Sure - but is it worth owning 2 cars? After all - a Prius represents a significant amount of embodied energy.
Most families do own two cars. The question is not "Should you own two cars?" but rather "Which two cars should they be?"
The energy used to produce a Prius is about 20% of it's total life-cycle energy costs.
That sounds like an urban myth to me. But even if it's true, see above: Most families own two cars, so that energy of manufacture is there regardless.
There are also issues of domestic vs. imported energy, balance of trade, and the terrorism tax implicit in imported oil.
Since road-trip miles are rarely going to be a huge part of total miles driven (and even then a decent fraction of those miles could be done in EV mode),...
My drive up to Canada is around 330 miles one way. Volt goes about 35 miles on electric. So about one tenth on electric, and the rest at 35 mpg compared to the Prius's 50 mpg. And the Volt in CS mode pollutes more than the Prius.
...unless you only do a LOT of 100+ mi trips, just drive the Volt - otherwise you should probably just buy a Prius and skip the Volt in the first place...
I do a lot of under-35-mile trips, but plenty of over-35 also. The Roadster lets me drive all electric almost all the time. For a two-car family, a Leaf and a Prius is a better combination than a Volt with any other car. The Volt only makes sense for a one-car household with $40,000 to spend on a car and a preponderance of short trips.
The PiP is reported to get slightly better highway MPG than the 2004 Prius, maybe because it's based on the 2010 model. But the actual savings in gas, compared to the already super-efficient 2004 Prius, would not justify trading in a perfectly good 2004.
I do not argue that the Roadster is a practical car. It's a fun car. But if you can afford it and you have it, a Volt is the worst possible choice for a car for those rare times when the Roadster won't go far enough.
