Does anyone know what the future of the plug in Prius is?

Excellent point. I agree with you that it would probably be worth at least a couple grand more to a lot of people.

 

What if there are no county, state or federal tax credits at that time? Would they pay$2000 more plus about $4000 additional loss of possible tax credits? Here's hoping Toyota holds the line tight.

 

Good question...the end of those tax credits could hurt the PiP even more.

 

Yea, you know there were alot of people that bought a Plug-in just because it was almost the same as a regular Prius.
So it's anybody's guess.

 

To the OP, the PiP is not about more power. It is, in a very prius like sense, about more efficiency. People don't really buy prii for power. Where you went wrong was expecting it that. Many drivers here are averaging 70-80MPG, which is much better for them, and a few are at 100+.. That is what PHEVs are all about, moving from oil to electricity. If you want a PHEV with power there are other choices than the PiP.

Well the 230 was based on an EPA formula, that was then disapproved, but many of us get that or better.
Here is the photo I snapped when my lifetime MPG crossed that magic "230", as I figured someday some would say what ever happend to the 230 claims :


At voltstats.net there are 611 out of 1761 users with 230MPG or better lifetime average -- that is 34% of the drivers.
That is also about the same fraction of prius drivers on fuelly that get 50mpg or better in a prius.

Some of us are living the fantasy.

To those worrying about the credits, the current law is 200K per manufacture. With the current PiP sales there is no risk of running out of them this decade -- but maybe the new model will fare better. No one can really predict but they can make guesses.

 

Got me thinking... I say extending EV range by 10 miles is worth about $600 in car price.

Based on using the extra range 3 times per week, $0.08 difference between gas & electricity costs....over a 5 year perid...

 

I wish Toyota would sell a stripped-down model. I didn't like paying for heated seats, a navigation system, or a SiriusXM-capable radio, for instance. That was money I just threw away when I bought my 2012 standard Plug-in.

 

Finally, someone agrees with me. I hate the heated seats that will go unused in year round warm California weather. The backup camera is useless without lines to tell you where you're going. I don't even know how to use the rear wiper and I see no reason to ever learn. Never needed it in any of my cars including a previous hatchback. I'd gladly swap out the unuseable in motion navigation for a spare tire kit.

 

wouldn't that be awesome ? a toyota menu !

wonder how much less it'd be minus heated seats, Sirius, Nav system...
and I don't want heat or AC either bec I don't want the ICE to fire up

 

Toyota Prius is, by far, the most well-proven hybrid on the market. It's used as a taxi in dozens of cities, where many have reached their taxi agency limit of 300,000 miles. That's an important factor for me: Of all the cars with this exotic new technology, only Prius is proven reliable. I'm not claiming that the other cars are unreliable, just that the data aren't there.

 

Of course we'll get more package choices once the tech is mainstream.

 

I was checking inventories of the advanced model this evening and it looks like there are only about 40 in the whole US. I'm thinking reduced imports do to slow sales. Makes me wonder about the prospects for the country wide roll out that is happening? When?

 

Same here. Bought a kit for my smart fortwo and used it several times. This kit from Stop & Go is really easy to use, just ad a pair of pliers for pulling and seating the plug.

 

I don't need a camera to tell me where I am going. However, the backup camera would be more useful if it tells me where the car will be. They sound like the same thing but I carefully worded those two sentences. If the sole purpose of a backup camera is to make sure nothing is behind me, then it serves its purpose. I would like my backup camera to do more.

 

Did you use this for a permanent fix, or bring the car into a tire repair shop later for inspection and/or other repair? If it's the former, do you find the tire hold air pressure fine - that is loses pressure very slowly at the same rate as the other tires?

 

As long other "roaches" aren't noticed by a LEO!


DBCassidy

 

As a test I monitored the tire pressure to see if this was a viable permanent repair. Although as a general rule it is probably best to have the tire removed and patched by a professional, this set of tires only had about 12K miles of tread remaining.

The pressure not only held, there was almost no pressure loss over time. All four tires lost less than 2 psi over 6 months. I always check psi first thing in the morning when ambient temperature is lowest and the car hasn't been driven for hours.

BTW - I have used this fix on one of our Honda Fit tires as well with the same positive results.

 

I believe there needs to be more active competition with more auto makers manufacturing plug in hybrids.
Price is a big issue. When you start going over the $30,000 range the door closes for many consumers....

 

It would be nice for plug-in makers to include a repair kit of this sort with a small electric pump in lieu of the missing spare. Even if they leave legal verbiage like "the repair kit is only meant as a temporary fix, please have your tire inspected by a licensed professional within 50 miles...", at least that gives you the opportunity of time to shop around and not leave you at the mercy of a tow truck and punitive repair rates and lost time that may follow.