Mini 2012 PiP review

Very thorough and fair review, with nice personal insights. Well done.

 

Very nice review OP.
Glad you're enjoying the PIP.
Could you imagine going back to a regular car now- or even a regular Prius?

 

isn't the accord more camry size?

 

Nicely done and thank you.

I agree that the Honda Accord is not really a competitor. The layout and price is so different that people will not likely cross shop them.

 

Thank you for sharing a good and reasoned review. I agree with your conclusions.

 

NIce review. May I point out that the Prius Plug-in does not have a tyre pressure monitoring sensors in the tyre (at least the one in UK does not have them ) and if the ones in US have TPMS the gooey stuff wouldn't destroy them as informed by Toyota UK.

 

Good review. I did notice a couple of inaccuracies though.
1) It IS possible to keep the ICE from engaging if you know what you're doing.
2) The ~2 miles of electric range that you state are consumed, even when starting the trip in HV mode are recharged by the ICE, once it warms up. This is a deliberate design feature by Toyota, to avoid heavy loading of the ICE while it is warming up.

 

This is all true. At first I was concerned. However, after a while i realized all i had to do is drive and let the car do its thing. overall, I am very pleased with my PIP's overall fuel efficiency. With the arrival of spring and warmer temperatures my fuel efficiency has increased by ~10% (currently 139 mpg) and I should no problem hitting 1000 miles on my current tank (1/2 a tank & <200 to go).

 

2) Here's what I mean:
HV-EV Button Question. | PriusChat

"

If I want to save the Battery EV Miles, I can press the button and force HV mode. The PIP will use battery miles while the ICE warms up, then the ICE will replenish the EV Miles to the number when I pressed the button. I'll use more gas on the highway, but I'll have the battery miles I want to continue the trip.



Read more: http://priuschat.com/threads/hv-ev-button-question.124839/#ixzz2QwL0MvBN​

"

 

I agree totally...the prius has made me a much more relaxed driver and safer driver. Good review.

 

I'm with OP. My EV miles do not come back where they were when I press HV. I'm not concerned at all about it though. The EV miles allow the ICE to warm up so it's a good thing.

I like your review. Mostly because we are on the same track. The PiP is an EV with training wheels. Our next vehicle will be fully eletric. Oh, daytime LED are not specific to PiP. It's standard on all 2012+ Prius.

 

I haven't tried pressing the HV button from a cold start. There are 13 traffic lights in the 3 miles between my house and the highway, so it's most efficient to use EV for those miles. I press HV at the on ramp, and lose some range, then it comes back once the engine warms up. Maybe it behaves differently if you force HV immediately? I do remember reading somewhere on here that on a drive that exceeds your EV range, it's more efficient to use the EV miles first, then switch to HV than it is to use the HV miles and then the EV miles.

 

The EV miles used up during forced HV Mode at startup do not come back. I've tried this a few times. I start up the car with 10.6 miles EV range then hit HV Mode. I get on the freeway and watch my EV miles drop to about 8.4-8.6 miles and they never come back despite driving for 45+miles on the freeway.

 

BEV in ~5-6 years. At that point we should see significant advances in the batteries and other system components.