My PHEV PRIUS Test: Apples vs Oranges

Today was long but good. Check it out - THREE fuel sippers , same drive way - Nissan Leaf, Lesus AWD SUV Hybrid, & behold, the Plug-in Prius:



What should I drive ... decisions decisions.

It all started a few days ago. Got an email from Erica, who set me up with the company that Toyota works with .... next thing I know, I'm on an abandoned air strip (that's where they were storing a bunch of their cars they test) which is fortunately just a few miles north of us:





Although I have almost 2 months in the Gen I, and 7 years in the Gen II, I've only had a couple weeks in the Gen III ... just enough to be familiar. My desire was to see how my Leaf experience, and Gen II hypermile experience would effect the Prius Plug-in. As was the case with Paradox, the Lithium pack was depleted.

NO PROBLEM!
Driving regular with the extra dead weight was EXACTLY what I was looking forward to! I though for my 1st drive, I drive around the city a bit, then head north to Disney, where I work. With the depleted Lithium doing nothing, Below is my first effort at good mileage in the Prius Plug-in, on the 30ish minute trip to work, on side streets. I'm not super familar with the readout, but I think it recorded 79.6mpg:



Not too shabby for a beginner?

Ok so I've done a few hyper mile tanks in the Gen II:



But with the Plug in?? I really wasn't trying all that hard to get extreme mileage! So after arriving at work, I plugged in for a few minutes, and got about 4 1/2 miles EV range stored up in the Lithium pack(s) ... not too much ... but I wanted to see how that would go:







I check the Plug-in's gauge when I got home, to see how much better, if at all, the 4 1/2 EV miles helped. Basically, I get on the freeway in just a block, and freeway traffic typically dictates driving at about 50mph. The last 1/2 of the 20 mile drive is on side streets:



Am I reading the meter right? I can't believe it ... 82.0mpg ?? Woah! This is just the read out ... not actually dividing gallons pumped in type math. Stilll . . . . it was FUN.

Below are a few shots parked in our garage ... juicing up on the 240V Leaf charger ... juicing up on the 120V charger, etc. Being designed with a MUCH smaller pack than our Leaf, it charges up REAL quick on 240V:









There are TONS of Gen II's & III's around here. I lost track of folks turning ... doing a double take at the Plug-In logo's on the side of the car ... along w/ the unusual metalic sky blue color. Tomorrow will be the 1st day fully charged. My car pool partner's Prius is 4 years newer than our 2004. I can't wait to see what he thinks when I pick him up tomorrow.

Comparisons: The "Power" - "Eco" modes on the Plug-in are quite different from the Leaf. It's Eco regen is so hard core, that letting off the gas feels like someone's holding the brake down almost 1/4 of the way. I DO like me some regen ... the more the merrier. When charging, the battery management fan's volume is very noticable too, comparred to the Leaf.

She-who-must-be-obeyed took it out for a long spin. She made 3 shopping stops, all averaging about 3 miles apart. The Prius was juiced up with 2 miles of EV range when she left. When she got back, she'd managed to get 65mpg ... and for a lead foot racing to the next red light? Not too shabby. She's looking forward to me taking the Plug in tomorrow so she can run around in the Leaf. I better go check the mileage.

Ok it's way to late ... more of this on another day.
THANK you Toyota - you REALLY did a great job.

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Ok! Another day with Toyota's latest and greatest mpg champ. On the 20 mile drive to work (4am - no traffic and 95% of the lights green) this morning -fully charged, I got even MORE pleased. Like Chevy Chase said, in the 'Vacation' movie ... I'm gona need plastic surgery to remove the smile from my face.


Any one in the O.C. area today - c'mon down the the Lake Forest Fudruckers restaurant if they want to check out the Prius plug-in.
23621 El Toro Rd
Lake Forest, CA
The gear heads bring their hot rods down there, from all over, and we'll have the Prius there, as well as a Leaf (or two).

 

That's why they say, "your mileage will vary". It's been in the high 60's for the past few days, so no need to run AC. In addition, 1/2 or less of our driving has been freeway/high speed ... ergo, higher mpg's. BTW, it's probably a typo ... but it's 240V.

Leave it at home? I wish ... "she-who-must-be-obeyed" is driving it even as I type ... I just checked carwings and the Leaf charge is down to 50%

I first used our Avcon hardwired 240V charger ... then my wife use our (pEEf here on PC) Leaf 120V charger modified with a 240V switching power supply. Both took just a skosh over 93 minutes when totally depleted.

As for the Lithium packs, I didn't specifically ask about tearing into the compartment to mess with it for pictures ... kind of a respect thing - since I didn't get permission, or know if it would have been given. In any event - during lunch today, I took one of the hybrid advocates out for a ride (they have a camery, but espeically his wife, WANTS a plug in ... the dealer told them Toyota has no intension of making them ) and he loved it. His wife is ready to buy NOW, but they'll keep waiting 'till next year.



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