2008 Prius to have 100 mpg?

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Prius Article

According to AutoExpress UK, Toyota is set to go for the green-veined jugular with its next Prius. The automaker's next hybrid will reportedly net a scarcely-believable 94 mpg (113mpg in imperial gallons). The figure comes about as the company has reportedly set a fuel economy bogey of 40km/liter, as it looks to distance itself from the fuel-sipping diesels that are so popular abroad.

Word is that the gains will largely come from replacing the current Prius' nickel-hydride batteries with lithium ion cells. AE further reports that Toyota hopes to have the charged-up hybrid on the road by as early as 2008. While pulling up the MPG, the manufacturer also hopes to improve the car's acceleration, and is expected to drop its 0-60 mph times by more than one second.

[Source: AutoExpress UK]

If it is true, I may have to start saving for it now, because if only it gets 75 mpg, thats still fucking good.
 
My better half has a '04 Civic, not a hybrid. That car gets really good gas mileage. Just incase anyone wants to get a god car with great MPG without the car looking totally fubared(Prius). Also I thought it said Primus at first. I was wondering how I would get 100MPG out of a band.
 
~100 mpg is definitely something to look forward to.
*If* they can do that while still giving it a little power--I'm not expecting it to beat a Mustang off the light, but it should be able to at least give my old Reliant a run for the money. and
*if* it's big enough to be useful. I'm not expecting it to be an SUV, but it needs to be able to hold three people and some stuff comfortably.
I currently get ~27 mpg in my car, 1997 BMW 318ti with 87000 miles. Running the A/C more nowadays, so that'll drop it a little bit.
 
I like the current prius, it looks pretty roomy (although I've never actually gotten in one). It probably could use a little better acceleration, I don't particularly care about that since some dumbass always refuses to accelerate when merging on the interstate anyway. My biggest problem is that it looks like you can't see shit with the rear-view in that thing. That would be a real pain in the ass for me. I hope they redesign it to at least fix that. With gas still fucking going up I'd love to have even the current prius' gas mileage.
 
I drove my 05 civic from VA Beach to Bush Gardens in williamsburg with a total round about of 120 + miles. On like a 12 gallon tank, I still have 3/4 of a tank. Very good highway mileage and I'm fine with it.
 
Awesome! I can't wait for them to charge me nearly double the cost of the current Prius so it can offset any savings I would get from lower gas consumption!
 
[quote name='Ugamer_X']Awesome! I can't wait for them to charge me nearly double the cost of the current Prius so it can offset any savings I would get from lower gas consumption![/quote]

Exactly, I would never fall for these "Hybirds" since you pay more for the car upfront, and in the long run don't actually save any money....I think I read an article in Consumer Report about that...hmmm
 
[quote name='Prepster']Exactly, I would never fall for these "Hybirds" since you pay more for the car upfront, and in the long run don't actually save any money....I think I read an article in Consumer Report about that...hmmm[/QUOTE]

It is more about reducing the emissions from automobiles. However, it also plays into the "saving money on gas" myth (you might have to drive it 5+ years to see actual savings)....maybe sooner if gas prices rise the way they are now.
 
Well yeah, but a scooter is not useful for a large portion of the driving populace. I can't carry my three-year old on a scooter, and forget going to the grocery store to buy a week's groceries.

I did recall hearing about that as well, the increased upfront cost almost negates any savings on gas, unless you either buy used [though I've heard they keep resale value pretty well] or keep it a *long* time.
 
[quote name='Prepster']Exactly, I would never fall for these "Hybirds" since you pay more for the car upfront, and in the long run don't actually save any money....I think I read an article in Consumer Report about that...hmmm[/QUOTE]

They are not terribly expensive cars in the first place.
 
[quote name='Mr Unoriginal']They are not terribly expensive cars in the first place.[/quote]
Yeah, they're not that bad. The toyota hybrids are $21k for the prius and $26k for the camry, while the cheapest non-hybrid camry (automatic) you can get is about $19k. $7k more for the hybrid camry than the cheapest camry, $2k more for the prius. Combined gas mileages being 55mpg for the prius, 27mpg for the cheapass camry, and 39mpg for camry hybrid.

So, using that as a comparison and $2.50 a gallon for gas (which is low, I know) and 10,000 miles of driving a year, you'd spend $455 for the prius, $925 for the cheapass camry, and $641 for the hybrid camry. At that rate it would take about 4 years to pay off the extra for a prius in gas savings, and about 23 years to pay off the extra for a camry hybrid in gas savings.

Of course that all depends on how you drive, distance traveled, yadda yadda, but obviously it isn't much different for a prius in price, but a camry hybrid compared a 4-cylinder non-hybrid version of itself is more expensive (of course). I think that the hybrid 4-cylinders are really aimed to compare to the V6 sedans though, so it's not exactly the greatest comparison. A prius costs about the same as most V6 sedans and the cheapest V6 camry is about $23k. And of course they get much better gas mileage than the V6s. With that comparison it's basically nothing but savings for a prius and it would take about 4 years to start saving with a camry hybrid.

This is long and rambling and boring I'm sure, so I'll get to my point. Like somebody else said it's also about reducing emissions and reducing oil use, but in comparison with V6s the gas savings is good considering the V6 sedans cost about the same as a 4-cylinder hybrid. So the points of reducing emissions, reducing dependence on oil, and saving money on gas all seem relevant to me unless you were planning on getting a 4-cylinder car anyway, so that only the first two points still work.
 
I''ll get an hybrid as soon as they make a family minivan hybrid, and as long as it costs less than a regular gas car, if they want to save the environment the hybrid cars should cost less than the gasoline ones, if that what they want , so be it!
 
Nice work SpazX. For my next car I'll go for a hybrid. I have about another year and a half on my current lease. Hopefully the article about an 08 Prius means the car will be out in fall 07, so that'll be set up nicely. The only other thing I could see would be to get the greasecar kit and go that route. Just now sure I wanna do that work.
 
[quote name='SithFran']Nice work SpazX. For my next car I'll go for a hybrid. I have about another year and a half on my current lease. Hopefully the article about an 08 Prius means the car will be out in fall 07, so that'll be set up nicely. The only other thing I could see would be to get the greasecar kit and go that route. Just now sure I wanna do that work.[/quote]
I looked up that greasecar thing and they had an article from april 2006 where the guy pays $2.55 a gallon for soy oil, fuck that's 30 cents less than gas around here, even better at other places....

EDIT: Article
 
viva la Earth Day!

yeah, around here, there's people that drive modified vans running on recycled vegetable oil.

anyhow, we all know it's easier to get better gas milage if you dump excess weight from the vehicle, but people like their comfort items. blah, blah, blah......
 
I'll have to see what the leasing costs of the Camry hybrid will be. I'd love to be all Earth-friendly and not think about the costs/savings associated with a hybrid, but for now that kinda has to be important. Maybe by the time I buy a car (if I start leasing now) or buy my next car (if I buy soon) I can have enough money to not worry about it.
 
I would love to get one of these hybrids but the savings just isn't enough to beat the additional costs. There is the higher upfront cost and there is also the added cost of replacing the battery after 100,000 miles. Last time I looked into these cars it was running about $3000 to replace that battery. Maybe if gas gets up to $5/gal or the hybrids become common enough for the price to go down it would be worth it.
 
[quote name='cletus']I would love to get one of these hybrids but the savings just isn't enough to beat the additional costs. There is the higher upfront cost and there is also the added cost of replacing the battery after 100,000 miles. Last time I looked into these cars it was running about $3000 to replace that battery. Maybe if gas gets up to $5/gal or the hybrids become common enough for the price to go down it would be worth it.[/QUOTE]

Since it would take you 7-10 years to put 100k on your hybrid, there's a pretty good chance that the price of that technology would be drastically reduced. Plus I think that Toyota has some sort of warranty where they replace the battery for free up to 100k.
 
[quote name='Ugamer_X']Awesome! I can't wait for them to charge me nearly double the cost of the current Prius so it can offset any savings I would get from lower gas consumption![/QUOTE]

I was thinking the same thing. If it really gets ultra high mileage and it isn't priced substantially higher than comparable cars and its speed and acceleration is acceptable, I might go for it.

I'm hoping that I won't need a new car for another 6+ years *knock on wood*, so by that time hopefully this won't just be hype and there will be 100 MPG cars available.
 
[quote name='Ugamer_X']Awesome! I can't wait for them to charge me nearly double the cost of the current Prius so it can offset any savings I would get from lower gas consumption![/QUOTE]

Even if that's the case, I'd love not having to go to the gas station every week.
 
There are a couple things not being factored into the comparisons as to how a hybrid pays for itself and then some.

First, is the resale value, which has been mentioned but is difficult to quantify precisely. Due to the much slower depreciation, you will make more money on the back end of the use of a hybrid than you will with a regular vehicle.

Second is the tax credit which I don't think has been mentioned. Below is the table for vehicle by vehicle tax CREDIT given to the cars, which directly lowers the amount of taxes owed.

Vehicle Make & Model Credit Amount

Ford Motor Company
2006 Ford Escape Hybrid 2WD $2,600*
2006 Ford Escape Hybrid 4WD $1,950*
2006 Mercury Mariner Hybrid 4WD $1,950*

Toyota
2005-06 Prius $3,150*
2006 Highlander 2WD Hybrid $2,600*
2006 Highlander 4WD Hybrid $2,600*
2006 Lexus RX400h 2WD $2,200*
2006 Lexus RX400h 4WD $2,200*

Honda
2006 Insight (auto trans. only) $1,450†
2005-06 Accord Hybrid $650†
2005 Civic Hybrid $1,700†
2006 Civic Hybrid $2,100†
Sources: * IRS; † Manufacturer's estimate, certification awaiting recognition from IRS. Updated 10 Apr. 2006.

So, to stick with the Prius calculation from before, and let's assume (worst case for the Prius) that you are paying CASH for the vehicle-

$21k for the Prius minus $3150 tax Credit = $17,850

$19k for the base model Camry

$455/yr for 10,000 miles worth of $2.50 gas compared to $925 for the camry = $470 in annual gas savings

So, the comparison is extremely easy to make here. Buy the Prius (assuming you don't mind it's... unique design and lower performance ability). But if you were going to buy the base 4 cylinder Camry, you probably don't care too much at all about performance and there only the design comes into play.

The comparison gets even better for the Prius if you are going to finance the car. Depending on your financing terms, the tax credit + the gas savings may make the first year of owning your Prius FREE or better ($3150 + $455 = $3605 minus your initial down payment + your first year's financing payments).
 
I did forget about the tax credit, makes the prius even more worth it. I still hate the rear-view from it though, hopefully they fix that with the next model.
 
Doesn't the tax credit just mean you don't have to pay taxes on that much of your income? It's not like the government is giving you a cash rebate for that amount.
 
[quote name='Purkeynator']Doesn't the tax credit just mean you don't have to pay taxes on that much of your income? It's not like the government is giving you a cash rebate for that amount.[/QUOTE]
The previous code meant that you could take a one time deduction relative to your income bracket if you owned a hybrid. The current policy gives an actual credit for any new hybrid purchased after January 1st, 2006. However, this credit will phase out once each carmaker has manufactured 60,000 hybrids. Which makes it useless to anyone not buying a hybrid within the next few months.
 
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