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Prius taxi paid for itself in no time
Hybrid taxi paid for itself in no time
Andrew Grant says his Toyota Prius burns 15 litres per shift, instead of 35

VANCOUVER - The world's first Toyota Prius cab driver is sold on hybrid technology, which allows his vehicle to run on either a gasoline or electric motor, or both in tandem.

Vancouver's Andrew Grant says his 2004 Prius paid for itself in less than 24 months through savings on parts, service, labour and fuel.

Few, if any, other hybrid drivers could say the same thing, but that's due to the fact that Mr. Grant and his partner keep their Yellow Cab on the road for 22 to 24 hours a day, and average 160,000 kilometres a year.

They get the posted fuel economy, or better, because the car is always operating at normal operating temperature. And because the gas motor is not running all the time, they are not wasting fuel while idling, an enormous advantage for a taxicab.

Mr. Grant said the Prius burns between 10 and 15 litres of gas per 12-hour shift, compared with between 35 and 55 litres for a regular cab, depending on whether it has a four- or eight-cylinder engine.

Assuming the Prius averages 15 litres and regular cabs average 40 litres, that means he and his partner are saving 50 litres a day, or 1,500 litres a month, he said in an interview.

In addition, he said the vehicle costs only one-third the usual expenses on maintenance over a 24-month period because it has fewer wear-and-tear components. His current Prius recently surpassed 400,000 kilometres with no hybrid component failures.

As the highest mileage 2004 model on the road, it will be shipped back to Toyota in Japan shortly to be stripped down for research, just as with the 2001 model that Mr. Grant turned to taxi duty back on Nov. 1, 2000.

Mr. Grant also suffers less when gas prices climb.

"Every 10 cents a litre that gas goes up, we're looking at a $1.20 to $1.50 per shift increase in fuel costs," he said. "A regular cab driver is looking at between $3.30 a shift and $5.50 a shift. That is just phenomenal." Read Article
Prius taxi paid for itself in no time



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mscottc1mscottc1 - 7/13/2007 10:23:50 PM
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I guess all those 4.4 X5's I see all the time with well over 200k MILES (= about 330k km if I am doing the conversion right), and only needing routine maintenance- I guess those are all flukes.

Not to mention how much better that Prius handles at triple-digit speeds. Oh wait, that's right- it can't do triple digit speeds....

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SevorbeupstryIsBackSevorbeupstryIsBack - 7/14/2007 4:18:53 AM
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400.000 kilometres is not that special. It's very good, especially for a hybrid. Please, this is nothing new. Been there done that.

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SevorbeupstryIsBackSevorbeupstryIsBack - 7/14/2007 4:21:18 AM
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My A8 has almost 200.000 km and the only problem I had with it was a broken airbag. That's it. And I do 90% Autobahn with speeds ranging from 130-260 kmh. The higher the speed, the bigger the stress on the car.

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rg12345rg12345 - 7/14/2007 12:41:56 PM
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Yeah, right! My 12 year old Audi was pulling hard until I sold it. I had to change the clutch(manual trans), tires, brakes, and shocks... oil of course .. basically only what is a regular wear and tear. No big repairs whatsoever, and guess what? I sold it at 340.000Km. That is about 212.000miles, on that small 4 cylinders (1.8). The car lasted from 1990 to 2002 with almost no problems. And I sold it, it did not stop running the same way it did as brand new.
That is my own experience, on a car that was driven really hard, on all type of roads, with the engine hitting the red line on the speedometer on a daily basis. SO whoever tells me german cars don't last, I only have to remember my old toy. Nowhere as good as the new one I have now, but still, an excellent car.

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I95SPEEDINGTICKETSI95SPEEDINGTICKETS - 7/13/2007 10:18:34 PM
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40 - 15 = 25 litre savings per Day not 50litre savings as your calculations put it.

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mscottc1mscottc1 - 7/13/2007 10:27:54 PM
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RIGHT! Plus, how much of the savings there is bcause it's NOT RUNNING ALL THE TIME, like a "normal" cab might be doing at that fuel useage. Imagine if they just turned it off. Wonder what the comsumption rate would be if you were comparing it to a new 1 series with auto-stop-start feature?

Besides, I'm sure they can get as many people with as much luggage & other "stuff" into a Prius versus a Crown Vic Taxi.....


mscottc1mscottc1 - 7/13/2007 10:48:12 PM
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Well, there are three X5 4.4's with over 200k in the town of only 80,000 people where I live. Plus SEVERAL over 100-150k. It's all about how you maintain them.

clearly you have your opinion and I have mine, but the purpose of a Prius and any BMW are FAR from the same. And last time I checked, NEITHER were "intended" for use as taxis.... Yes, I know intention has nothing to do with what things end up being used for. And I'm sure the Prius saved him a fortune in gas versus a Crown Vic or whatever else they may use in Canada as a taxi. But how many Prius are out there like this one? So freakishly few that Toyota is going to study the damn car!!!! There are literally tens of thousands of Crown Vics with 200-400k MILES on them still in use, and I mean HARD USE daily. Yet no one is singing the praises of those beasts.....

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mscottc1mscottc1 - 7/13/2007 11:26:56 PM
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I've personally owned 4 Crown Vics, 4 various BMWs, a Focus, 2 various GM cars not of my chosing (my wife's carryover cars from before we were married), and a Jag. The Crowns are always "loose"-feeling, but very solid reliability-wise. Sure stuff broke on them, but it was usually less than $100 to fix & still wasn't that common. I bought them cheap, drove them around a year & dumped them (actually washed out even on two, lost on one, & made a little on one). Oh, and 3 Hondas too.

My Bimmers, well, those we've leased. They are more "emotion"-based cars. My wife would probably be happier in a Lexus because the driving experience isn't as important to her as the luxury. Her parents have had Lincolns, Chryslers, BMWs, Lexus, you name it-- driving an LS430 right now & it's an amazing highway car.

So, yes, I've driven Crown Vic taxis/cop cars/personal ones/etc. And not just occassionally! My Dad still drives a Vic, now with 145k on it & never had to do anything major to it- biggest thing so far other than tires would be an O2 sensor.

De-boost me if you think I'm off-base or wrong, but not because I look at cars differently. There's transportation from A to B, then there's transportation that's for FUN, for the love of DRIVING. Give me a small RWD 2-door with lots of torque and a manual trans & I don't care if it's german or japanese & I'll still be happy to take it for a drive in the back-roads after a long days' work!


spiceacespiceace - 7/13/2007 10:57:09 PM
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Good story for the Prius.

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mscottc1mscottc1 - 7/13/2007 11:29:34 PM
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You know what, I agree with you on that.

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SevorbeupstryIsBackSevorbeupstryIsBack - 7/14/2007 2:39:02 PM
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It's slow, it's ugly, it has cheap plastics all over the place and it is extremely UNinvolving to drive.

But hey what a great car it is!

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RupertRupert - 7/14/2007 7:02:27 PMView My AgentSpace
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I don't think the Prius is that revolutionary, it just created a new segment, as did the Espace, or Scenic, or the Golf GTi, or Range Rover or whatever.

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SevorbeupstryIsBackSevorbeupstryIsBack - 7/15/2007 2:51:31 AM
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Exactly Rupert. I don't think hybrid is the way to go. Fuel-cell or hydrogen stuff is the way to go.

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EL34EL34 - 7/14/2007 1:31:52 PM
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Anyway you look at it the Prius is an ugly car and has too much plastic.

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david989david989 - 7/15/2007 6:11:58 AM
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Hybrid is the future.

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xj13xj13 - 7/15/2007 11:31:43 AM
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Bio diesel is the future.

By the way Buckwheat, you have no idea, fancy a car man talking about a toyota prius, you pussy.

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