http://www.hybridcars.com/news/consumer-reports-questions-plug-practicality-25392.html

Consumer Reports tested a Hymotion converted Prius and got 67 mpg during its test cycle. Says this won't save consumers money and is not practical.

This doesn't surprise me in the least. My math may be off but over 5 years, assuming 12,000 miles/year, gas would have to be at $20.6/gallon for break even.

Math (if this is wrong then it's New Math :)):

60K miles @ 42 mpg = 1428.57 gallons
60K miles @ 67 mpg = 895.52 gallons
Savings = 533.05 gallons
$11k for 533.05 gallons = $20.6/gallon

Yeah, that does suck if that's not an anomaly, but this is only a 5kWh aftermarket battery pack too. It seems like Priuses are over rated no matter what. It's a laugh that the original EPA sticker was for 60 mpg on the 2004. Even the revised EPA estimates are a good 20-30% too high. They are more like high 30's.

Plug-in vehicles will not be a return on investment versus a standard ICE vehicle. Their purpose is to reduce / eliminate the need for foreign oil and reduce / eliminate emissions.

In a few years, when batteries are cheaper / higher performing, the economics will change, and there will be far many more adopters of the tech, but not until that happens.

Jason,
Yes, I agree.

Long-term operation cost is only one of the many factors people consider when buying a car. Many people drive a vehicle with which they identify themselves. Escalade, SL65AMG, BMW760, LS600h, F-150… The Volt as well as the Prius (Hymotion or not) belong to that “identity” car category and cannot be judged from the long-term economy alone.

Also, to many people car ownership is like the apartment rent payment. Their concern is the cash flow. It’s the monthly lease/loan payment and fuel cost that determines the vehicle selection. Question is whether “high lease/loan payment + low fuel cost” or “low lease/loan payment and high fuel cost”. If you want to exhibit that you are a “green” person, you will choose the former.

Yeah, that does suck if that's not an anomaly, but this is only a 5kWh aftermarket battery pack too. It seems like Priuses are over rated no matter what. It's a laugh that the original EPA sticker was for 60 mpg on the 2004. Even the revised EPA estimates are a good 20-30% too high. They are more like high 30's.

I own a 2003 Prius and my average is around 53 - exactly what the sticker said when I bought it. It depends on how you drive, how much weight you haul around etc.

Also, from the looks of the photo in the article they tested in the winter which will always give poorer results. My summer MPG is in the high 50's while my winter MPG is in the high 40's. I can imagine in the summer with careful driving the Hymotion may provide close to 100 MPG.

Having said that I would never pay 10,000 to 12,000 for a conversion. $3000 is the most I would pay.

Sure, it depends on how you drive, when you drive, the altitude you're driving it at, etc.

As long as they tested both Prii in the winter, season should not affect the differential.

Well, I hope Consumer Reports knows that this battery about 4 times more expensive than the Volt's battery. I hope they also know that it all depends on the distance the car goes on a daily basis. If they have this negative bias now that they did this analysis then they will always point to it and might not even consider that the plug-ins coming out in 2010 are different. I hope they keep an open mind and state they are going to hold their judgment until they can fully test a production plug-in. I think that would be very good of them. Don't want to kill the whole project before we even get to test the final production product. Right?


Good case: Driver drives 38 miles to work (or 18 miles to work without the ability to charge at work) and has solar panels on his roof to offset the energy use.

Bad case: Drives long highway miles and lives in Dakota (lot's of dirty coal power plants).


Eventually the plug-ins will have options for the battery pack size so the consumer can best match it do their daily driving. I also expect the price of oil to rise if the economy ever comes back. Either way, we need to significantly reduce our petroleum use or the economy will not be able to remain strong of long (yo-yo effect).

This doesn't surprise me in the least. My math may be off but over 5 years, assuming 12,000 miles/year, gas would have to be at $20.6/gallon for break even.

Math (if this is wrong then it's New Math :)):

60K miles @ 42 mpg = 1428.57 gallons
60K miles @ 67 mpg = 895.52 gallons
Savings = 533.05 gallons
$11k for 533.05 gallons = $20.6/gallon

Now, what if that magic $7500 rebate applied to the plug in prius? Now you're talking $3500 for 533 gallons or a little less than $6 / gallon.

Not there yet but getting closer.

Agreed LampCord. At least for now, it's all about what you pay so you don't have to pay.

In addition to the $7.5K you mention, if it were Washington State and 2009 A.D., subtract another 9% sales tax (state incentive).

Getting closer.

Eventually the plug-ins will have options for the battery pack size so the consumer can best match it do their daily driving.

You are SOOO right! If you consider this alone, it has the potential to crush the concept of "average" fuel economy by moving everyone who chooses (affords?) into the sweet spot.