Toyota Primes Its New 120MPGe Plug-in Hybrid Prius

Wow! Toyota could have also done the Prius Prime roof in carbon fiber!

 

I would think carbon fiber to be the ideal material for the roof due to its strength. It would improve chassis rigidity too. Areas where carbon fiber is inappropriate are in crumple zones, where strength is needed, but also give to absorb impact.

8 lb weight reduction is quite underwhelming. That's about a gallon of milk.

 

Removing material to shave weight not only improves performance, but often reduces cost. It's just an efficient way to engineer. Replacing a material with carbon composites increases cost. I wonder what Toyota's price difference is between the 2 materials?

Car companies are notorious for including heavy wheels on their vehicles. I'd rather save 8 lbs of unsprung weight compared to the hatch. Spend the money there instead.

This talk of weight has me wondering which is heavier; power seats or manual seats? I prefer manual seats because I can't be bothered to wait an eternity for the seat back to recline, but if power seats are lighter I could see why they are becoming more popular.

I suspect carbon composites will become cheaper than metal at some point in the future, as automated processes develop. I don't think the carbon and resin are the main expense, but instead the fabrication.

 

Anecdotal evidence is worthless, but I've had power seats give out on me, but never a manual seat. My rental in Hawaii failed in the fully reclined position, and it took incredible ab strength to drive 30 minutes back to the shop to swap cars. My guess is there are more failures in power seats than manual ones.

Infinite positions aren't helpful either when you just need 1 position. Can't imagine someone being uncomfortable due to their ideal position being between "clicks".

The only time I can see power seats being helpful is when combined with position memory. Automatically adjusting to different drivers is handy.

 

New article.

Toyota’s Prius Prime Shows One Way for a Better Plug-in Hybrid

 

a lot of talk about the engineering to allow more ev capability. at 22 miles, i wonder how many will care?

 

Balance has always been a strong selling trait of Prius.

In this case, Prime delivers outstanding MPG following the depletion of EV capability.

22 miles does cover a variety of driving situations for a number of people...

 

absolutely, i just mean all this work to make it more ev capable, not sure that will help sell a lot of cars whose strong suit is mpge.

 

I don't bother telling people about MPGe, though I will point out the benefit if asked about the green aspect.

Since I recharge at work currently, it gives a rough approximation of what Prime should deliver without the second charge. That resulting 125 MPG average speaks for itself.

 

mine are between 139 and 174. i have no complaints.

 

What was the limiting factor for regen on the first gen; generator or battery? If the gen 2 has a smaller MG2, is regen output reduced?

 

I don't know the kW answer for regen on a regular Prius or on the original Prius PHEV but I would strongly suspect they were battery limited and that regen should be improved on the Prime. I know the Volt and Model S can both max out regen at freeway speeds at around 60 kW. I'll bet that Prime can't quite do that because of limits in its smaller battery so I doubt MG2 is the limiting factor.

 

Not taking safety-rating into consideration would indeed give that impression.

You want to earn 5 stars, you cannot settle for certain tradeoffs.