I really wish the MPG numbers were better. I love the look of the Prius V. The increase in cargo space is a great feature.
I really hope the radio will be interchangeable between the 2010s and 2012s I also hope that the 2012s come with that new Toyota EnTune system.
When I saw the mileage numbers I thought: ok, that's pretty good for a seven passenger minivan. Then I see it's five passenger. Ok, so what are the differences between this and Prius: uh, a bit more cargo room? More headroom or shoulder room? Kind of underwhelmed.
WOW, what a huge hit in FE and performance for a 3 inch longer wheelbase yet still only 5 passenger. I don't get it. My grade: C- (I won't be dramatic and call it a fail)
Second...without any extra seating, you're just paying more for lower fuel economy. Cargo room isn't anywhere on my concern list for my current GenIII...and I'm supposedly their "target"...young active family.
So is the V just a hybrid Matrix? If it had a 3rd row (even for kids), I'd buy it. I'd call the "V" a "miss". And I'm in the target demographic: a young family (2 kids). Not worth the mileage drop for a few more cubic feet. The hatchback design of the current Prius makes it a very versatile vehicle.
I agree. In fact, I'm very disappointed. It's larger on the outside than the original Dodge Caravan/Plymouth Voyager, yet unlike those original minivans, it doesn't seat 7 and, AFAIK, can't hold 4' x 8' sheets of plywood. And it gets 10 fewer miles per gallon than the Prius hatchback.
Trust me, my initial reaction was underwhelmed. I was hoping for a "Mid 40's" mpg. And I still have doubts about how much of a market can be created. But are we not giving Toyota enough credit? Whether The Prius v is the vehicle for you personally, what it will be, is the first mass marketed and available mid-sized station wagon Hybrid... And even though I had dreamed perhaps unrealistically of a better MPG rating, it is very close to the ratings given The Honda Insight, which is smaller than Toyota's regular Prius. So Toyota has created a vehicle with size that makes it a real family alternative to a Mini-Van or SUV and even though I'm disappointed, the MPG's are still record setting for it's newly created class. What I don't understand is this would seem to me to be the quintessential Hybrid Family Road trip vehicle, and yet release is scheduled for late summer? Maybe it couldn't be avoided but I think release in spring for use during the summer, would be better. Now Toyota will be releasing late in the Summer, with the cooler anti-hybrid weather approaching. I think it would ideally be better released in spring or early summer. Trivial, but if I remember right the Gen 3 Prius was released in May, which gave new owners the entire spring and summer to evaluate optimal MPGs...
At first, I was excited to hear about a new model. Once the info rolled out, I was disappointed. After taking it in, I'm back to being slightly interested. The 0-60 mph difference is only a loss of 1.5 seconds from the regular Prius, which isn't awful considering the Prius v is larger. Losing 10 mpg is the biggest mark against it, however. But within its class of cars, 42 mpg could be really good -- I haven't checked yet. The other bits (interior, seat options, moonroof, etc.) are all nice. The extra space is obviously the main selling point. It all comes down to MSRP. If it's significantly more than a regular Prius (which can already be considered slightly high), will there be a market for it? And yeah -- they're going to miss out on summer sales if it doesn't get released until August.
People are complaining about the mileage saying that they wish it were higher. My thought is that existing Prius drivers are accustomed to 60+ mpg and this is skewing your perception. I think that running actual numbers might help put things into perspective. So I did a quick comparison using numbers from fueleconomy.gov. First I compared the mpg improvement of the 2004 Prius to the existing competition at the time. Then I compared the estimated mpg of the Prius v to midsized SUVs and cross-overs. Keep in mind that I'm not all that familiar with other cars so perhaps I did some bad comparisons. Please feel free to make your own comparisons. - 2004 - - CITY - - HIGHWAY - - COMBINED - 1 Toyota Corrola 28 36 31 2 Toyota Prius 48 45 46 3 Honda Civic 26 35 30 4 Prius over Corolla 71% 25% 48% 5 Prius over Civic 85% 29% 53% - 2011 - - CITY - - HIGHWAY - - COMBINED - 1 Ford Edge 19 26 21 2 Escape Hybrid 34 31 32 3 Honda Crosstour 18 27 21 4 Mazda Tribute Hybrid 34 31 32 5 Nissan Murano 18 23 20 6 Prius v 42 38 40 7 8 v over Edge 121% 46% 90% 9 v over Escape Hybrid 24% 23% 25% 10 v over Crosstour 133% 41% 90% 11 v over Tribute Hybrid 24% 23% 25% 12 v over Murano 133% 65% 100%
I think the disappointment in MPG stems from the fact that most of us are spoiled with 50+ mpg (as Tony as stated). I can foresee comparisons between the Matrix and the Prius v. Here's the Matrix's cargo capacity with the seat up/down for comparison 19.8/61.5 cu. ft. and the mpg for a 5-spd automatic FWD 1.8 litre Matrix is 25/31 mpg so it's still above the Matrix in mpg and more cargo space (With the seat up) than the Matrix. The higher price tag it carries is justified with the higher level of equipment (pano roof, backup camera, 16" alloys etc) and of course better mpg and much cleaner emissions.
This Prius v is the bummer cherry on top of the bummer sundae I've been eating for the past 6 years waiting for Toyota to bring me the hybrid minivan. I'm especially bummed because the Toyota relations guy was making it sound like we (meaning all those that were initially disappointed that the v was only a 5-seater) might see something otherwise when it was unveilled today. Since March of last year I was amped up for the Prius minivan when rumors started to come out. Now this is it? Huge letdown. I wanted more seats, instead I get extra cargo space I don't care about. Who out there does want this Prius v instead of a hybrid minivan or instead of the regular Prius? My guess is about the same number of people that wanted the Highlander Hybrid. Not many.
I was wondering about that. I was looking at the photos and it seems that the seating position in the "v" is higher. Can anyone confirm that? Rodney?
I was also hoping for a 7 seater as having extra seats is higher on my need list than having extra cargo room. The v will obviously compete with other 5 seat SUV vehicles but it doesn't meet my personal needs. I will fall back to Odyssey type vehicle .. something i was dreading because of its dismal fuel consumption.
For my family (of two) road trips, cargo space is more important than seating. The GenIII was a noticeable downsizing for these trips, enough to reduce some travel choices, so I would have strongly considered the 'v' had it been available. It's 'poor' mileage is still more than 50% better than the Suby wagon it could displace. Right now that Suby is staying until the HSD Suby is either available or canceled. I often fall into this 'Not Many' category.
The Ford C-Max has that third row you want. Hybrid version due out in MY 2013. Keep in mind though that 3rd row seating is tight in these smaller microvans. If you really need to seat 7 full-size adults, a traditional minivan is a better choice.
