"Magnulus" > wrote
> If this guy has really driven 250,000 miles in his Prius, he has probably
> saved several thousands of dollars in the price of gasoline- I'm guessing
> maybe 8,500, vs. driving a similar car.

The problem is he didn't save "several" thousand. In fact, it *COST* him
money,
and it cost all of us energy used in the construction of the more
complicated
hybrid drive system.

Let's say he got 50mpg (that's probably excessively optimistic, since a
Prius doesn't get that much on the highway and that the only way he
could have wracked up that much mileage.) That means he bought
5,000 gallons of fuel. There are many cars out there that get 40mpg;
a diesel Jetta, in fact, gets almost 50. So, the Prius got about 25%
better than that, saving around 1250 gallons. At $1.80 a gallon the
Prius saved $2250. But a Prius cost much more than that to begin
with; twice as much?

False economy.

Floyd