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On 06/20/2012 08:59 AM, Anthony Lapinski wrote:
Any advice for people thinking about purchasing an electric vehicle?
The taxicab industry is rapidly adopting the Prius. This is
a very non-sentimental low-margin business, so I reckon they
wouldn't do this if it didn't pay ... taking into account all
factors including reliability. Note that they drive a huge
distance per year, so the fuel savings rapidly offset the
higher capital cost.
The reliability is not perfect, but good and getting better.
In a friend's Prius, the main battery died. This happened
in the 59th month of the 60-month warranty, so they replaced
it for free ... but if it had happened a couple of months
later there would have been an ugly scene.
about 10k mi/yr (25 mi/day).
That's not a huge distance. Recouping the capital cost will
take longer. OTOH if the cost of gas goes up, you win big.
I reckon gas is more likely to go up than go down.
Tangential remark: For some people, "fun to drive" must be
taken into consideration when shopping for a car. To my
taste, the Prius does pretty well in this department, but
you should check this for yourself.
I have zero information about non-hybrid plug-in cars.
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