One small problem with this study...

There have been a number of articles about the recent IntelliChoice.com report on the cost of ownership between conventional cars and hybrids or diesels.

The best deal was the Volkswagon Jetta TDI v. the conventional gasoline Jetta, but right behind that was the Toyota Prius v. the Camry.

Left unexplored is why they chose to compare the Prius with the Camry instead of the smaller and cheaper Corolla. Car size is determined by weight and the Prius is considered mid-sized like the Camry. The problem here is that the extra weight is not going into the size or power of the vehicle, it is going into the stuff that improves the mileage. In terms of power and size, the Prius is much closer to the Corolla than the Camry.

Prius.................Corolla............Camry

98HP...................132HP...............169HP

3042lbs................2723lbs.............3263lbs

94 PV...................92 PV...............101 PV

$22,750.................$16,100.............19,588

PV= passenger volume. Price and other data are from carsdirect price of 2009 base models

Internal volume is slightly less in the Corolla than the Prius, but the Corolla has a lot more power, so the overall utility is pretty much the same for the two cars. This contrasts to the Camry, which is just a bigger car in all ways than the Prius. The cost comparison gives a savings of $4,930 in 5 years. My bet is that the savings would be zero (or less) had they compared with the Corolla. It is $3,400 cheaper right off the blocks and that leaves only $1,500 of savings. But the Corolla gets better mileage than the Camry, so that will eat-away at least some of the savings.

This is not to say that the Prius is a bad deal--It is just not reasonable to compare it to the Camry. Our in-laws have one and they love it. It gets great mileage and allows them to drive in restricted lanes, plus there may have been a tax savings as well.