Prius PHV Plug-In Updates?

Cold weather package included!

 

I expect all (regular) PEVs will have them. It combines upsell with efficiency, which is perfect for the manufacturer.

 

I'd never drive a new Prius in the winter salt. It'd be at home in the garage all snuggly warm waiting for spring

Mike

 

Agree, looks to good for winter snow/salt!
Imagine - article - Automarket

 

Would someone please explain the rationale of moving the plug to the rear of the car. Most people park in garages or car ports or parking lots where the source of power would be near the front of the car. In addition since most house doors in garages are at the front or near it on one side or the other most people normally never go around the back of the car except to get something out of the rear. For a function that may happen every time the driver gets out of the car (plugging or plugging the charger) moving the charging port from in front of the driver's door to the rear passenger side seems really lame.

 

Back into the garage or put an outlet by the outside door. It looks nicer to have the fuel door & electric charging door on the quarters rather than the fender. Another idea is the engineers wanted to keep that charging port real close to the battery pack so they didn't have to run a heavy gauge cable to the front of the car. Short cable runs would have the lowest wire resistance/voltage drop under load.

Just my thoughts. Others might like stuff on their fenders

Mike :tea:

 

Don't forget that in Europe, backing in is pretty much THE standard way to park. So it's possible that the US version will still feature a front plug for us incompetent north Americans.

 

Weight savings could also account for the rear placement of the plug door. That, and two "fuel" doors on the same side of the car might have seem unbalanced to the designers. I can imagine a very heated debate at Toyota over small details like that.

 

I brought this up about several pages back with no response. Makes no sense to me either. According to the British Toyota press release, they say it was moved due to tester feedback. I have to think that those testers were right hand (UK) drivers.

 

Failed logic. That would mean they are incompetent at backing out of a garage.

 

Except the pictures of the interior show a left hand drive.

 

Offf, good point. The it's a poor decision for most USA drivers IMO. I can see lazy or in a morning rush owners disconnecting the cable, dropping it on the floor, and then backing out over it.

 

Here's an idea for the garage charging cord. Install the outlet box up high so the charging cord hangs off the floor, yet is low enough to plug into your Prii That way the cord will never lay on the garage floor and when unplugged from your Prii, it hangs against the garage wall out of the way.

EZ

Mike

 

That is exactly what I want to do but I want the cord to hang by the drivers door so it is easy to get to.

 

My port is under the rear bumper. it requires walking to the back of the car, plugging/unplugging, and the cord goes on a hook on the wall. I do that every single time i park or leave, and have done since december. it is not a big deal at all, and quickly becomes part of routine/muscle memory. the location of the port really does not matter.

 

The port location seems logical for me. Cable store compartment is in the rear so you are very close to The port. Also as you mention before the port is very close to the battery pack.

 

I think it makes sense, instead of wiring it charges right into the battery!

 

I'm not sure why it was moved to the back, but moving it to the passenger's side allows easy access to a parallel parking curbside charger. I do agree it's less convenient for charging at home, tho'.

Making it symmetric with the fuel door has me wondering if someone is more likley to confuse it with the gas filler. I'm imagining some confused soul pouring gas into the charge port which may be dangerous. I don't know if the charge port is energized when the charger is not attached, but at the very least gas might eat away at the charge port or worse, residual gas when charging may cause a fire/small explosion.

 

I agree that it is a ridiculous spot for the charge port. Aside from the fact most people do pull into their garages nose first, and the outlets are generally in that area, what about when when charging ports gain more widespread acceptance. When you go to the mall/work, the likelihood is that the outlet will be at the front of the parking space. Not insurmountable - just not well thought out.

 

like all Toyota decisions, it was probably placed on the right rear quarter panels to save weight (the #12 or #14 copper cable from the charging port to the charger), and for cost reduction (the cable does cost money), and for manufacturing reasons as well (less labor to run that cable if it only has to be routed 1-2', instead of the length of the car)

In the end, it does not matter where it is, the J-1772 EVSEs all come in 15'-18' minimum lengths, some are 25', it will be long enough to reach.