Car Insurance Rates for Toyota Prius
Eco-friendly and proud owners of a Toyota Prius would be happy to know that they can enjoy low car insurance rates, thanks to their being responsible towards the environment. Auto insurance companies vary in their policies when it comes to insuring hybrid cars. However, most of them offer lower premiums on the Toyota Prius. There are distinct advantages for drivers who decide to ‘go green’, with Prius owners being offered a 10% discount by several auto insurance providers that insure hybrid cars. Like other hybrid car owners, Toyota Prius owners fall in the ‘preferred driver’ category, which is the first step to avail of discounts on insurance premiums provided they do have a reasonably good driving history.
One of the main reasons why Prius owners can avail of better auto insurance rates is that the car has an excellent safety record. The car’s fatality rate for 2001-2007 was only .64 per 100 million miles, which is less than half of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) average. In addition, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety awarded the 2010 Prius with the title of “Top Safety Pick” due to the least amount of injuries in front, rear, and side collisions. Other excellent safety features available in the Toyota Prius to find favor with insurance companies include passenger, driver, side, and rear head, and driver’s knee airbags, anti-theft system, traction control, side impact door beams, and more.
The age, sex, and driving record are important factors that are also considered by insurance providers for Toyota Prius owners. Each company has their own eligibility standards when it comes to offering lower premiums. The key is to shop around and compare quotes among the auto insurance companies that offer hybrid car insurance. Don’t be satisfied with the first offer of a 10% discount. Chances are you will end up lowering your hybrid car insurance rate considerably by shopping for insurance online.
Prius as a design platform- The car with everything?
The Toyota Prius has come along at a very interesting time in the evolution of car design. This is a car which is based very much on market specifications, and it’s proven itself to be a particularly good platform for innovation and real world market performance assessment. Some cars are too specialized, and don’t actually represent the mainstream market well in their sales. Others are too design-heavy, with their sales based on niche markets. The Prius is right slap bang in the middle of the consumer market, and from car insurance to checkups, it covers the entire functional sedan spectrum.
The Prius as a test platform in the public eye
That mainstream element is particularly important to car manufacturers. Being a hybrid hasn’t exactly been an instant passport to market success for many cars, and the manufacturers need to know what works and what doesn’t. The Prius, interestingly, has become a working benchmark for assessing commercial viability. It’s also highly competitive with all other hybrid designs, which is another primary testing scenario the industry is watching closely.
Prius has been setting benchmarks, and has shown itself to be a very flexible car for incorporating new features. That’s a rare accomplishment for any car, and rarer still for hybrids, which have been the target for as much criticism as applause. The hybrids started out with a tough audience, which has become progressively tougher as design standards become clearer and any suspicion of underperformance is mercilessly highlighted by critics.
Expectations are another factor with hybrids, and they can be killers. A recent effort by General Motors was absolutely pilloried by critics for a range of design features which had been criticized even before the test models came off the assembly line. Other hybrids have been found wanting in basic performance. The Prius, however, has sailed through comparisons easily. It’s generally considered the best hybrid on the market.
The evolutionary possibilities of Prius
The next generation of car designs will have to deal with the very large range of new technology coming on the market.
The list of requirements for manufacturers is daunting:
• A car frame which can deal with the new technology.
• Reliable power systems for steering and onboard electronics
• Good capacity and roomy vehicles
• Design quality on a par with best mainstream cars
• Keeping tooling costs down to ensure good prices
• A very cost effective assembly process
If you’re thinking that this sounds like adapting an existing design would save a lot of serious cost and hard work, you’re right. This is where the Prius has almost unlimited potential for development.
The Prius will be the working platform for development because of its extremely strong record as a designer-friendly car. It will make the rules for the new generations of cars, being the benchmark model. This is a car which can even predict its own car insurance quotes, and it will be extremely hard to beat.
In Review: Toyota Prius Plug-In
The Toyota Prius is the sort of interesting car that gets you thinking about getting car finance to buy it. This is a new hybrid, and it’s getting a lot of attention as part of the big Toyota push into this market. This is a new generation of the Prius brand, and reviews have been unanimously good.
This is the first Prius to have a lithium battery, and the fuel efficiency and emissions benefits from the increased electric- only range are obvious. The “plug in” feature allows external charging as well as from the hybrid motor, another new addition to the brand.
In design terms, the Prius Plug-In is a true car of its times. The plug-in hybrid is a necessary step in the current vehicle market, which isn’t really geared to taking electric cars yet, and where drivers need the hybrid options. The new Prius even has a seamless switchover to petrol when the battery charge runs out.
In fairness to Toyota’s environmental efforts, the low emissions from the petrol mode (41g CO2 per km) are actually well below several of their major competitors. Petrol mode is about 50 miles per gallon, in US measurements, which is said to make the Prius the most fuel efficient car on the market.
Toyota is obviously looking at covering all options. This is a four cylinder car, and the fact that the Prius Plug-In being in the major is urban retail bandwidth market for family cars is unlikely to be a coincidence. Toyota has taken an interesting approach to its marketing of the new car, projecting production runs of “tens of thousands” by 2012.
This market approach looks like a monitored, phased introduction of the hybrids into established markets. That could be very good news for car buyers, because the likelihood is that the big production runs will reduce retail prices.
The Prius Plug-In is showing all the signs of a typical Prius car, incorporating new features, and expanding the range of the brand. So far that’s meant a series of steps in development, with new technologies and design concepts being regularly added to a proven vehicle.
For those who don’t know the manufacturing process, this is very good professional design and manufacturing technique. A reliable vehicle design is priceless to manufacturers. They build and develop off this basic design concept, enhancing it and testing new ideas. This allows designers and manufacturers to work with known factors, and reduces costs considerably. The result is a designer’s joy and a motorist’s dream. Most of the best loved brands on the road today are a result of that type of design scenario.
The result is a great, all-round vehicle, a perfect platform for design and a market winner. That’s exactly what the new Prius is looking like, a full spectrum design concept with plenty of room for add-ons. The Prius is a well known hybrid brand, with both market appeal and performance. A new Prius will naturally get a lot of market attention, and the Prius Plug-In is certainly doing that.