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| 2012 Toyota Prius C |
Automotive news and reviews website, Autoweek.com, recently published a review of the latest hybrid car to join Toyota's Prius family.
Remember the old days when the Prius was just a singular hybrid car that ignited the scorn and derision of so-called automotive enthusiasts (how dare you sully my internal combustion with protons and electrons, how dare you, good sir)?
Well now the Prius is an entire family of hybrid vehicles, some a little bigger (Prius V), some a little smaller (Prius C), than the original, but all of them just the right size to fire up the comments section of any article or posting that dare praise such blaphemous automobiles. In this regard, the compact-car-sized Prius C does not disappoint.
Other than the "this car is boring to drive," the general cloud of scorn centers around the undeniable fact that a similar sized, non-hybrid car is so much cheaper to buy that even with improved mileage, it would be years and years before you "broke even" on your premium purchase. A dollars and cents analysis of hybrid vs comparable
gasoline-only models is never going to result in victory for the hybrid (at
least in the short term while gas prices continue to hover in the $3.50-$4.00
range).
I know, I get
it. Enough already. Can we move on?
Because for me that's besides the point. I mean, when folks are
shopping conventional vehicles they make choices based on issues other than
economic efficiencies and somehow that's okay. No one questions the economic
sense of opting for sport-tuned suspension, summer-spec performance tires over
low-rolling-resistance run-flats, the V6 versus the turbo 4-cylinder, etc.
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| 2012 Toyota Yaris |
But the hybrid buyer is constantly reminded that they are
actually spending more money than they need to. They are criticized for their
choices. Autoweek.com reader, Nick Matteucci says, "you would have to hate your wallet to
buy this [ Toyota Prius C] over the [Toyota] Yaris."
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| 2012 BMW M5 |
And yet, this is what happens, at least in these automotive
forums, to hybrid supporters and/or owners. All the critics are suddenly
accountants, and will offer up a virtual spread-sheet full of numbers to prove
that buying a hybrid makes no financial sense.
So it's okay to be
"financially irresponsible" when buying modern day muscle car, 4-door
sports sedan, or an SUV, but it's not okay for the hybrid buyer to be motivated
by something other than dollars and cents when he steps on the showroom floor?
I read this argument a lot when I was researching hybrids, and since it seems to be a popular criticism, I'm surprised that Honda has not made much of an effort to promote their Insight. It's designed entirely to compete with the Prius. It wins on price, and while the Prius gets better mileage, the Insight -- at 40/43 MPG -- still beats the average gas-fueled car. I have no regrets about buying mine.
ReplyDelete@Emily I'm really glad you are enjoying your Insight. I don't know why exactly, but Honda has always been luke-warm with their marketing efforts for their hybrid offerings. The last big push on their part came when they introduced your Insight, the Prius fighter. They dropped their Accord hybrid a few years back (Nissan is also dropping their mid-sized hybrid Altima). Now Honda has a CR-Z sports coupe that is also a hybrid but they are not really pushing the hybrid angle. It's an interesting choice, one that makes some sense as hybrid cars have traditionally been viewed as the antithesis of the sports car.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, while you need to have some "check-listable" qualities to help you narrow down the field, ultimately, you have to jump in that car, drive it around and like it.
Fortunately, almost everyone is making at least a few good quality cars these days...even, gasp, Chrysler! And soon almost every manufacturer is going to have a hybrid in their line-up, so the "hybrid-haters" are going to appear even more irrational than they already do.