Wish list for next generation Prius Plug-in

I feel sorry for all of you that suffered tire failure. It never happened to me. Ever.

You might find this hard to believe, but I was seriously thinking of dumping the spare tire in my previous car, to save weight and get more cargo space. The spare was neglected and always empty anyway.

Nevertheless, I guess roads aren't that bad in my country after all, I have a road assistance, cellular coverage is good enough, even if I couldn't use my cell phone, the next house is usually less than ten minute walk away... And there is never such an important thing going on that couldn't wait for a good reason, or I couldn't rearrange it over the phone. After all, driving is an adventure!

Eliminating the spare tire was a compromise to get that 11 miles EV range at all.

Now really: How many of you are prepared to sacrifice more EV range and go with an even smaller battery pack to get the spare tire back in the next gen PiP?

 

I don't want a smaller battery, I want the biggest one possible. I don't understand why run-flat rims aren't standard in any car.

 

Some non-hybrid cars no longer come with a spare tire.

 

2012 Plug In Prius with a Plug-In Supply, Inc 6 kWHr Pack

 

I don't know?
May be the Extra cost of those tires? Extra weight? Just a guess!

 

Forgot to mention if they were anything like the ones on my old Avalon, worse ride, noisier (much noisier than my snows), lousy tread life, and worse gas (energy) mileage.


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Getting back to this, briefly have either of you tried deflating the donut to about 25psi? If you could get in in farther that way, you could then inflate it back up if needed by carrying a $20 compressor. (The built-in one in the car only works with the goop bottle attached, IIRC, unlike the Leaf's.)

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My Toyota tire repair kit will never be used, except as a very last resort.

 

Right, which is why I mentioned a $20 aftermarket compressor.

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I have a couple of ideas (again):

1. The charging LED beside the power inlet on the car could provide more information regarding the charging state when plugged in. I propose additional patterns to existing:
- one blink every ten seconds: time delayed charging is pending
- slow blinking: charging almost complete (<15 min to finish)
- one blink every three seconds: completely charged
Thus, observing the LED alone would be sufficient to know exactly what phase of charging your PiP is currently in. No need to open the door, switch to ON and read the displays.

2. There were some complaints about the cruise control on this forum. Playing with my new Toy and its CC, I found the car with CC on gets too fast up or down the hill. Another problem is, you can easily add speed to CC, but have to do extra button-pushing if you wish to reduce speed temporarily. Here is my recommendation:
By turning on CC, you set exact travel speed. What if turning on CC would set maximum travel speed instead?
- When going uphill CC would reduce speed to stay in ECO zone of the HSI bar. Simply implemented as software limitation, that CC can not push the car into PWR zone.
- When going downhill, CC would reduce speed by up to 25% as a safety measure (increased stopping distance). "Downhill" detection could use a HSI/speed ratio to estimate that a car is moving suspiciously easy at given speed.
- Otherwise, the CC would drive at the speed set.
Driver can always add extra speed to CC up/downhill using accelerator pedal as already, if one feels sporty.

 

#9 and last wish. If I ever would like a second car such as the PiP, I wish they would make a 2-seat PiP along the lines of the MR2. Imagine the same ICE and battery in a MR2? Ha ha what a fun ride that would be. And not practical at all, except for getting back and forth to work and a quick little grocery getter.

 

volt?

 

2015 Chevrolet Spark EV 82 miles per charge?

 

Ev is intriguing, but I'm not ready to find a car for the day or two a week I go further than ev range.

 

Seriously, does the Volt or Spark even compare?


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Nope the spark is faster off the line and has greater ev range. and $19,185.

 

The volt gets good reviews, If you're looking for sporty. You take a hit after 40 miles or so.

 

Yeah but only in Oregon or California! Looks like I'd be stuck with a BMW i3 for all EV. Same off the line performance in bigger package with a carbon fiber body for $34K. And oh yeah, it's a Beemer.


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Yeah but I'd miss things like EV assist, blended mode and proven (10+ year) reliability. I'll stick to my wish part, all the cool things about the PiP only in a smaller package.

Why settle?


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BMW,s web site says $41,350? Sure a Beemer would be nice, but big difference between $19,185 and $41,350.
For us poor people it's a big difference!

 

The Chevy web site says $26,685. After the $7,500 tax credit it's $19,185. For the BMW it's $33,850 after the same credit. I guess only poor people in Oregon and California will be able to buy it.


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