Driving on Green

So now that we have two of them, we must really like the Prius.  In fact, I think that the Prius is a pretty slick car that has a lot of things going for it beyond just being a hybrid.  Some things that we like:

1.  It's surprisingly roomy.  It's a four-door sedan with a hatchback trunk, which really helps increase the amount of useable space.  We've been able to go to Ikea and comfortably load up the Prius with boxes (yes, I know, another sign of yuppieness).  The passenger space is roomy and you can easily fit five people.  To be honest, if you're going to stick with a sedan, than the Prius is one of the better options just in terms of space---to get any larger, I think you'd have to go with an SUV or minivan, which we weren't enthusiastic about.

2.  It's a very quiet ride.  This is mostly due to the electric engine that assists the driving, but overall the Prius has a very quiet, very smooth ride.  The first time we test drove one, it almost felt like we were gliding over the road.  Maybe we aren't manly car men, but I've never really quite understood the need to have a loud engine.  I vastly prefer putting on a cd and actually being able to hear the music in good quality.

3.  Driving is fun.  Okay, so a lot of people are going to pick on the fact that the Prius has a smaller engine and you're not going to win any races with it.  But, I still find that driving it is fun, but in a different way.  As I mentioned before, for me, driving was mostly a chore to get from point A to point B and with the amount of traffic on the East Coast, all you can do is just sit back and go with the flow.  The live average mpg readout on the Prius changes that.  Every ride now is a game to maximize your mpg.  Can you get your numbers a little higher?  How many miles can you get on this tank?  You look forward to driving the next time to try and increase your score.  There are loads of information online about how to best drive a Prius (e.g., search for "Pulse and Glide" and other hypermiling techniques) to improve your mpg.  Currently, I've been addicted to the iPod game Tiny Wings---driving the Prius is almost like a real-life version.  You look for hills to glide down and then fly off.

4.  It's made me a safer driver.  One would think that glancing at the electronic display would be distracting, but I find it the complete opposite.  Focusing on the mpg  readout has made driving much more interactive for me and has arguably made me a safer driver.  I pay much closer attention to the traffic patterns and the road conditions all around me.  I'm constantly watching where the surrounding cars are, where the traffic lights are, the incline of the road, all to maximize the Prius' efficiency.

5.  And, of course, the tremendous gas savings are nice.  I have a short commute, so now I can literally last nearly a month without filling up with gas and when I do, it's only twenty bucks out of my pocket.  My wife has a longer commute, but now she can last nearly a week without stopping for gas, whereas for her older car, she was stopping for gas almost every other day.

To be honest, if you were going to get a run of the mill four-door sedan, I would think that the Prius is right up there even without considering the fact that it's a hybrid.  So while it's still slightly embarrassing that we now have two Priuses/Prii parked in our driveway, we actually enjoy them quite a bit.