Mark gets a shot at driving the PHV Prius in and around NYC

You could split it into two 10 mins. Up to you, you can do an improved version too.

 

It's a matter of PRICE, since we've seen that as a very high purchase priority in the past for Prius.

Basically, whatever capacity they can deliver in the $3-5k price range is what I want.

Fortunately, the 5.2 kWh provided a substantial efficiency boost, more than enough MPG to make promoting it (assuming the price target) easy to do.
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Yo youse not talkin like you know the Nanny at all. Now :focus: Wasn't that a stop sign coming out of the shopping center? Maybe someone could do a cabbie cam where the cam is in the back seat and the driver keeps turning around to talk while going down the highway.

 

Great video. I think the cop car was staring at your car, after making the first right.

Overall, you are able to keep up with the traffic. It is a very practical city EV and 50 MPG when you need longer range.

I was right about the 13 miles EV range is no joke, especially living in the city where everywhere is closely packed together.

When you entered the park, it appeared to be incline and you were able to maintain above the speed limit!

Thanks for making this video. It really provides the experience of driving one and I can relate to my own local trips.

 

Can't wait to go home and view this vid as it is blocked at work..

 

Watched most of part 1 this morning.. really enjoyed it.. especially your cool NY accent!!! Gonna try to watch the rest of part one.. and part two tonight.

It is amazing how you hear all the other cars around you, but barely a whisper from the PHV.

 

DanMode and I got a ride (over 30 mins long) yesterday. We started off with a fully charged battery pack.

PHV Prius was able to keep up with the traffic in EV mode, no issue whatsoever. It felt weird staying in EV mode for so long. It was very quiet and smooth as we know it from the standard EV mode. It just goes faster and much further.

Mark took us to a highway (50 MPH limit) and PHV Prius merged fine. The gas engine was available for faster acceleration but there was no need for it. We even went up an incline at 51 MPH set on cruise control. We took an exit, made a U turn and merged back into the same highway. PHV Prius did it again with ease.

Once the EV range got down to 1.6 miles, the EV->HV transition stage started. I found that stage very interesting and it is just asking for exploitation. This stage is basically an EV mode (up to 62 mph, I think) with a more sensitive gas engine usage. This is the ultimate mode for pulse and glide! Lithium battery can absorb regen brake energy very fast. The EV range appears to go up really fast after regen braking. This only adds to the fun.

I did not feel or hear the gas engine kicked in. Keep in mind that PHV Prius is a hybrid. The blending of gas and electric is automatic and the driver does not have to think about it. The smoothness of the gas engine start/stop is superior to my Gen2. It is a very refined car, even more impressive considering it is a prototype. I was blown away from the experience.

I want one. It will be a major upgrade from my 2006 Prius. There are more modes to play with. More EV miles to utilize. It will be useful for all my trips, especially for the short ones. In high speed or long trips, I want to use gas. This is when the gas engine can be most efficient. The energy density of gasoline is superior to the battery. The price and weight of the battery is very high compared to gasoline. The gas powertrain is already in the car. It makes perfect sense to use the gas powertrain for this role. It also avoid problems of gas going stale or engine lubrication desiccation.

That's all I can think of now from an Iconic Prius owner perspective. I may not have the 0-60 time or cornering ability like some of the magazine reviews. They review PHV Prius the same way they review Ferrari and even admitted not charging it.

Here are two parts out of four from yesterday's trip. I'll add the rest once the uploads are done. [Edit]: Added 3 and 4.

 

Me being a genius, I misplaced my USB cable for my camcorder so I'm going to have to search for it before I can upload my vid. But usb's videos have all the info that's needed. Thanks again to Mark for letting us tag along in a ride with the PHV. I have to say, with putting in 30,000 miles on my '10 Prius, I know pretty well how the car 'feels' on the road, and even being a passenger in the back seat, you can feel how improved the ride is overall compared to the GenIII. Not enough can be said about how seamless the transition is from EV to Engine use.

The first time we kicked into HV mode, I was doing my damnedest to hear or feel the transition, but was surprisingly disappointed to not notice a single beat. Wow!!! After doing all that driving in EV mode and then going into HV, if it wasn't for the display on the screen, or Mark mentioning that we were now driving in HV mode, I would never have known the difference. Even with standard HV driving afterward, I was 'just' able to hear the engine kick in, yet I still didn't feel that slight 'jolt' you get in the Gen III version. Simply great engineering all around. As usbseawolf2000 said it best, the PHV is well refined over anything else we've seen before.

Since I do a LOT of driving and long distance trips, I was a bit hesitant about whether or not the PHV will be something for me to look for in the future, but with Mark's test drive to PA and back, the performance did seem to boost some from the standard Gen III. And after having a ride in the PHV, I just might be adding one to my stable in the next few years. The future's looking bright!

 

next time just pplay some music and sing along ;-)

 

That supports the 75 MPG generalization extremely well, especially taking the 350 mile trip into account.

Of course, I'm still enjoying the no-plug model. Just finished the tank I filled up north. 175 mile drive back home with 2 bikes strapped on back. That's quite an aerodynamic compromise. Despite that, the 450 miles on the tank (measured at the pump) came to 49.3 MPG.
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Paradox, I'd like to know how much electric was used if possible. Does the prius say ? I don't mean EV/HV, but juice from the wall.

Thanks

 

I was curious about the PHV Prius heat pump based A/C so I recorded this video to see how it sounded like. I could barely hear it in person but it came out pretty loud in the video. It was pretty cool that the radiator did not turn on.

 

imagine toyota making kits for gen 3 converzions ?!!!!hehehe

 

74.8 mpg x 67% HV miles = 50.1 mpg in CS mode give or take.

Again, it is looking pretty similar to gen3 once the pack is sapped. That ain't bad.