Toyota Prius Plug In Sales Flop?

sorry, i thought you were talking about the hyundai.

 

When the Plug-in first came out, these were the reasons I didn't get it:

1) I already had fully functional 2004 Prius.
2) Cost premium.
3) No spare tire.
4) Smaller gas tank.

3 and 4 were lesser considerations, but nonetheless would have been factored into the decision, had 1 and 2 been less of a consideration.

In retrospect now that I actually own one (bought used, after my 2004 Prius was destroyed), I'd say 4 is totally irrelevant, but 3 does still matter a bit to me. The lack of a spare tire can be a bit unsettling. That said, every time I've needed to use the spare tire with my previous Prius, I've ended up at a tire shop anyway, so with my roadside assistance, the time wasted waiting for a tow truck would have been canceled out by the time wasted changing the tire. Also, when we get our RAV4, it will be much less relevant, because the RAV4 will likely become our main long-trip car (since it has more legroom and cargo space, and it has AWD for the winter).

I do wonder if that factors into the decision of Californians (and other Americans) though, hence the poorer resale value of the PiP. Or is it all due to HOV stickers?

 

stickers. but many of us carry a spare on the roof.

 

+1 HOV stickers...we do not know how many PiP1 were sold in CA, but my guess is 65-70%. If I knew Volt sales in CA I could back it out, but we do not have state-by-state data. We do know total PHEV sales for CA, and total PHEV sales for USA. That's all we got on it. The state data exists but is paid only.

 

You couldn't compare ratios between the Volt and PiP.
The PiP is not available in most states.
The PiP also had a higher percentage of people, in CA, who had a primary reason of the HOV stickers.

I'd suggest comparing ratios to another compliance vehicle with sales only in CARB states.