2018 Prius wish list

smart car.

 

Mr, I don't have a 500 mile bladder so the tank size is ok with me.

 

I would like to see a different way with the sunshades. My Gen II has always had a problem with the sun in the late afternoon. The fuel gauge does what it likes and I don't worry about it until I am at the two bars point. Then, I search for the station with the best prices and go to it. I might add that I have always used Top Tier gasoline since I purchased it.
My wish would be for the ride of a Camry, the economy of the Prius C and the trunk the size of the Prius V. My Prius has been a pickup truck, a family cruiser and the best economy car I have ever had. It has never left me stranded in over ten years and 152,000 miles of driving. Not many other cars or trucks can say that. I have been razed about it and concluded that I made a very wise investment. Now, can Toyota deliver such a vehicle to meet those demands?

 

nope.

 

Every Prius owner realizes from the get-go that we are trading accelerative power for high mileage.

What would be really nice is if Toyota would give us the following as standard power equipment:

1. Axial-flux electric motors -> These motors use magnets instead of wound armatures. They are more powerful, lighter and more compact, the best of all worlds. This is not a new idea at all but the motor's high strength magnets require expensive rare earth minerals, of which most are found in China.

2. Inverter coolant directly on the circuit boards and other electrics that heat up -> This better cooling permits longer running for the electric motors due to non-conducting coolant (non-water based - obviously) running directly on the areas needing it. It also reduces coolant weight. This coolant exists. Jaguar uses it on their C-X 75 experimental super car testbed, along with the axial-flux electric motors.

3. State-of-the-art lithium-ion batteries (or better) -> This is already an option on some 2015 Prius models.

4. Turbocharged gas motor -> This could be optional. Also it could have an "ON" button so the turbo would only spool up on demand. This would be good for mountainous, high altitude areas like the Rockies, where our naturally aspirated Prii lag, or when emergency acceleration is needed for accident avoidance or passing on hills.

5. Lighter body panels -> advances in the manufacture of carbon fiber and other plastic composites make this an option to heavier steel panels. As a famous Brit race car constructor said when asked how to make a car faster, "Add lightness."

As mentioned, all of these technologies already exist. Does Toyota have the will to utilize them? Personally I'd pay another $2,000 to $3,000 for them. They should all at least be optional.

 

I like all of your suggestions. Have you tried submitting them to Toyota? Pls reply

 

Alas, not EVERYBODY realizes anything. Some of the posts here are ample proof of that.

Making thing like that "optional" would screw up the manufacturing process too much. Hell they can't even give me cloth seats in the high end models if I want them. Would you pay an extra $10K for those things ? Do you think that most people would ?? I don't.

And lastly, with the reputation that Jaguar has, I don't think that they should be held up as a shining example of anything.

Hahahaha.
I quite assure you that Toyota is well aware of ALL of them.
Some may come to pass later and some may not.

I respectfully suggest to you, Robert, that you trim down the quoted part on long ones like that.

 

Please, Toyota, fix this ---> Better method to open the hood over the life of the vehicle. I couldn't open my hood at all a few weeks back. The cable had stretched enough that no matter what I did (we actually - there were three of us trying), it just wasn't going to open the latch. The dealer "greased it" (they said) and got it to work, sorta. Its still bad, though.

This has been the bane of these things for years. Every GM vehicle I ever owned had this same problem with the hoods and the gas door cables. FIX: Simply put an adjustment barrel in the cable/housing so it can they can be finely adjusted with time to compensate for the stretching. Might cost 75 cents more.

Every bicycle and motorcycle (older ones that used cables) had/has adjusting barrels. They're necessary for what the cables do. Why not one in line with the hood cables?

 

I have submitted them on Toyota's official Prius site.

SPEED! I want frikkin' SPEED! (well... along with great mileage)
1.> variable intake manifold runners
2.> axial-flux electric motors (Yes, motorS plural - one on each rear wheel.)
3.> better battery than even Li-ion
4.> dual clutch tranny W/ steering wheel paddle shifts (Lordy how I loath CTV trannys.)