What I don't like about the Prius Prime

Tideland Prius said: "The 2G and 3G Prius batteries are located in the trunk, behind the rear seats. (This is why there is the underfloor bin - to create a flat floor)

I accept your statement ... truthfully, I never saw the battery. I think I assumed it was beneath the seat because of the vent on the right side of the right rear seat.

 

What on earth are you talking about? I'm no noob, and my comment very specifically refers to the electric motor of the i-MiEV, which is a BEV, not a hybrid - there is no engine. Unless I assumed you were some kind of ignoramus who actually thought there was an engine in the i-MiEV, it made more sense to read you as being loose with power-plant language, which I saw no reason to be a jerk about (little did I know you felt no such compunction).

My original comment was just an (obviously failed) attempt at a playful remark in support of the occasional virtues of aft-placed power-plants, noting that my own car's underbody battery pack and rear motor made me appreciative of your suggestion. I sincerely did not realize that your "rear mounted engine" query was a hair-splitting snarky rebuff to my comments as opposed to lack of familiarity with the configuration of the (let's face it) rather obscure i-MiEV. But then, why would I have expected that, since at no point did I ever conflate motors and engines? Why dis another forum member for no reason at all? Tacking on that "noob" raised this from run of the mill misunderstanding to condescending BS.

So thanks for the overall joy of this exchange, which was about as much fun as explaining a damned joke. I'll try to keep your attitude in mind going forward, and just assume snark from the get-go.

 

This side discussion started with me talking about battery and engine arrangement on a PHEV. In that context, engine meant ICE. Which has been the norm for these discussions, and I try to stick with them.

I got that your response was a playful remark. I noted the smiley. I responded with a playful remark of my own, with smileys, continuing with the use of the engine term, joking that your BEV had an ICE. Your response to that seemed serious, and I thought you had conflated engine with motor. I was only trying to clarify what I meant with the use of the term engine. It did not occur to me that the misunderstanding was over the humor, and not the technical terms. "Noob" was used in jest, with attending smiley, to stick with the playfulness of the exchange. It was never meant as an insult.

 

unless you're a self proclaimed noob.

 

noob backwards is boon. Just an observation. Like Evian backwards is Naive. (and so is buying filtered tap water in little plastic bottles....)

 

i get the big bottles.

 

Nothing wrong with big jugs IMO.

 

My friends and I laugh at the people using noob as an insult in the game we play, but we can get brutal with each other.

 

No problem. Emoticons only go so far, so sorry if I mis-read and/or over-reacted.

 

Tideland Prius - Those are great pictures and really explain something I did not know. Thanks.

I could not help but think, space for the battery, a spare tire, and plenty of luggage space. Very efficient.

Is the battery that much bigger in the Prime to preclude space for a spare?

 

The Prime's battery effectively takes the entire space that the Gen 2 or 3 batteries take, plus the space all the way to the back of the cargo area, plus some height.

I mean, it's about 8 times the capacity in kWh (although a different chemistry).

 

NP. To me it is a silly sounding word, and I forgot others can have a different view on it.

 

are you familiar with the pip battery layout, which is half the size of prime?

 

@Tideland Prius, thanks for these posts clarifying the battery and its placement in the various generations of the Prius. Your explanations are both easy to understand and informative.

 

Tideland Prius - Again, great photos.

The more I read (and see) and understand about the battery size and weight, and the impact (especially the size) the more I realize that Tesla has the right battery answer ...... flat, beneath the floor. No penalty to luggage space; no penalty to seating; and great benefits to the center of gravity. But I cannot afford a Tesla S!

I wonder if the Tesla 3 will have the low, flat, beneath the floor battery? Anyone know for sure?

 

Yes, it will.
It is the positioning that gives the most benifits. Both for capacity, safety and handling. The only drawback is the ingress/egress is a bit tougher.

It has also been a configuration that has been played with before Tesla, but never in a mass produced vehicle.

Part of the issue is, you can't do that easily when you have both a gas engine and electric motor.
When you have an engine, you need a bulkier transmission, exhaust system, etc.
I would expect the eventual BEV from Toyota to use a skateboard design.

 

I appreciate that Americans might not have thought the i-MiEV was mass-produced (as it sold here in laughably small numbers), but globally speaking it was. And while done in a far more compact package, the concept was the same as Tesla's - put the battery under the car, not in the trunk.