Question

A Toyota Prius is a full hybrid electric automobile that costs $30,000 with 55 mpg. A Toyota Yaris is a normal car that runs on gasoline, and costs $15,000 with 35 mpg. After 100,000 miles, the Prius requires a battery replacement that costs $3,000. Suppose you drive 10 miles per day and 1 gallon of gas costs $4. How much would you have to spend on gas for each car after 10 years? Which car would cost you more money after 10 years? How much different are the gas prices between the Prius and the Yaris (10 miles per day x 10 years)?

Answer 1

If a person drives 10 miles per day, then in 10 years, the distance travelled would be 10*365*10 = 36500 miles.

Since Toyota Prius gives a mileage of 55mpg, hence the gas consumed by this car in 10 years would be 36500/55 gallons . Further, since 1 gallon of gas costs $4, hence the amount spent on gas, in case of a Toyota Prius car would be $ 4* 36500/55 = $ 2654.55 ( on rounding off to the nearest cent).

Since Toyota Yaris gives a mileage of 35mpg, hence the gas consumed by this car in 10 years would be 36500/35 gallons . Further, since 1 gallon of gas costs $4, hence the amount spent on gas, in case of a Toyota Prius car would be $ 4* 36500/35 = $ 4171.43( on rounding off to the nearest cent).

If one drives 10 miles per day, then one would travel 100000 miles in 10000 days . Thus, a Toyota Prius would require a battery replacement every 10000 days. Now, since 10 years = 3650 days, hence in 10 years, no battery replacements would required for Toyota Prius

In 10 years, the amount spent on a .Toyota Prius would be $ 30000+$ 2654.55 = $ 32654.55, whereas the amount spent on a Toyota Yaris would be $ 15000+$ 4171.43 = $ 19171.43.

The difference in the amounts spent on gas in case of Toyota Prius and Toyota Yaris, in 10 years would be $ 4171.43- $ 2654.55 = $ 1516.88.