Featured How the 2016 Chevy Volt added 18 miles of EV range

Now the REAL question . . . say in 4 or 5 years . . . . will GM be able to do the same thing again ? . . . . . 20% more powr, 40% more range, and EVEN more passenger room? At least there's a 22mile ev range PiP on the horizon. uhhh . . . maybe Toyota will have their hydrogen car down to only $42k with maybe another 15 or 20 taxpayer-paid-fossil fuel to-hydrogen stations ?? (sigh) I'm walkin' on sunshine now.

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No worries. The Prime increase the EV by 100% which is nothing to laugh at, power I think by more than 10%, mpg by 4% and decreased the # of passengers by 20%

 

The 100% Ev appears to be coming at the expense of a the fifth seat and almost as much cargo room as in the C-max Energi. As a 3 year old ICE model converted to hybrid and PHEV duty, the C-max is not something that the Prime should have such direct comparisons too.

 

(sigh) I guess we should be glad they didn't make the prime a 2-seater, so they could squeeze out 20% more MPG.

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Why'd you just say that!? Toyota's going to take that serious for the refresh of the prime so they can tout 33 EV miles @ 62 mpg - exactly what everyone wants.

 

You mean this will be the production version. Remember, the one we saw is a prototype only.

 

only one person here that keeps comparing it to cmax, but maybe i missed some auto reviews.

 

I'd be interested in an MR2 sized plugin.

 

I don't know why you wouldn't compare the Prime to the C-max Energi.
Maybe because it has such a more spacious passenger cabin than the Prius, so the smaller Volt with 4ish seats make a better comparison.
Compare Side-by-Side

But you'll get a Toyota Insight.

 

i don't either. i guess you would have to ask all the other people who aren't doing it. for me personally, there are a bunch of reasons why the cmax energy doesn't sell very well, which prime doesn't have. interior capacity is one factor. but really, it's pointless until we can see, touch and drive one.

 

The C-max Energi doesn't sell very well because the C-max hybrid doesn't. The Prius is just the better hybrid for most looking for one.

Of hybrid shoppers that take the PHEV plunge, it seems those looking at the C-max, or Fusion, were more likely to do so. Yes, the C-max Energi lost space, but not the fifth seat, and by some reports, the Prime might lose as much cargo space as the it does.

The reason no reviewer is comparing it to the Prime is because it is old, likely will be cancelled, and Ford will have an all new dedicated hybrid out. But it will be there for car shoppers when the Prime arrives, and probably with better deals since 2017 is the expected last model year.

 

right, and has no correlation to potential prime sales.

 

We checked out the C-max Energi when looking for a new car for the wife. Not sure it has the same official cargo room as the Prime will, but the space in the trunk was largely unusable should one have to load up suit cases and any medium to large objects. The interior room was adequate and it had a real 5th seat that some would find useful and many would not consider having fewer than 5 seats. However, the fit/finish of the Cmax interior was poor. It had a cheap plastic feel, even by plastic standards and large gaps between many parts.

 

True, but the C-max Energi is a better example to use for judging, when finally announced, if the Prime's price is too high.

The PHEV to hybrid take rate of the Energis, should also be a target for other manufacturers to aim for.

The C-max is the tall wagon/mini-minivan of the Focus. With hindsight, I'd say the hybrid was always intended as a stop gap by Ford. The focus was on making it a hybrid and PHEV. Any focus to improving the non hybrid bits would just add to the final price tag.

 

initial c max ads were dissing prius. they gave that up after awhile. can't remember the last time i saw an ad. or a cmax.

 

I saw one yesterday. It is now a 4 year old model. Only the big sellers and high margin cars, midsize sedans and pick ups, get regular TV advertising through out the generation cycle.

 

yea, getting busted for fraud in advertising & having to settle a class action for false mileage claims does tend to make manufacturers back off their claims a tad.
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Just saw an Internet ad from local Chevy dealer for Volt 2 loaded... for 6k off msrp. 10k with government hand out in CA. That comes out to be 26k car. That is near impossible to beat for the Prime, even after government hand out and Toyota discount.

 

Good deal.

But keep in mind, in California the Fed credit + CA rebate is $9k for the Volt. For Prime it is expected to be $6k. So starting MSRP and any Toyota incentives will be important for the Prime to be cost competitive with the Volt.

$27k should be able to be beat on the base model Prime quite easily. Less clear is where advanced models will price. Let's see what Toyota does.