Yaris vs. Prius

[Bob Dog]

Using 34 mpg for the Yaris and 48mpg for the Prius, 10,000 miles a year and $4.00 as a US gallon price you arrive at yearly difference of $343 a year. At an approximate difference of $11000 it would take 32+ years to make up the difference, which of course would add up to 320,000 miles, if you do not add any battery replacement. If gas were to double in price to $8.00 a gallon It would take 16 years and 160,000 miles to pay back the difference. That does not figure in a battery replacement for the Prius, which at 160,000 may not be necessary. From a pure cost/payback scenario it it appears to be pretty undoable. To put a positive spin on this: Our little cars are more economical to run than any current hybrid over any reasonable projection for the life of the vehicles.

[roxy1]

Originally Posted by Bob Dog

Using 34 mpg for the Yaris and 48mpg for the Prius, 10,000 miles a year and $4.00 as a US gallon price you arrive at yearly difference of $343 a year. At an approximate difference of $11000 it would take 32+ years to make up the difference, which of course would add up to 320,000 miles, if you do not add any battery replacement. If gas were to double in price to $8.00 a gallon It would take 16 years and 160,000 miles to pay back the difference. That does not figure in a battery replacement for the Prius, which at 160,000 may not be necessary. From a pure cost/payback scenario it it appears to be pretty undoable. To put a positive spin on this: Our little cars are more economical to run than any current hybrid over any reasonable projection for the life of the vehicles.

exactly. some people do not understand that the savings going from 20 mpg to 34 mpg are dramatically greater than they are from 34 mpg to 48 mpg. diminishing returns as the mileage gets higher.

this is why there isnt much gas to be saved when you compare a 40 mpg car to a 60 mpg car.

at $4/gallon, a 60 mpg car will save $332 every 10,000 miles driven over a 40 mpg car. it would take 100,000 miles just to gain $3320, so that 60 mpg car better not cost much more than the 40 mpg car or its not worth it from a financial standpoint.

once your into the 40+ mpg range, the only way we can truly save any significant amounts of money is via non gas using vehicles.

[Lazerdot]

FYI,
I got an average of 38.85 MPG fron DFW to HOU on the highway and a bit of local driving. Probably about 70mph average on the highway with spurts well beyond that with a couple other Yariss tagging along and making sure other sports cars knew we were there...
My Neighbor bought a Smart Car, and as I see it the Yaris is a Wise Car (WyzCar) for my plate. Less money, fun to drive and modify, better overall for me.

Interesting figures on the costs etc...

[voodoo22]

Originally Posted by roxy1

this is why there isnt much gas to be saved when you compare a 40 mpg car to a 60 mpg car.

An easy way to illustrate this is to use different styles of measurement.

For example:

40 MPG = 5.88 Litres per 100 km

60 MPG = 3.92 l/100 km

So what looks like a 50% improvement using MPG is a 33% reduction in fuel used. Still a lot of gas saved, but not as much a MPG or KM/L suggests.