Torquenews compares Prius Prime to BMW i3-REx

The document here:

2017 Prius Prime (Plug-in Hybrid) Full Product Information & Technical Docs (PDF) | PriusChat

Says the USB port is standard on all three US trim levels (page 19).

 

Might be power/charge only or something.

 

Mine is mainly for an USB stick of music. No power for charging to it.

 

It's part of the USB standard that 5v of power is supplied. I suspect your USB stick would not work without that.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

It's powered, but not enough to charge up a phone.

 

Mine too...with a consuming app on

 

Not possible. 500mA is the lowest USB power spec, and that will certainly charge a phone, albeit slowly.

 

And if the phone is being used for music or navigation at the same time?

 

For music, over BT or wire, it will still charge. For navigation, it will be close but probably discharge slowly.

 

Wasn't fast enough for whatever my brother was doing with an already near dead battery.

 

Yeah, if the device is in heavy use, it can consume up to around 1A (games comes to mind). But if it's sleeping or in light use (music is a very low usage scenario), 500mA will certainly charge it. I charge off my computer frequently and that's a 500mA source.

 

My comparisons with my personal interjections. Most of the measurements are OEM or from other published sources. Be forewarned, I've always like the BMW i3.
Personally I like the quirky look of the i3. More importantly I've always liked how it’s made. Carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) passenger cell Life Module. Designed from the ground up as an EV. Also I'm impressed with the i3 being made sustainably in all of its factories. I personally like the BEV better than the REx. It suits me for most of my local driving. We're a 2 car family so any long range driving would be done in the Venza with it's extremely comfortable leather seats. It doesn't ride as well as my PiP but everything on the Venza is just comfortable. You should see a metric version for our Canadian (stuck with the English numbering scheme) and European friends on PriusChat and one based on SAE for all the rest of us Americans. Made them so I could just highlight what's important to me or as a checklist. Hopefully it makes as much sense to you as it does to me.

Background Info: I live in the country between 2 small cities with lots of hills. Cold in the winter with a fair amount of snow, ~125 inches (3.175m). Warm but dry summers, with an average high temp of about 78.

 

new i-3 goes 180 miles all ev?

 

The REx.


Unsupervised!

 

Thanks, very comprehensive indeed
I think L2 charge rate for the PiP is only about 2-2.2kW.

 

You are probably correct on that. I will probably change that in a later comparison.

I think what a lot of people don't realize when they purchase a car like the BMW i3 or the Prius Prime, is they are purchasing the future. You can tell the BMW engineers put their heart and soul into this car as well as the no compromise way they thought about sustainability. To them this was no experiment, but a whole new way to actually make a car with parts from factories that BMW has all over the world. The price tag is the entry point for other more ambitious projects. I'm pretty sure the BMW engineers didn't borrow one part from any other model line in BMW and it shows.




Unsupervised!

 

The BEV went up to 114 miles with the larger pack.

 

thanks, that's a lot of money for 114 miles, but it is a bmw i suppose.

 

There is that BMW upcharge, but it also has an aluminum frame and carbon fiber body. The cheapest vehicle you can get now using either of those materials in a sizeable amount is the F150 at $27k starting. The original Insight was once the cheapest, but Honda may have been losing money on each one. Everything else is a luxury or high end sports car that costs as much as the i3.