Toyota Prius Case Study

There is a Toyota Prius Cab in Yellowknife operated by Kaad Mukhtaar, under City Cab LTD. This Case Study will look at his findings of how well the car functions as a Taxi, how well it performs in Yellowknife, the fuel efficiency of the vehicle, the cost avoided by purchasing a Prius compared to other taxi vehicles, and also the green house gases saved by driving a fuel efficient vehicle. The Toyota Prius is a Hybrid electric vehicle (HEV). A Hybrid electric vehicle combines a battery-powered electric motor with a conventional internal combustion engine. By combining electric power with internal combustion greater fuel efficiency can be achieved. The Energuide rating for the Toyota Prius for city driving is 4.0 L/100 km 1.
After interviewing Kaad, it was found that the Toyota Prius has no problems functioning as a taxicab. Kaad has not run into any problems with the vehicle getting around town in the summer or winter, starting the vehicle, using the vehicle outside of city limits, and the vehicle has enough power for everyday road use.
After researching the mileage of taxi drivers in Yellowknife per year it varied from 40,000 km/year – 80,000 km/year depending on the driver. The most common mileage driven by the taxi drivers in Yellowknife was 50,000 km/year.
Yellowknife. (Note that the actual fuel used in Yellowknife would be somewhat higher because no vehicles achieve these rating during Yellowknife winters.)
By comparing the Canadian manufactures suggested retail price (MSRP) 2,3,4 the Prius is a higher cost to buy than the other vehicles listed below. All of the prices for the vehicles are the basic vehicle cost with no additional options. Even though these vehicles are cheaper to buy, the Prius pays for itself by consuming less fuel. The payback (see Chart 4) on the additional investment varies from 1 year or less for most common cabs to 4 – 1/2 years for a Corolla. If a used vehicle was bought for $15, 000 and had a fuel economy of 13.3 L/100 km (a conservative fuel efficiency for an older used vehicle) it would take 1.78 years for the investment in the Prius to pay for itself.

Source