Which Would You Pay $40k for: 2010 Prius Plug-in Version or Chevy Volt

Well Crappy, then the Prius is perfect for you too!!

Neither... they are way too expensive. you will never recoup your money if you compare it with a standard petrol car.

I would go for the Volt.

I'll learn to ride a motorcycle before I cough up 40k for hybrids.

i DO own a motorcycle. and i WOULD buy a prius. it's a PROVEN and TESTED vehicle. the volt is not; it does however, have the history of gm and chevrolet behind it, which is a BIG MINUS.

Between the two... Volt hands down.I would however choose a diesel over both since with a diesel the driving enjoyment is still there.

I would buy a Honda Civic (non-hybrid) loaded with leather, Navigation, Heated Seats for $24,000 est. Unless you are in California driving 10 miles a day and have enough money to not think logically about profit and loss go for it.
Before I drive one of these hybrids I would rather just get a base engine model car that gives 32 -35 mpg and not worry about it.

i can see your logic.

however, this has been my experience since 1999: with an already efficient 27- 30 mpg truck, i got a 30 - 33 mpg car to use as a DD, saving the truck for trucky tasks. gas prices went up from the summer of 2000, and i used the car even more.

in 2005, i replaced the car with another that got 30 - 40 mpg. i was pleased as punch with the decision when we saw $4 a gallon gas!

at this point, the new honda insight at less than $20,000 seems the best buy on the market. i mite consider it if i foresee another hike in gas prices. OR a used prius with still better mileage.

Neither.

I am living in an apartment, no accessible electric plug in the garage. So Prius for now.

I would pay to see both driven of a giant cliff.

Have fun and a car you can drive 500000 miles buy a TDI Jetta!!!!!!!

"But what they’ve come up with here is an automotive Belgium, Tim Henman with wheels. The inside of a ping pong ball. I therefore cannot recommend it to you in any way."

"Verdict: So boring you want to die"

Jeremy Clarkson about the fun in VW Jetta.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/jeremy_clarkson/article731958.ece

A VERY important part of what a product is: the amount of experience the producer has on making it. For Chevy, this is their first hybrid, Toyota has had the Prius on the market for several years now and knows what the car needs to be a succes.

On the other hand: now Americans feel the crisis and choose their own pride above that of Japan, certainly with a new man up at the White House, that could be a reason for people to chose the Volt - I don't know, really.

As an engineer I was in favor of hybrids a couple of decades ago ... before we knew what materials the motors and batteries of hybrids needed, and the huge environmental cost to produce them. I could never buy one with a clear conscious considering the amount of damage to the environment their production wreaks!

We bought a 2009 Jetta TDI loaded, with leather, that huge sunroof covering front and back seats, and the dual-clutch tranny but without Nav or XM Sat radio (it has iPod integration, and I use a more reliable technology called a "map"). The traction-control light flickers in 2nd gear as the Michelins try to manage that monster torque even on light throttle!
I feel guilty driving a car that leaves everything behind off the lights, but then remember that it gets 60 MPG.
And it cost (in US$) around 28k, full load.

The Jettas is not the prettiest thing on 4 wheels, but at least its not a Hideous Hybrid!

"... before we knew what materials the motors and batteries of hybrids needed, and the huge environmental cost to produce them."


so you were TAKEN IN by the college kid who wrote the yellow journalistic piece on how damaging to the environment mining nickel for the prius' batteries supposedly were? (he retracted his claims upon actually LEARNING proper journalism.)

you are alos oblivious to the analysis that the lifetime impact of any vehicle is FAR MORE SIGNIFICANT than the one-time impact of its manufacture.

you are obviously also oblivious to the fact that diesel soot is far more harmful to both the environment, AND the health of all air breathing creatures, including those that live in cities, than comparable gas powered compacts, to say nothing of clean hybrids.

you must be exactly the kind of engineer that Click and Clack are ALWAYS LAUGHING AT! overconcerned with (often irrelevant) details, but totally BLIND to the big picture.