To the OP... (sorry I haven't read the 7 pages of thread yet)
Savings will really depend on how much you pay for electricity. And if you pay a lot for it, then yes, it might not make too much sense to go with LEAF vs Prius.
Allow me to do some math... I'm just going to use EPA numbers, and typical gas and electricity prices in CA.
- The LEAF is rated EPA at 3.5mi/kWh. (115 MPGe)
- 1 gallon of gas = 33.7kWh of energy (that's how the
EPA gets MPGe)
- A gallon of gas is about ~ $3.40 right now
So to compare apples to apples, and maximize your savings, you should be paying $0.102/kWh (=$3.40/ga X 1ga/33.7kWh) to pay the same for fuel as a Prius driver. The equivalent of driving a 115MPG ICE car and paying $3.40/ga for gas (imaging you LEAF was an ICE), vs a Prius 50MPG paying the same for gas.
However, if you are like me in CA and pay electricity in a tiered schedule*, you are probably paying about $0.35/kWh, which is equivalent to be paying $11.795/ga of gas (= $0.35/kWh / (1ga/33.7kWh) )
So in the ICE world, at $0.35/kWh converted to gas equivalent, you'd be still driving a 115MPG car, but you'd be paying for gas $11.80/ga (!) - Thats about 3.5 times more than what fuel cost today! - That's great milage, but super expensive fuel.
Bottom line that would make each car:
LEAF: $11.80/115mpg = $0.10/mi (@ $0.35/kWh)
Prius: $3.40/50mpg = $0.07/mi
So yes, if you pay $0.35/kWh and want to save money today, you should be driving a Prius. But most people pay $0.10/kWh (or less, or get free juice at work or public somehow, which makes it even better)
* I'm switching to the PG&E EV-A (TOU rate) pretty soon... but not soon enough.
EDIT: Calculations now in my sig below: