My son and I recently drove the 1300 miles from Denver to San Francisco in the family 2006 Toyota Prius.
The total gas bill: $77.00
For most of the trip down and back Interstate 80, I had the cruise control set at a judicious 79 mph, and I paid an average of 2.60 per gallon of gas for the cheap stuff (85 octane for most of the trip and 87 octane in CA)
BTW: Toyota specifically recommends the low grade gas for the 2006 Prius.
I mention this because I find it completely baffling that hybrid sales are through the roof in Japan, but according to a recent this Reuters story Honda expects that it will not meet its sales target for the new hybrid Insight in the U.S.
"Yet a Honda executive has just announced that the company expects to
miss its sales targets for the Insight by as much as 33 percent this
year in the U.S. That’s partly because of relatively low gas prices —
they’ve dropped as much as 35 percent in the last year. As J.D. Power
and Associates powertrain analyst Mike Omotoso told us recently, “When
gas is cheap we tend to buy large vehicles without too much concern for
the environment.”
I find this odd because (for me at least) the family Prius is not about being green, purple, or pink.
And it certainly is not about being red, white, or blue.
It's just about paying less to go is safety, style, speed, and comfort from point A to point B.
As I was driving to California I kept playing leap from with an older gentlemen and his wife in a blue late model Tahoe.
We happened to stop at the only gas station for miles in the middle of Nevada, and out of curiosity I took a quick peek at his pump display.
He was at $58 and climbing as he pumped the more expensive grade gas into his car.
The 2006 Chevy two wheel drive Tahoe gets 14 mpg on the highway.
If my friend in the Tahoe did the exact same trip as I did, and used the same type of gas (which he did not) he would have spent $241 for the one way trip or $482 in gas for the round trip. That's a breath taking $328 dollars more just for the pleasure of driving the SUV.
Like I said—I just don't get it. Why would anyone not seriously consider getting a hybrid cars these days?
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