charging over night but battery is close to full already??

The battery is larger in the plug-in and allows greater speeds and around 11 miles of all EV driving. Your battery is 1.3kWh where the plug-in is 4.4kWh. Charging at home at night would give you the extra 11 miles or so of EV driving which boosts your overall mpg.

It's really dependant on your commute. How far do you drive daily? Can you charge the car at work?

 

The plug-in gets somewhat better mileage (10% or thereabouts) in hybrid mode than does the standard Prius, in part due to more efficient regeneration; the lithium chemistry in the plug-in battery can take and release a charge faster than then nickle-metal-hydrid chemistry in the standard battery, lessening reliance on the friction bakes.

 

Based on feedback from others here, assuming you start at home every day with a full battery, you can probably expect mid-60's on the low end and 70's or even 80's depending on your driving style and how much regeneration you can take advantage of during the drive. For example, you don't have to use all of the battery right at the start of the day - you can use a few miles of EV on city streets, switch to HV for the high speed highway part (maybe regenerating some charge on the hills and under braking) and then use EV again when you get close to your destination.

My wife who pays absolutely no attention to what the car is doing did 200 miles r/t last week and still got 65mpg using only the charge she started with at home.

 

One other aspect of the Plugin that can help with your gas mileage is battery's extra capacity when in hybrid mode. The fact that you arrive home with nearly a full charge indicates that you may be loosing gas mileage spooling the engine in keeping the battery from overcharging. With the Plugin there is much more headroom, so you should not encounter such a loss.

 

If you want the HOV sticker, then it is a no-brainer. Without doing anything you'll get 5-10% better mpg (I have both 2010 and PIP). And when you plug in you'll get ~1/8th of your 80 miles commute without gas, hence another 12% improvement (minus the cost of the electricity.) EV miles are about 1/4 to 1/3 the cost of gas miles if your per kwh cost is the US average.

Mike

 

It sounds ok based on pricing I've been seeing for CA. What is the residual percentage? The money factor? The final selling price? Any trade-in or down payment? Those are the things we need to know in order to assess a lease deal.

 

If you have multiple short trips in the weekend, consider them EV miles.

A regular Prius would not get 50 MPG for short trips. That's where PiP has advantage also.

 

At 82 miles per day, can you live within 12,000 miles per year? I calculate approximately 1600 miles per month.

 

Best to determine approximates yearly miles and include that in the lease up front.

 

With a fairly low residual, why not lease for three years, then buy it off lease? You can run it another few years and then sell it before the mileage gets too high. That way you avoid the overage fees and may be able to drive it almost for free for a year or two, selling it eventually near the residual.

 

That might well be my plan Michael. These cars may end up being a great buy at the end.

 

But check your electric rate schedule and tier structure carefully, and the possibility of a special EV-only service (separate meter) for the car. For some folks, particularly in California, the standard tiered rate structure may be quite punitive to an EV, completely eating up the savings on gas.