Introduction, initial concerns (long)

OK, I admit I read through this rather quickly but I never found one question mark in the whole thing. Seems to me you really looking for more of a "it's going to be OK" type of feedback. Guess what? The Prius family is a fine group of cars and everything is going to be OK.

Now lets whittle down your thoughts into specific questions. Should the first one be, "Do I want to go plug-in or not?" or do we start elsewhere?

 

Also if you haven't seen this, many questions have been answered here: What every newb should know | PriusChat

 

You're in the newb forum, so this is the correct place to ask.

 

In a nutshell, plug-in work by first completely using up the battery charge and then running the gas engine (referred to as an ICE) to propel the car. It doesn't not recharge the battery back to full as that is cost prohibitive compared to plugging in. Once the charge is spent, the PIP reverts to standard hybrid mode and operates like any other of the Prius family.

PIP owners will give you a better idea on what a daily charge in California will cost. You will need to assess you typical daily electricity usage and see if adding a plug-in will put you over a base tier into much higher rates.

There is a PIP FAQ now: The one and only Prius Plug-in FAQ! | PriusChat It's only 6 pages so you should burn through it pretty quick.

 

First, I like my Prius v station wagon. Before that, I liked my Gen 2 Prius. However the Prius is not ideal in every situation so I want to post a note on how it can not be the ideal car, while this was written for the Gen 2, much applies to all Prius. The Plug In does from 6 to 13 miles without gas and may be your best choice.

considering a Prius | PriusChat

Now some good news. If you drive your Prius as you drove your previous car, you will get about twice the mileage. If you take time to learn special tricks you can get more, but you do not NEED to. It is permissible to keep your habits and "Just drive it". Over time you may learn some 'hypermileing' tricks but you never NEED to.

I recommend not worrying about mileage until the third tank, it is much more important to learn the controls and gauges. If you are in doubt, you can often rent a Prius at the dealer and get time to see if you like the fit and finish.

 

The Prius is almost never all electric during warmup. It is running the gas engine continuously to get the catalyst warm so it does not pollute. (The Plug In is an exception, unless you start by going down a hill, it tries to start as an electric vehicle) I can get as much as a mile of electric range once I have been driving 20 miles and it is all warmed up, but not while it is cold. The gas engine HAS to run (except for the Plug In where it is 62 MPH) above just over 40 MPH, but at lower speeds it can be electric once it is warmed up, for about a mile.

You can idle all electric, steady cruising from 24 to 41 MPH can be all electric if warm.

But mostly you use the combined engine/electric to get better mileage. (My driving is almost all from 49 to 61 MPH, so I do not spend much time at 'all electric' speeds in a typical day)

 

You should understand that a conventional, non-plug-in hybrid is, first and foremost, a gasoline powered car. All your forward motion comes from burning gasoline. Where the electric enters the picture is in helping the engine propel the car as efficiently as possible.
As new owners we were/are enthralled by the car's ability to cruise through parking lots, etc without the engine running but that's not what makes these great.
Honestly, apart from the smaller gasoline cost what I find best about my car is the relative serenity of having the car go silent when I'm sitting still in traffic, at a railroad crossing, etc. while still heating or cooling me as usual. My commute is much more comfortable and pleasant in my Prius.

 

The good news for PIP owners is that the range is so short, the included (free) L1 cable will charge your car in about 3 hours, so unless you make multiple 10 mile trips in the same day, you never need to buy a L2 charger. (Leaf owners, in contrast need 20 hours to charge at L1, so even sitting over night does not guaranty a full charge, they need an L2 to take multiple 70 mile trips each day) While a L2 charger could shorten your charge time to under 90 minutes, it is not a necessity as the Prius is still a viable 50 MPG car even when you drain the battery.

 

Rent one for a weekend.
Drive it a bunch....day and night.
THAT will eliminate most if not all of the ergonomic concerns that you might have with Priuses.


The rest?
There are something like 100,234,123 (est.) stare-and compare posts featuring Priuses versus almost any other form of non-biped transportation...and you know what?
For cost efficiency...they're pretty hard to beat if you keep and drive them for a while.
If you're into the bunny-hugging thing then they're also probably close to the top of the heap.

That's it.
If you're REALLY on the fence....then you can just use a binary decision maker.
Just google "coin toss" for instructions on how to use one.

Good Luck!

 

Consider the payback. Cost of the car to savings on fuel and maintenance. $33,200 "Plug-in" vs $28,900 "V" vs $25,000 "Regular" vs $19,900 "C". These are Base Model prices in your area for comparison and do not reflect TTL, negotiations, possible Tax incentives or Toll Tag savings (Plug-In).

I have a regular 2010 Prius II. My "out the door" car price was $23,500 (before mods) and my lifetime MPG is 49.8 with just over 50,000 miles. My daily work commute is appx. 55 miles, so your MPG would be close to or slightly lower with a daily of 10 miles as mpg increases after 3-5 mile warm up. Maintenance is considerably lower than the standard gas car, my reliability has been outstanding and it came with a spare...that has been used twice.

Hope my experience helps...for what it's worth.

 

welcome to priuschat! fly to new jersey, buy a pip for $26,000. and drive back to cali. you have the perfect drive for a pip, 10-15 miles all electric. best thing since sliced bread, all the best!

 

I must emphasize that these two item are incompatible:

The non-plugins -- regular Liftback, 'c', and 'v' -- will not be going any significant distance using exclusively electric. They are gasoline cars, not electric cars, albeit the most efficient gasoline cars available. Their useful all-electric ranges will typically be measured in hundreds of yards, not miles, and that will be made up by burning gasoline later.

10 miles a day of electric use requires a plug-in car. PIP, Leaf, Volt, Tesla, etc. And this is on (and frequently over) the edge for a PIP, unless it it will be plugged in part way through the day while you are at work.

What is your typical annual driving distance in any one car?

 

Electricity cost somewhere around 24 cents per kWhr (eg; California) is where elec EV costs about the same as gasoline at $4/gallon. Therefore, CA is not the best state for cheap EV plug-in fuel costs. Rather in CA you get good Plug-in incentives (HOV access and $$ back). If you want a no-nonsense, practical family car, arguably among the eco-cleanest on the planet, get a Prius Hybrid and forget about it.

 

Welcome and Good Luck with your choice.

YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary) is by far the most import thing to consider... because it will, not may.

Short trips were the killer, since the engine had to run a little bit for heat to cleanse emissions. That changed with the plug-in model, since it takes advantage of the electricity to lighten the load on the engine and it simply warms up faster. Then there's days like I had today... where I plugged back after lunch and did nothing but suburb driving. That resulted in 20 miles at 999 MPG.

You don't need to bother with a high-speed charger either. The one that comes with only takes 2 hours 20 minutes for a full recharge. That's I've been using at home for over a year now. It works fine.

Having owned each of the previous generations, there's a lot of other information I can share. But basically, it all boils down to saying that you'll get better efficiency & emissions than a traditional car... no plug or any change of driving needed. The system is realible. It works well. You'll be happy.