The PHEV Prii have such a paltry range. Even the newest models have ~30mi IIRC. If you happen to have a very short commute, or very little traffic, they might be a good fit, but I feel like you really need to be in the 50-60mi electric range to make much sense.

I just bought a 2013 PiP and knew the EV range was < 10 miles.

What I like about it is:

- on my 65 mile round trip commute I get a +10mpg increase if I leave home with a full charge and without charging at work.

- I get the lovely EV driving experience for the 4 miles in and out of the city I work in.

- I'm not contributing to poor urban air quality.

- Its fully charged with 10 miles in 90 minutes. At weekends I frequently find that I make more than 30 miles of all-EV journeys around my home town.

Personally, I don't commute by car, so really a majority of the miles I drive would probably be all-gasoline given the plug-in's meager 12 miles of electric range. So a used Prius is far cheaper and also more efficient for me.

A Prius isn't very efficient for about the first 5 minutes of a trip. I believe this has to do with the engine warming up. I live in a small town so most of my trips are under 5 minutes. I get much better fuel economy on the highway.

You can do 30 miles all electric in a new Prius (with a solar panel on roof). If you drive very little renting a car could make more sense.