EV experiences

is this standard for Tesla, Volt, leaf too?

yes, varies by individual. my routine is dictated by the wacky time-of-use tiered rates (E-9A for PGE folks). so i only charge once a day in early morning hours and occasionally once during the day on a weekend. when i get into tier 3 toward the end of the month, peak charging is >30cents/kwh!

 

John, he's obviously referring to the excessive price differential. You are not going to get back a $6,500 price differential or even $4,000 simply because limited range means limited miles. Toyota either has problems with an excessively expensive Lithium battery supply or is deliberately maintaining an excessive margin to squeeze as much as it can get from its NiMh IP.

That said, if I were looking to buy a new Prius I'd be looking for the big PiP discounts and buy one.

 

Exactly. If you can get the PiP at or about the same price as a regular Prius, I see no reason to hold back. Otherwise, not so sure....

 

My "daily routine" is a 7.8 mile commute each way. I use the timer so the car completes charging about 10 minutes before I leave for work in the AM. The car is garaged, at 50-60F overnight. I do not have the opportunity to charge at work most days. Yesterday was low to mid 40s and dry for both commutes. Driver's seat heater on high for both commutes, headlights on for the evening commute, no A/C or fan until I ran out of EV miles. I made it all the way to work on EV, and part of the way home. Average mileage for the round trip was 142MPG according to the trip meter. On Saturdays I can pull the car into an unused bay and charge it up. I average 999MPG on Saturdays

 

"Never?" I can't agree with you on that. A whole lot of people (myself included) engage in quite a bit of math in order to opt for a hybrid. With the Prius, I've gotten a vehicle that's suffers from significantly worse cabin noise, plastic detailing, and no pep compared to many other cars in the price range.

For a vehicle with similar characteristics, I could have paid closer to $20,000.

What I did get in return for buying a Prius, however, was 50+ mpg.
Given all the driving I do, the gas savings more than makes up for the price differential - and is worth the sacrifice in terms of overall quality.

Since, after all the rebates and such, I was able to get a Plug-in for about $1000 more than I was willing to spend on a regular Prius, I once again did the math and it made sense.

I am not alone in doing this!

 

Volt charges to 87% and switches to HV at 22% so the usable charged capacity is normally 65%.

 

PS: John 1701a - just followed the link to your website. Nifty and very helpful!

 

I just like driving the car.

 

I largely agree. But as an aside I think it's very interesting how the "cost" issue comes up during PiP discussions. People--at least where I live--can drop thousands upon thousands of dollars on all sorts of vehicle purchases where the cost/value is highly questionable...excessively-sized and tricked-out pickups for hobby ranchers, fancy motorcycles, RVs, boutique and sports cars, etc...and seldom are they questioned about the financial wisdom of their purchase. But bring up your PiP and the fact that it costs several thousand more than a "typical" sedan, and then all of a sudden you're interrogated as some kind of tree-hugging elitist expecting "average people" to afford the "luxury" of the PiP...

[quote="Gaudete, post: 1746248, member: 102996"

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That said, I don't think people would be forking over an additional $5,000 for a vehicle with a slightly improved battery technology. The big draw of the PiP is the EV-mode. Given that the EV-mode only gets you about 11 miles (which will decrease over time), I'm not sure it's worth an extra $5,000 to most people.

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You compared it to automatic transmissions, but that's really a very poor comparison. An automatic transmission is a significant driving convenience. In a Prius HEV, If you drive 10 miles per day, and get 30mpg, it'd take you 30 days before you used 10 gallons. If it takes 5 minutes to fill up at a gas station that's 10 seconds per day. Then, for longer trips, because you have a smaller gas tank in the PiP your filling time per gas mile increases. Since the Pi "package" doesn't change the way you drive it's actually an inconvenience.

The Pi is a driving experience package, but it's a restrictive upgrade. Limited range means less EV time. Limited maximum output means less EV time. Inability to heat means less EV time. And all of this in a Prius, which is a car LOTS of drivers reject because of the how it drives and the cabin noise, something that isn't changed significantly by the Pi.

I don't expect it to cost nothing. The difference between the PiP and a Three is heated seats, some software, charging hardware and a Lithium battery replacing the NiMH battery (which, note, Toyota puts a high price on). The new tech is the battery (which replaces the existing battery), charger and software.

The problem is that you really don't get much for your (and other taxpayers') money. Toyota wants to charge the USA $6,500 for that, and charge people in other countries even more and then complain that the uptake is disappointing?

It's very simple: as gas prices rise, the cost difference between running on gas in two different PHEVs rises at a much slower rate than the difference between running on gas and running on electricity. Therefore, high gas prices favor cars with greater electric range. Now add in the fact that a larger battery allows for greater power and the choice for most people will be a no-brainer.

 

I have PIP envy. Next car for sure will be a PIP

 

As much as I complain about more EV range, I'm about to hit my second 1000 mile tank.

 

Glad I got the plug-in Prius. Would have been disappointed within days if I hadn't. I wouldn't feel comfortable with a electric only vehicle with limitations at this time. Looking forward to the future with improved technology. Content for now and will take full advantage of the EV mode. Toyota was nice enough to finance my plug-in advance optioned Prius for sixty month. Todays technology not payable in full until 2018. With that in mind, the plug-in price difference is insignificant to me.

 

I'm happy every time I drive without using gas.

I have a daily commute of over 80 miles roundtrip over freeway, and I average 70 MPG. That's significantly better mileage than I got with my 2010 Prius. If only all cars in America got mileage like we did!