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Plug In Prius available for anyone to drive. October 9th. SF Bay Area.

Discussion in 'Gen 1 Prius Plug-in 2012-2015' started by ericbecky, Oct 4, 2010.

  1. ericbecky

    ericbecky Hybrid Battery Hero

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    So are you a little jealous of those other guys and gals tooling around in the Plug in Prius?

    Well come on down and give it a go yourself next weekend.

    Toyota is letting anyone who wants to, to take the PHEV Prius for a quick spin on the streets near the Craneway Pavilion in Richmond.

    It's part of Green Drive Expo - Bay Area from 10am to 5pm. I've already gotten my chance driving it, so why don't you give it a try?

    And don't forget, PriusChat members get free admission by using the code "PRIUSCHAT" on the FREE admission screen.
     
    #1 ericbecky, Oct 4, 2010
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  2. Rae Vynn

    Rae Vynn Artist In Residence

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    So, there's a signup sheet for drive times?
     
    #2 Rae Vynn, Oct 5, 2010
  3. cycledrum

    cycledrum PSOCSOASP

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    I chatted with fireengineer (whom I heard is a PCer), another gentleman whose name I missed, and other friendly people while waiting to drive the plug-in.

    The Prius PHV had about 1.5 miles of EV range left when I got behind the wheel. We heard the gas engine kick on about 1/2 mile later while going slow and surmised the engine was beginning its warm up phase. The gas engine shut off a bit later.

    In the home stretch, I took off pretty casually, at least I thought, and the gas engine came on a little bit.

    Overall, it drove very much like a Prius but with much more time in EV mode. It was very quiet and the electric / gasoline transitions were barely noticable (look at the gauge to see what's operating).

    I also met darrelldd with his Rav4EV, F8L w/ Prius and Big subwoofer, a guy named Dan Kah (sp?) who was very informative about his 2009 Prius A123 (?) converted car, Tesla owners, I heard Rae Vynn was there and saw her spotted Prius :) ....

    There was a Tesla owner letting people he didn't know test drive his Roadster (owner as passenger of course), how cool is that? Roadsters are drop dead gorgeous!

    oh, and tell you what, the Nissan Leaf is really nice. Said to be sold out for first year already. Comfy, looks sharp, 8yr/100k battery warranty (I wonder if 10yr/150k in CA ??).

    Honda and GM were not at this GreenDriveExpo. hmm.

    A number of people said traction batteries get reused, refurbished, recycled, etc... when no longer useful in its vehicle. That was one of the main things I wanted to find out about at the show.
     
    #3 cycledrum, Oct 9, 2010
  4. Rae Vynn

    Rae Vynn Artist In Residence

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    So, cycledrum took off before I could meet him *sigh*

    I got to ride in a Tesla.... WOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

    Also got to meet MarinJohn this trip... very nice.

    Photos will be posted, eventually.
     
    #4 Rae Vynn, Oct 10, 2010
  5. HTMLSpinnr

    HTMLSpinnr Super Moderator
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    It's really a shame the PHV didn't have more charge for you - the amount of torque available is significant before the ICE comes on when the EV batteries have more than a minimal charge.

    Linda Weideman (GDE co-host) said she screamed like a girl in her Tesla ride because it was so fast. Must be a nice car!
     
    #5 HTMLSpinnr, Oct 12, 2010
  6. hill

    hill High Fiber Member

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    It aint just the chicks that scream like little girls upon their first ride in a high torque EV.

    :blush:

    .
     
    #6 hill, Oct 14, 2010
  7. Rae Vynn

    Rae Vynn Artist In Residence

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    The Prius PHEV was so easy to drive, I did it with my eyes closed...
     

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    #7 Rae Vynn, Oct 14, 2010
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  8. cycledrum

    cycledrum PSOCSOASP

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    Oh my bad. I 'ran out of gas' about 4pm and didn't make it to the hotel social with the party animals either.

    Meet ya next time :)
     
    #8 cycledrum, Oct 15, 2010
  9. remytennant

    remytennant New Member

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    I drove the i Mi-EV at this expo. I was moderately impressed. I told the rep that the mi-EV would have a tough time competing with the Leaf, and she told me that she had confidential info suggesting that the Leaf would not be making its scheduled delivery dates. I pressed her for more info, but no luck. Anyone heard about this?
     
    #9 remytennant, Oct 18, 2010
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