Prius Plug-in costs

[HSDish]

In our family we need two cars , Prius+ 2016/17 and Prius PHEV 2015 at the moment, and we use our Prius PHEV as one or two pers. transporter and mostley shorter trips in town and nearby ( so its quite cost effective for us) and our Prius+ as family/wheelchair transporter mostley for longer trips

[toshtosh]

I am the delighted owner of a Prius Gen 4 PHV, which was bought second hand a few months ago. We paid less for the 11000 mile Excel (with optional packs) than the cheapest standard Hybrid and with 4 year guarantee left on it. Reasons for choosing a hybrid were drive-ability of electric cars, economy, different stand-out styling, Excel extras and safety features - all without range fears. The Plug-in was a bonus. 

I agree that nobody would buy a new PHV without an amazing discount unless they were company car users or in the congestion zone in London, but at the price we paid it is proving a real saver on fuel costs.

On a 100 mile run with a full charge up before setting off it averages about 140 mpg. We have yet to do less than 1000 miles on a tankful of petrol (about 7 galls is most needed).

Weekday running of about 120 miles is simply electric costs at about 3p per mile.

We plan to keep the car for several years, until BEVs or hydrogen cell cars come affordable.

OOI another option if the sums work for you is to lease, especially for business users. 

p.s. I also drive a 1.0 litre Skoda Octavia that is averaging 50 mpg in mixed driving so standard hybrids are under threat.

Cheers

Tony B

 

 

[HSDish]

On 7/21/2019 at 5:35 PM, FROSTYBALLS said:

The Prius Plug-in comes in either Business Edition Plus or Excel. If one compares these to the same trim levels of the Prius, the difference is just over £5,000 for the Business Edition Plus, and just over £6,000 for the Excel.

Also prior to November 2018, PHEV's like the Prius Plug-in were eligible for a Goverment grant (£2,500) against the new purchase price, which isn't the case now. 

Then again, buyers don't always look at the break even point when purchasing cars. They may just like the idea of a PHEV. 

In Sweden You'll still get Goverment grant with 36.667 sek (about 3.1407 Br pound I think) if You buy an new Prius PHEV.

You'll even get an Goverment grant with about 50% of the purchasing and professional installing price/costs on approved HomeCharging station

[KeithF]

Have been following the forum for a few days now - i'm a new owner - recently bought a 2018 (18 plate) model excel for less than a standard prius of the same age/mileage direct from a main dealer. Offered a cheeky price as i was also looking at another and in no rush, and we met half way between after a few phone calls. There were a few issues when i collected the car (i bought it without seeing as it was 130+ miles away) but these are all being sorted out in the next few weeks. 

First impressions are great - my journeys are anywhere between 15 & 300 miles and even the long journeys I am managing to achieve close on 98 mpg. Having opted out of a company car and doing 20,000 miles per year, my calculations are showing this car should cost me very little based on my mileage & car allowance.

I couldn't consider buying new when you're getting well over £10k of saving on something that's just over 12 months old and less than 10,000 miles.

What's everyone using as a home charging solution....do i stick with the 3 pin plug or invest in a home charging unit?

 

[Ten Ninety]

2 hours ago, KeithF said:

What's everyone using as a home charging solution....do i stick with the 3 pin plug or invest in a home charging unit?

I just use the 3-pin and charge every night, which works for me as the car is only really used for commuting. I think it takes around 3 hours for a full charge this way. Even with a wall box it will take around 2 hours as the car can't do proper fast-charging, so it didn't seem worth the investment to me. 

[PeteB]

15 hours ago, Ten Ninety said:

I just use the 3-pin and charge every night, which works for me...

Exactly what I would have done if I'd got one, and what I did do on a 2077 Gen 2 Prius with a plug-in conversion that my firm had some 10 years ago.

Even the converted car, which was good for 40 miles EV, which fully charged overnight on a timer within the Economy 7 (off-peak) period.

In my case, now I'm retired, I'd also top up during the day as all but 2-3 days a month I do lots of short journeys (mostly between dining venues! 😁) and very few long ones.

[johalareewi]

I have a 3kW home charger which was free thanks to a government grant.

[PeteB]

10 hours ago, PeteB said:

...2077 Gen 2 Prius...

oops - hopefully obvious I meant 2007!

[toshtosh]

Back to the original post about the price difference I am sure many of the original buyers are company car drivers only interested in the tax break. This is shown by the only 2 variants available, business edition and excel. Ours (a 12 month 10000 mile Excel) was clearly never charged by the company car driver.

In addition many are leased so the purchasing power of the leasing company will be significant.

Realistically a company driver, with all car expenses paid by the company, can save between £1000 and £2000 a year. The company offset costs in a tax efficient way and a car that does 80+ mpg will always be attractive.

So look for 1 to 3 year medium mileage models appearing soon, with 3 years or so warranty left, for trade prices.

Almost certainly second hand prices will be close to the standard hybrid.

Cheers

toshtosh