More Prius Shmeeus
Not that I am trying to be a Toyota shill or anything like that, nor defend my decision to try and pick up a Prius, but here is more on my reasoning:
Admittedly, there is not a lot of financial savings in it for me, as far as long term goes. It's like I am slashing my gas cost in half, or more than half, but am paying in other ways for the opportunity to do so. And since I only plan on signing a 3 year lease, I am not really even coming close to getting the most bang for my buck. There have been stories of people leasing their Prius, then buying it at the end, and selling it for more, and in effect making some cash then and there. One story in particular: A woman leased her '01 for 3 years, bought it for $11,000 at the end, then sold it for $18,000. These things hold their value like a motherfucker.
More to my point though, while I am not saving money on the deal, it is an opportunity to "control" a little bit better where my money goes, and in a very loosely, roundabout sort of way, I feel I am making a positive change in the world; not only by saving the environment, but by voting and supporting policy with my dollars.
Obviously, the more eco-smarter cars there are out there, the more incentive manufacturers, politicians, businesspeople, etc. will have to make more of them. Every piece of the Prius is 100% made in Japan. What does that tell American auto makers? The Gov't decided as an incentive for people to buy hybrids that are a certain degree eco-friendly, they would issue those yellow carpool stickers so you could drive solo in the carpool lane. Well, they have stopped making those stickers, and are halting that incentive plan, along with the tax breaks, because SO MANY have sold.
These things can effect change in many ways, both good and bad. More people "saving" money on gas, the more expensive gas will be, the more killing to get more gas. Sure, the Prius is not going to effect global oil consumption one bit, but it is a start. Also, once these incentives are effectively removed, it may be enough to kill any interest in Hybrids for some, and then drive demand down again, and costs up, so the experiment may fail based on that as well.
Yeah, there is going to be an epidemic of dead rechargeable batteries in the future, and the back end looks funny, but it is worth it to me, to feel I can make some small difference when I fill up. Rather than paying $70 fucking dollars to fill up the car, and then make 15MPG, I can pay $50 and make 40MPG. It's psychological, and it's reality all rolled into one. I feel better, and Gaia can breathe a little easier at night.