Toyota Prius and Camry Hybrid Selling like Hotcakes
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada 
on 04. 4.07
March 2007 was the best month ever for Toyota's hybrid cars (the Prius and Camry hybrid - they also sells a hybrid SUV) with 28,453 units sold (19,156 for the Prius, 5,144 for the Camry hybrid). It's also another important milestone for Toyota: The aggregate of hybrids sold in the US by the company has now reached the half-million mark. "Toyota’s calendar-year-to-date hybrid sales in the US totaled 61,635 units, an increase of 68% over the same period last year." ::Toyota’s US Sales of Prius and Camry Hybrids Soared in March. Image credit: Green Car Congress
Standard car article advice: Walk, cycle, carpool, take public transit, car-share, telecommute. Try to live close to the things you need and to where you work. But if you have to own a car, get the most efficient model that fills your needs, drive sanely, combine trips, keep it in good mechanical condition and keep your tires properly inflated.
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And this with the tax break already expired. Sweeeet!
(...or does the tax break reset every year?)
I heard on the news the prius was 11th in market share right now.
The tax breaks haven't entirely expired -- they get gradually lowered. Until 3/31, it was something like $1700, for the Prius, and now it's only about $600.
I love the little "standard car article advice" blurb. V. cute! :)
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editor note: Thanks!
you have to keep in mind that Toyota had 0.0% to 2.9% financing on the Prius in many areas of the country over the past 2 months. That could account for the jump in sales - many domestic companies use the same tactics.
Nothing negative about the Prius though, I think that it is a great car. I might be adding myself to the Q3 2007 statistics...
What about the batteries kids? , What ae we gonna do wtith all the batteries ?... How are we going to recycle them ? What have they offered to do with the batteries and what is Toyota, and Honda s plan ??
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editor note: Here.
A gas powered car selling like hotcakes? Would a lifecycle assessment to show that a bio-powered VW TDI is a better choice? A VW has no batteries for the landfill, the same mpg, longer engine life, better fuel efficiency, not dependent on war oil, excellent emission rating, and has fewer parts. A also has VW has no harmful EMF's from an electric motor.
The TDI is another good choice if you need a car, especially if you can get biodiesel. Emissions are still a lot worse than the AT-PZEV of the Prius and Camry, and the TDI is probably a worse choice if you do a lot of city driving, but on the highway it's definitely a good choice.
As for battery, yes, the TDI also has one like all cars. The extra batteries in the Prius and Camry are recycled (they actually pay you for it) at the end of the life of the vehicle, and since they improve fuel economy, emissions and help develop the technology for plug-in hybrids, EVs and diesel hybrids, they are worth their lifecycle; if we are to stop making something, hybrid batteries will be low on the list of things to dump...
But it's not a competition. I haven't put down the TDI in this post, no need to defend it. It's not a binary world.
Old Prius batteries may lose the task-critical power levels needed for cars, but they may still be useful. Why not try using old Prius batteries for home power storage from PV cells, etc? The voltage coming out of old batteries may not be enuf for a motor, but it may be enough for lights, heat, etc.
I did some rough calculations comparing the Toyota Yaris vs Prius. As much as I would love to buy a Prius, it costs $17500Cdn. more than the Yaris (double!!) and yet would save only about $4500 in gas over a 10yr period (based on my estimate of future gas prices and my personal driving 15K-km per year).
I'm thinking maybe I should spend that $17500 on PV solar panels which hopefully will last longer and maybe offset more carbon (?) Any experts out there care to comment?
I will definitely buy the next Prius model though - rumoured to get 90+mpg. Hope I can plug it in to my panels!
Hi Doug,
I think you did the right thing by comparing both cars, and 17k of solar panels would definitely make a huge difference in the long term!
But I encourage others to do the comparison too; for some people, the prius might be worth it (larger hatchback car, more torque than yaris at city speeds, better emissions and fuel efficiency, safer in crash collisions).
I'm also waiting for plug-ins and EVs :)