I’ve talked a lot about the Toyota Prius, but since many other people (most notably John Fagnant over at john1701a.com) have already made a very strong case for the Prius, I haven’t dived into this realm of writing about the car. Indeed, most of what I’m about to say here is repeated copiously elsewhere on the web. I put it here both for my own reference and for enlightenment.
As most know, there are several hybrid cars available today: the Honda Civic, Accord, and Insight, the Ford Escape, and, of course, the Toyota Prius. Also joining the line this year through Lexus (Toyota’s luxury division) is the RX400H SUV and Toyota’s new Highlander hybrid SUV, due out in June of this year. Of these, the Toyota Prius is the most well-known, due to extensive marketing by Toyota and a fiercely loyal supporter base that has kept a number of Internet sites going (like John’s and priusonline.com, a massive forum for Prius owners and interested parties).
There have been a number of people who have observed that the EPA rating for the Toyota Prius at 60 miles/gallon (in city; 51MPG highway) is wildly inaccurate, but according to the EPA itself, this is an average number. The Prius’ rating is uses a ratio of “45% highway driving, 55% city driving, 15000 annual miles and a fuel cost of $ 1.91 per gallon” in EPA tests according to fueleconomy.gov. Since this is an average (and not a median) value, we can’t say anything about whether people will definitely get a higher or lower value. Average values can be incredibly misleading — for example, the average of {1, 1, 1, 1, 9} is 13/5 = 2.6, whereas the median is actually 1. The real-world experience of drivers of the Prius seems to be between 35 and 50MPG (lifetime value). It all depends on how you drive the car; either way, this is far more fuel efficient than any other unleaded model out there, most of which are lucky to make between 20 and 25MPG.
A very closely related argument to the higher fuel efficiency is the lower overall cost of ownership incurred by less frequent trips to the gas tank. The fuel tank of a Prius holds 11.9 gallons — fairly comparable to a standard car — but uses that amount of gas up much slower than other cars because of smart utilization of the electric and gas engines. Again, the rate at which drivers must fill up the car depends on how they drive it, but for the most part, driving the car does result in fewer trips to the gas station and higher return on ownership.
In addition, through 2006, there are various tax incentives for buying a hybrid. The government’s Fuel Economy web site shows the details for these. [Edit, April 3, 12:10AM: The IRS web site also has a brief notice on how to correctly file this deduction on Form 1040.]
The final reason — for many eco-conscious consumers, this car is a perfect fit with their values. My first year at Evergreen, I took a course entitled Trash, during which I became fascinated with the ideas of sustainable economics and sustainability in general. That has become a part of my own studies and interests, but has yet to have any real substantial expression in my own life. In addition, it’s a great way to help with the raging debate on climate change, and it’s a nod towards the sustainable future we seem to be headed for. That’s why I’m looking at the Prius seriously; I have always been taught to stick to my own values even when those values are questioned, and the idea of sustainability has become a value of my own.