV lanes, then you may not be too upset about the new $64/yr fees if the HOV access is important to you.

Overall there is less incentive for residents to become new hybrid owners, or buy another hybrid, in VA when you consider extra cost of vehicle, extra annual property taxes, new hybrid fees, and no HOV access. Of course, if you already own Clean Fuels HOV plates, then you have a strong incentive to replace vehicle in kind to transfer the registration.

Thanks all of the above comments.

 

Good questions. We live and work in Fairfax area and we do not use the HOV lanes on I66 or I395/I95, so our sampling is just driving around town to malls, work, schools, etc. Obviously I66 probably has a higher ratio of clean fuels plates on the Prii. Quite a few long distance commuters (not me) and yes they tend to drive into work early.

 

Interesting background. In my area people ("sluggers") form a line at the iHop to get a carpool ride into town.

P.S.- Just going by gut feeling, seeing all the new Prii on the roads here, it does not seem the lack of HOV perks and new $64/yr hybrid are hurting sales. Seems like every other car is a Prius in NoVA.