Plug-in Envy?

Don't, I only bought the PiP for the green sticker. A regular Prius was on my radar until the new green stickers came out.

 

I love my "regular" Prius.

Jealousy of a Plug In Prius is really not an issue, because I'll admit upfront that if I had a house and garage I'd buy one. But the simple truth is my living situation does not really allow for owning a plug in.

For me a plug in Prius simply is not a real possibility to own. No way to plug it in.

Yeah I'm envious of even greater gas mileage possible with a plug in, but I'm not going to waste my time being jealous because it's not even really a possibility at this point in my life.

And there is something incredibly nice about driving a vehicle that averages upwards of 50 mpg, while NOT having to plug it in.

 

Yes! I owned a Three for six months. Learned about getting reasonable mileage. March 2013, installed 2.8 kW solar panels, bought a PiP. Now fantastic mileage and even less energy cost. Love it!!

 

I'll be honest. I never heard of the plug in until I went to the dealer knowing I wanted a prius and asked them to help me choose. When they explained the plug in version plus the lease deal they had making it the same as the regular prius due to the rebate it was a no brainer. I would have spent the extra money on the plug in anyway as my wife just goes around town with it.

Tomorrow night marks the first full week with it. Besides my brother driving it and ruining my mpg by trying everything out, we only used a little over a gallon of gas in 150 miles. I'm excited to see how far this tank goes and even more excited for the next one when I won't have someone ruining it haha

 

I was in the market for a new car to replace my 2011 Lexus IS. Living in Central Virginia, I spent a Sunday afternoon checking out the new car dealers. When I returned home, my wife asked if I saw anything I liked. I relied yes, but you'll never guess what I want? No surprise here, a Prius. I visited one of the three Toyota dealers, brushed up on Prius 101, and decided I wanted a 2013, Prius 5 w/ATP in silver. I placed a deposit and was told it would take about two weeks to get the vehicle. In the mean time, as a new PriusChat member, I learned of the closeout deals on the remaining 2012 Prius Plug Ins. None of the local Richmond, VA dealers had any. I found several in Northern Virginia and Maryland while searching online. I called the North Virginia dealer who had four 2012 Plug In Advance models left. Three blue metallic and one Winter Gray Metallic. I placed a $500 deposit on the WGM Advance, drove to Northern Virginia the next morning and picked it up. Within a day, I called the first dealer, explained my desire for a Plug In, and they refunded my $500 I had on the Prius 5. I was really happy with finding a Plug In so quickly, at a great price, along with 60 month, 0% interest. Although, I couldn't get my first exterior color choice, silver, I'm happy with the WGM. I'm sure I would have regretted not getting all the facts if I hadn't found the information and great deals PriusChat members were getting on the 2012 Plug Ins. Essentially, I got the great list of options on the Prius 5, on my Prius Plug In Advance (minus LKA and parking assist). I added the Prius 5, 17" five spoke wheels within the first week. I had Plug In envy before I had a Prius. Like most, I'd prefer more EV range, but with home & working charging, a one way 9.8 mile work commute, most days I drive all EV. The current Prius Plug In is "almost" perfect for my current needs.

 

I did until I looked at what I pay for power. Plugging in would have cost the same as gas. The regular Prius also has a spare tire and a bigger gas tank. I'm happy with my choice of the Prius 2 now.

 

Agreed Mike, for some people (especially with longer commutes), the cost of electricity doesn't really make the idea of a PiP pan out.

 

I'm interested in the plug-in, but not envious. Might end up in one, in the next decade, not sure. The pros are pretty obvious, so I'll just list the cons as I see them:

1. No spare.

2. Strange engine warm-up pattern. We have the block heater, use it religiously, year 'round, and it just kind of bugs me to think I'd be driving electric-only, then a few km's from destination the (stone cold) engine would fire up, run a bit, not get properly warmed up.

3. Cold weather behaviour.

For now a regular Prius keeps it simple for us. We're tanking up about once a month, only putting in between 25~30 liters. We're obvious not the best candidates for any breed of Prius, with such low mileage, but there it is, really liking our current model.

 

Since your question is about plug-in's in general, I'll answer YES! To gain more room for the family, I traded in my Volt for a CMax hybrid but began to miss the plug, the tremendously better MPG's terribly and the smooth, quiet and torquey EV drive! So, I gave the hybrid to the wife (which she loves) and got myself a CMax Energi. Now, everybody's happy!

 

I would have bought a plug-in Prius IF THEY SOLD THEM HERE! But I'm not bitter. I got a great deal on a used Prius C and it is saving us $150 a month.

 

There is an easy solution for that: Wish list for next generation Prius Plug-in | Page 13 | PriusChat - some guys also put the tire in the footwell behind the drivers seat.

In moderate temperatures, the engine takes about 3 minutes to warm up. If you know the gas engine will kick in before you get to your destination, simply switch to HV and right back to EV and the engine will be warmed up properly and go back to EV for the remainder of the trip. Or, let the engine warm up while parked at your destination. I just turn the car off even if it's not warmed up.

What specifically do you mean?

 

Having to buy the car, and then buy a spare for it, and then cobble together a makeshift location for that spare, just doesn't float my boat.

Yeah I know it's not serious, just a quibble. Good to know you can time the EV portion.

Not sure. Reduced EV range, especially with heater use? Or EV shutting down below some ambient temperature? It just seems to me extreme cold is going to have more impact on a plug-in, due to the short periods the engine's running.

I'm not deadset against the car, not by a long shot. The thought of doing most driving in EV is heady stuff. It's just the current iteration has enough gotchas, for me, that I'm not envious, still wait and see.

 

Reduced EV range, period, yes. More rolling resistance (snow, winter tires), lower temp, contribute.

It was only in the real cold (-30C and below) where I noticed basically no EV-only driving. Under normal circumstances you get to use that EV only driving range in winter, once the engine is warmed up. Using Eco mode helps. Not using the heater in near 0C and single digit minus temps gives you pure EV driving. The seat heaters are amazing.

Yep, during short trips in winter, fuel economy drops just like every other car on the road. However, short trips in the summer more than make up for that by never starting the gas engine.

Being in Vancouver you don't have winters like most of Canada anyway, you would have a lot more winter EV driving than I do here on the Prairies.

Check out my fuelly link if you are curious about winter fuel economy, I've been through two winters with this car now. Last summer I went 89 days and 2,200 km between gas fill-ups due to high EV usage.

My point is, there is an easy workaround for points #1 & #2, and you really don't have to worry about #3, just drive the thing

 

I couldn't buy a PIP in my state, so I drove 5 hours to get a PIP. I was soooo excited about how much effort it was to get one.


Now that I've owned one for 6 months, I realize I would have been very satisfied with a regular Prius. The reason for that opinion is because engine warmup. In a regular Prius that engine would warm up every time the engine starts (kind of required) and be warm for the entire drive.

In my PIP, I keep trying to drive it like an ev, so I avoid hard accelerations. When I do accidentally trigger the engine to start, I feel frustrated that the engine started (and I ran my ICE for a short drive). On drives when I plan to use my engine (low battery or longer drive), I'll allow the ICE to warm up early in my drive and not care about my accelerations.

So what I've learned is to drive the PIP as a hybrid and enjoy the fact that we spend more time in EV mode. And even with the engine running, we still get awesome milage.

 

Sorry about the double post.

 

Turn on the ECO mode and remove lead from shoe Problem solved!

 

Anyone can drive any Prius and get great gas mileage. Wanting the most out of a Prius hybrid requires additional effort. The Prius Plug In requires more than that. I've learned a lot in sixteen months. While not consumed or obsessed with squeezing every possible MPG, I enjoy the challenge of maximizing EV and hybrid range and efficiency.

 

within a couple months after getting my new prius c, a dealer near where I live had lease returns for PIP a year older than I just got and for about the same price. I doubt I could have gotten 0% interst and/or the tax credit, but I still had a feeling that I wish I would have gotten one of these PIP.