• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Hybrid Technology - Discussion

#41
I bought a toyota Yaris because it was about $10,000 cheaper than a prius and got only 10mpg less than average prius mpg. HOW MANY YEARS WOULD I HAVE TO DRIVE THE PRIUS TO BREAK EVEN ON PRICE??

ok, I tried to figure this out. forgive me my math skills are slipping.

price per mile of cars...
yaris $.117 ($4.00/gal divided by 34 mpg)
prius $.09 ($4.00/gal divided by 44 est mpg avg)
difference $.027/mile savings on prius vs. yaris

Gas $4.00/gal
divided by MPG of prius (44mpg avg my guess)
equals $.09/mile gas usage
$10,000 price difference (sticker prices)
divided by $.027 prius cost savings per mile

Equals 370,370 MILES!!!

BEFORE YOU START saving money on gas over the yaris.

that of cours is if your just trying to "save money" by getting a more efficient car...

for the record my old car a '93 saturn sl2 got about 25 mpg and would use about $.16/mile and I've driven about 20,000 miles so far. so, I've "saved" about $860 dollars on gas, but I spent $18,500 to buy the new car, so I have to drive the yaris 410,233 more miles to pay for the car in gas savings over the saturn...

the lesson I learned YOU DON'T SAVE MONEY BY BUYING A NEW CAR!!!! if your old car works its the CHEAPEST car you'll own!!!
 
#42
Ford and Chevy hybrid cars are worthless.. I test drove a few from both manufacturers with my SO and in Florida they are usless during the summer, if I turned the AC on it has to use the gas powered engine, which brings down the MPG quite a bit. The guy at the Ford dealership told me it was pretty much useless technology here in Florida during the summer, and turned us to a Focus (which was cheaper) and she gets about 39mpg.

We would have liked to try a Toyota, but they cannot keep them around here, everyone buys one.
 
#44
Cool thread. I drive an '03 Ford Focus, which does reasonably enough on gas that I'm not feeling the bite too hard. I'll be driving it until it goes kaput on me, I think. After that, I'll be seriously considering some alternate fuel technologies.
 
#45
You guys have it easy.

Fuel in my area is an average price of £1.20 per litre which at 3.78 litres per US gallon is £4.53. At current exchange rates = $8.93 per US gallon

I drive a Volvo C70 convertible that gets around 25-30 mpg, so it's no wonder that I spend more time driving my wife's Smart car which gets around 50 mpg.

Thank goodness for mini rigs
 
#46
Jools4001 said:
You guys have it easy.

Fuel in my area is an average price of £1.20 per litre which at 3.78 litres per US gallon is £4.53. At current exchange rates = $8.93 per US gallon

I drive a Volvo C70 convertible that gets around 25-30 mpg, so it's no wonder that I spend more time driving my wife's Smart car which gets around 50 mpg.

Thank goodness for mini rigs
Click to expand...

How far do you live from work? Do you drive every day?
 
#47
Hybrid technology needs to get up into the 50+ mpg range for mr to take an interest in it. My wife was debating between the hybrid and regular versions of her Civic, and the all-gas version won hands down. The hybrid only got an extra 5 mpg in the city, and was basically the same mileage as the gas version on the freeway. The hybrid was also way more money, and probably costs a ton to fix too if something went wrong.

The Prius is getting there, but it is weak as someone mentioned, especially with the AC on.
 
#48
CapnSev said:
Hybrid technology needs to get up into the 50+ mpg range for mr to take an interest in it. My wife was debating between the hybrid and regular versions of her Civic, and the all-gas version won hands down. The hybrid only got an extra 5 mpg in the city, and was basically the same mileage as the gas version on the freeway. The hybrid was also way more money, and probably costs a ton to fix too if something went wrong.

The Prius is getting there, but it is weak as someone mentioned, especially with the AC on.
Click to expand...

And you, sir, have hit on EXACTLY why the industry is schizophrenic on hybrid technology. All the consumer research (I've read TONNNNSSSS of it) says that consumers expect 10 mpg or more improvement. Reality is 2 to 8, depending on how sophisticated the system is. The cost to the manufacturer of the vehicle is in most cases significantly higher than the option price on the window sticker. So most manufacturers had elected to delay introduction of hybrids until the technology matured and until there were more suppliers developed to provide batteries and electric motors at more reasonable cost.

Toyota pretty much pushed the issue by launching the Prius. The smart thing they did was in the 2nd generation, it is a vehicle with no non-hybrid equivalent in the line-up, so the price / fuel economy comparison is moot. The 1st generation looked like a Toyota Echo, so you could make some comparisons. Toyota took losses on the first few years of production. Any automaker would on a technology that new and that cost heavy. But through generating high volume at the same time that they refined the design to bring the cost down, they're pretty much at break-even, maybe even making some small margin on variable cost now.

Everybody who's coming in late, GM included, is coming in at early development, low volume, high cost.

Peace,

James
 
#50
MoD_Scotty said:
It won't, because the $/mile of the hybrid will be significantly higher. The only way to make the hybrid worth the $7,000 price difference is to drive it for WAY more miles, or to drive it for a LONG time.

Here's the data from Fueleconomy.gov

Prius Yaris

MSRP $21500 $11,500
mpg cty 48 29
mpg hwy 45 36
composite 46 32

monthly $405 $217
monthly gas $110.67 $159.67

Total: $515.67 $376.67

"Based on 45% highway driving, 55% city driving, 15000 miles/year and Reg.: $4.08 per gallon"

EDIT: sorry for the messed up table, but you can get the point. The Prius costs WAY more to operate every month. Even at 100% city driving, it will still cost significantly more, just for fuel. Then you add in extra $$$ for insuring a car worth $10,000 more, not to mention what happens when that warranty runs out!

When adjusted for 100% city driving, only 5000mi/year, it's:
$35/58 gas per month
Meaning the Prius will still cost $440/mo and the Yaris will only cost $275/mo
Click to expand...

lol. far be it from me to disagree with statistics ;) , but my prius does not cost me $405 to operate a month, beyond gas costs. where in the world did you get that from? we've had our prius for nearly 2 years (in september), consistently averaged 48 miles per gallon over that time, put on over 23,000 miles, and have had no repairs or repair bills. in fact, the service has consisted of the first yearly checkup, 4 oil changes and a tire rotation.

as for comparing it to a yaris, the prius also has approx 10% more internal space than the yaris. not really a valid comparison, imo.
 
#51
CapnSev said:
The Prius is getting there, but it is weak as someone mentioned, especially with the AC on.
Click to expand...


lol again. everyone who actually owns a prius and is commenting on this thread, raise hand plz.

/raisehand.

i have noticed no performance difference with the a.c. on in my vehicle. then again, i'm not out their peeling off donuts in the parking lot either.


that all being said, there is a valid rationale for driving your old vehicle into the ground before you buy a new one. we just could not afford to have a vehicle that was not reliable.
 
#52
john turner said:
lol. far be it from me to disagree with statistics ;) , but my prius does not cost me $405 to operate a month, beyond gas costs. where in the world did you get that from? ....
Click to expand...


John,

It looks like he compared based on a purchase price of $21,500 for the Prius vs a purchase price of $11,500 for the Yaris.

When I plug those into my spreadsheet at 5% interest for a 5 year loan, I get $ 405.73 for the Prius and $ 217.02 for the Yaris.

If you are leasing, the monthly payments are figured completely differently and are based on projected residual value of the vehicle when you return it. That's why some cars that are more expensive to purchase can actually cost less on a lease. They have higher residual value.

I agree with all that the most cost efficient car, regardless of fuel price, will be the one you own free and clear. Going thousands of dollars into debt to save a few hundred bucks a year at the pump is not totally rational. It is when you are already in the market for a new vehicle that these comparisons become relevant.

Peace,

James
 
#54
malthumb said:
John,

It looks like he compared based on a purchase price of $21,500 for the Prius vs a purchase price of $11,500 for the Yaris.

When I plug those into my spreadsheet at 5% interest for a 5 year loan, I get $ 405.73 for the Prius and $ 217.02 for the Yaris.
Click to expand...

ah, gotcha. car payments.

a lot to be said about having a new car, though. our prius is great fun to drive, and it's the first new car my wife and i had together since we were married.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back