Could the Prius Prime Actually be more than 22 Miles EV?

Lithium-ion batteries are not susceptible to "memory" like NiCad and to a lesser extent, NiMh.

What is the feasibility of riding a bicycle those 2 miles? During decent weather, I'll ride 7 miles each way, which adds about 10 minutes to my commute time each day.

 

OK... long answer warning. I've ridden to work many times. Believe it or not I was in the cycling industry for 33 years too. I work at a grocery store. I can come home with 2 bags of groceries on any work day, and some are quite heavy. And yes, I do own fold-up grocery panniers. I also work nights. Now, realistically, if the commute was way more than 1.1 miles, it would probably be worth it to ride occasionally for the exercise as well as the savings. Stay with me here. Riding would take 8-9 minutes due to the circuitous route I'd take vs. driving, and it wouldn't be all that safe with traffic in a couple places, day or night. But here's the big drawback to that... with getting the equipment ready and rounded up, taking the lighting on and off the bike (I have a $400 front light!), and the locking/unlocking, not to mention changing the shoes, stowing the helmet and gloves, etc., that time would also be double the riding time.

Now if it was something like 10 miles, I would do it if I didn't have to fiddle with the groceries (planning around that), and I could guarantee decent weather, and I would get some exercise out of that equation. But 1+ miles is almost the opposite of exercise. When I do ride, I'll ride for pleasure, distance and health (don't do that as much as I used to, sadly). Having the Prius these last 6 years has been great, but with the actual mileage to and from work, the MPG's for those small commuting miles have been absolute crap. Less than 25 MPG to be sure. The coolant finally becomes warm enough to go into EV just when I hit the parking lot or my driveway on the return trip. I relish longer drives to extend my MPG's. Todays driving I held it near 60MPG for 35 miles.

Thus, Something with some true EV range from the get-go would be a much better match for how I commute. Nonetheless, biking is always a greener and healthier solution, when it makes sense.

 

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Sesquipedalian | Define Sesquipedalian at Dictionary.com


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Sounds like my situation, but with the PiP I get phenomenal mileage. Might want to look for a used California PiP coming off lease. I've heard some Californians only bought them for HOV access and never recharged them. Might have 90K but the battery is like new.


iPad ? HD

 

A good idea, but that would get me a car only a couple years newer than my 2010, which I purchased in May of 2009. I really don't have a problem waiting 11 more months for a Prime, when they're available at or less than sticker.

 

I would still be worried about the battery on such a car. Lithium ion batteries tend to last longer when they are kept near 80% charge when not in use. A PiP that has never been plugged in for 3 years probably had the pack at around 30% SOC for most of that time. It might be worse off than one charged and discharged on a regular basis.

 

I don't blame you there. It's what I did with the PiP. Never regretted it one bit. My total commute is like 4.2 miles, so it's kind of nice to charge every other day. Yes I have biked to work quite a bit, but my wife has now forbidden it due to the increase in traffic and the respect other drivers have shown (much to her horror) to bicyclists. You'll be getting some rather phenomenal mileage. With the Prime I'm just hoping I can fill up in the fall and have the gas last through winter so I don't have to go out in winter weather to fill up. Nothing like gassing up when it's 10 degrees out and the wind is blowing 20 mph like I've done many times.


iPad ? HD

That's not entirely accurate. There might be some residual memory effect primarily via the computer from being never charged and the SOC left at about 25% (mine is about 25.1% when fully discharged), but it will rebound quite nicely. All of the data I've seen has been issues with secondary batteries being left at high SOC. But you are right about one thing all secondary batteries last longer when they are used, not left at any particular SOC.


iPad ? HD

 

toyota recommends leaving the battery discharged to hv level when not in use for long periods.

when driving the pip in hv, the battery gets plenty of use.