
Tesla Keeps Poaching Prius Buyers, and It’s Not Slowing Down - ibsathish
http://www.wired.com/autopia/2014/03/tesla-model-s-toyota-prius/
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sremani
It is obvious to some extent, Prius was the badge of honor for many "bleeding
green", now the mantle has been taken by Tesla and rightfully so.

Electric cars have many advantages - because the fuel is now electricity which
can be produced from multiple sources. If you are motivated customer, you can
produce it on your roof (in limited amounts usual max is 10kW plant) and of
course if you have land, you can add some small medium wind devices.

But most of the people have to remember a one very green option available to
them, that is use your current car till it goes into the grave and while doing
so drive sparingly and only on need basis. The biggest problem with carbon
footprint reduction is life-style and behavior every thing else is a symptoms
of it.

~~~
logfromblammo
One might think that electric power-assist bicycles would be a greater prize
for the greenhearted, but it turns out that the Tesla S is a _lot_ more fun to
own, despite being far more wasteful of Earth's precious natural resources.

The perpetual pissing contest to decide who is the greenest often focuses too
much on what is visible and demonstrable, rather than the things which are
less noticeable but more effective.

Trading up from a Prius to a Tesla might earn you some green cred, but moving
your home closer to your usual travel destinations and supporting commuter
mass transit somehow doesn't generate the same prestige.

I'm happy for Tesla, and sad for Toyota, but given my budget, this contest for
customers is a bit above my notice.

~~~
ZoF
Owning a Tesla doesn't give you much green cred in my book.

~~~
logfromblammo
Nor mine, but I don't get invited to those fancy carbon-neutral parties,
either. It _might_ be because I still conform to the archaic and unfashionable
practice of burning gasoline to get to work, but it might also be due to my
excessive nerdliness.

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guelo
A bunch of rich people bought Priuses because it was the best environmental
status symbol available even though it wasn't as luxurious as they would have
preferred. Now those rich people are buying Teslas because it is both
luxurious and a notch up as an environmental status symbol.

People that are not as rich but still want to have an environmental status
symbol edge over Prius drivers are moving to the Nissan Leaf or Chevy Volt.

~~~
tibbon
Also, it would seem that Toyota has sat back and done little to advance the
Prius in the last 17 years (yes, they launched the Prius in Japan in 1997) in
the eyes of the consumer or technically. I'm not a huge car guy, but I don't
know of a significant change off the top of my head that has improved the
Prius to inspire an owner of an older one to upgrade to a newer one.

In comparison, it seems that Tesla is really trying their hardest to make
constant advancement and take risk.

------
deletes
Prius emissions: some value

Tesla emissions: 0.00

You could say that Tesla is just moving the problem to the power plants. Well,
they solved the problem, now it is time for the power plants to do the same.

~~~
noja
What about disposing of the batteries? and the rest of the car?

~~~
kyrra
In the US, 60% of the battery can be recycled.

[http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/teslas-closed-loop-
battery-r...](http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/teslas-closed-loop-battery-
recycling-program)

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at-fates-hands
I was talking to some folks at an environmental conference this weekend and
they made a great point about people who buy electric cars.

"I wouldn't have been able to buy my Nissan Leaf if Bob here hadn't bought his
Chevy Volt, and before that the people who bought their Prius models."

It's more important people are buying electric cars, then who they're buying
them from. With increased demand, more people can see the benefits of going
this route instead of the traditional gas vehicles. This will hopefully expand
the market making it more attractive for other companies to develop add
electric cars to their lineups.

I realize many car companies are dead set against electric, but you can only
bottle up demand for so long.

~~~
nickff
> _" I realize many car companies are dead set against electric, but you can
> only bottle up demand for so long."_

The large car companies are not against electric vehicles, they are suffering
the innovator's dilemma, and will likely be disrupted.[1]

[1]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Innovator's_Dilemma](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Innovator's_Dilemma)

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VeejayRampay
It really surprises me that the rationale behind the switching from a Prius to
a Tesla doesn't involve something along of the lines of "Tesla is an American
company". I mean, I'm a foreigner and all, so there's nothing nationalist
about that comment, but I would expect some form of economic pride and
patriotism on the par of American buyers in these times of economic downturn.

Also, were I American, I'd be really proud of what Tesla pulled off with the
Model S. It's American muscle car meet new economy meet green energy meet
entrepreneurship. Seeing France struggle with their attempts at electric cars,
I really envy America on this one.

~~~
ceejayoz
IIRC, the vast majority of a Prius (and most other cars - I believe I've heard
the same about at least some BMW models) is made by Americans in an American
factory.

~~~
bri3d
The Prius isn't assembled in America like many other models - it's still made
in Japan [0]. I'm sure there are at least a few American components but it's
actually one of the least American Toyota models.

Other Toyota models like the Sienna, Tundra, and Camry are indeed made in the
USA.

As for BMW, X3s, X5s, and X6es (even for their own domestic market) are made
in South Carolina, but their sedans and coupes are made in a variety of other
sites (Germany, South Africa, Mexico, others).

So you're right that many foreign cars are more American than they'd seem, but
in the case of the Prius, not so.

0:
[http://www.autonews.com/article/20130610/OEM01/306109991/mad...](http://www.autonews.com/article/20130610/OEM01/306109991/made-
in-america-prius-fades-into-the-future)

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ovulator
Tesla is a status symbol, Prius is not.

They have different goals it would seem, Toyota wants to make fuel efficient
cars available to the everyman.

Tesla wants to make the fully electric car cool enough that people will aspire
to own one.

~~~
bryanlarsen
Prius is definitely a status symbol. It's a symbol that says "I'm green".
That's one of the major reasons it has sold better than other hybrids: it's
visibly different. Other hybrids look like gasoline cars and don't work as
well at telling the world that the owner is green.

Tesla is a symbol that says both "I'm green" and "I have money".

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jgalt212
Yuppie Prius buyers got tired of slumming. With a Tesla, they can be self-
satisfied and ego-satisfied at the same time.

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ams6110
I don't see Prius and Tesla as comparable products. The Prius is a low-
performance econobox but it does have unlimited range due to being a hybrid
and is practical for most everyday transportation needs. The Tesla is a high
performance, expensive, limited-range specialty vehicle, impractical for many
uses.

~~~
bradleyland
On paper, they're not at all, but car buyers rarely buy after sitting down
with a piece of paper and boxing out their options. The one key area of
overlap is in the image portrayed by Prius and Model S ownership.

The study is pretty old (2004, I think), but J.D. Power found that the average
income of a hybrid buyer was $100k/year versus $85k/year for the general
market. They also found that 42% of hybrid owners make more than $100k per
year. This means that a lot of Prius buyers have the means to own a Model S.

The context in which a Tesla Model S gets cross-shopped against a Prius is in
that both cars showcase the owners commitment to being "green". While it's a
sub-segment of a segment, it's still a real comparison that happens all the
time.

~~~
bpicolo
100k a year doesn't put you even close to the comfortable range for buying a
Model S.

~~~
bradleyland
That depends on where you live. Where I live, it's plenty.

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chrisBob
Why isn't there a Lexus version of the Prius yet? If people are buying someone
else's car for $70k instead of yours for $30k then you need to make your car
just a little bigger with a larger screen and sone nice wood trim PRONTO!

~~~
jcdavis
They have CT 200h, which is basically a rebadged Prius. Pretty common around
SF at least.

~~~
chrisBob
I guess I had heard of the CT 200h, but it doesn't look green. Half of the
point is to drive something that looks like you shop at Whole Foods, and the
200h just looks like a nice sporty hatch back.

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Xdes
If only I could drive long distances (300+ miles) in a Tesla.

~~~
cowmix
[http://www.teslamotors.com/supercharger](http://www.teslamotors.com/supercharger)

~~~
chrisBob
There may be some people who go on road trips looking for a reason to spend
longer at the rest stop, but I am not one of them. I would get an electric car
except I don't want my 8 hour drive to see the folks a second longer than it
has to be.

~~~
Jtsummers
When my coworkers said this 5 years ago, I asked this question: Would you
drive your beater truck that you use for hauling mulch, lumber and the like
every single day to work instead of the sedan you drive now? Different
vehicles have different roles. Someone who can afford a $100k car can afford
to rent, fly or take a train to cover the long distances. At the present
prices the Model S isn't suitable for most middle class Americans. But, as the
cost of the car goes down, the range of the car goes up, and the charge time
goes down, it'll make more sense in the future for a middle class family to
consider a Tesla or comparable electric car.

~~~
chrisBob
Good point. What I am actually more likely to do is replace my pickup with an
electric version when there is a good option available. I only really need one
gas car, and the truck would be a good candidate for going full electric. My
next vehicle will probably be an electric truck with a roughly 100 mile range.
I may have to wait a few years for a good option in my price range though.

