I found the missing 4" (vertical) in the trunk. It is below the battery.

Except actual customers are required, and therefore they need to actually consider the packaging, unless Toyota is paying dealers to title new Primes to fraudulently get TZEV credits.

(I'm not saying that they are, I'm saying that the Prime isn't good at what it actually has to do, as evidenced by the amount of cash that's on the hoods of Primes in ZEV states.)

 

Nope.

I just finished taking a class on business process (six sigma) where we analyzed the how's and why's of large-scale success. We learned about seemingly sensible conclusions like that having cost some companies billions in losses. Toyota was brought up on a regular basis with unexpected examples of success. Who is buying vehicles from the automaker? It is dealers, not the people who will end up driving the vehicle.

Lego is an example of having failed to understand that, suffering from an entire decade of serious financial trouble. They also thought their customers were the people that used the product. Turns out they were wrong, very wrong. It was the retailer. When places like Target & Walmart didn't get what they wanted from Lego, they chose to fill their shelves with something else instead. That was a painful lesson learned.

Ordinary showroom shoppers want a well-balanced vehicle at a reasonable price that's very reliable. It doesn't have to be perfect. In fact, the expectation is that in years to come that next offering will be better. They expect to have a selection of them available for immediate purchase. That only happens if you have a dealer pleased to carry them.

Business is not as simple as it seems.

That cash is incentive for the dealer to not give up on the painfully slow emerging market. Of course, Toyota does that routinely with other vehicles too, as we are about to see with some 2018 traditional models.

 

so you're saying, dealers wouldn't want a prime with a full hatch?
dealers and retailers want what the customer wants. otherwise, it sits collecting dust.

this is what i have been saying since the first reveal, when someone from priuschat put their cell phone on its side in front of the raised deck, to show how high it was.

just about every pip owner expected more range with the redesign of the chassis, understanding that pip was based on gen 3, without having the battery intrude on interior space.

 

Except, due to how the auto industry works, Toyota can use allocations to force their dealers to accept product. It's not like the retail industry where the retailer gets to dictate everything by virtue of being the bigger party - instead, Toyota is the bigger party.

 

That only works short-term for clearing inventory. To grow the market, they must cater to dealer preference for order increases.

Who are you going to listen to, an owner with lots of experience carrying a variety of objects in the cargo area or someone who just made a basic observation at a showing? Real-World data has always triumphed. We've crushed countless MPG claims over the years with vague assumptions. Why not this too?

Neither my wife or I have run into a situation yet where that extra height was actually needed. What are you claiming more would be useful for? It's time to do more than just complain...

 

the only thing that gets crushed in the prime hatch is my personal belongings.
i don't have to listen to anyone, i have experienced both pip and prime hatch space. nolo contendere.
pip space is under the prime battery.

 

Since I have to listen to post after post of vague complaints, I would like to find out what doesn't actually fit.

If you aren't part of the solution, you are contributing to the problem...

 

you must have a short memory, i believe we've already discussed this. i have recycling bins and bushel baskets thet barely fir in the pip.
if there is a problem, it was created by toyota, not by me.
there are thousands of posts in the pip forum with suggestions for the next plug in prius, apparently, you weren't paying attention. along with toyota or @Prius Team.

 

but i'm sure, when toyota gets around to lowering the battery into that 4" chasm, you'll tell us that was their plan all along.

 

Trollbait posited a theory in post #122 that maybe they originally planned for a smaller battery in the Prime. That certainly seems possible. Perhaps they originally planned a battery with more capacity than PIP but not as big as what they wound up with. But then maybe after the Gen 4 chassis design was locked, they found out what the Ioniq plug-in's expected range would likely be, and they decided that they needed to try and match it even though that would require some compromise, as it was too late and/or too expensive to change the chassis design without affecting the non-plug-in models.

They seem to have faced a similar decision with the rear seat, and decided to give up the fifth seat in order to improve MPG ratings, again possibly because of Ioniq. Although Toyota has reputation and hybrid experience on their side, they know that the competition will tout any numerical advantage if they are able to.

Primes have been selling, in spite of four seats and in spite of losing a cell phone height's worth of cargo space. And during a depression in hybrid sales because of an unusually lengthy period of relative low gas prices. And considering that plug-ins are currently a niche category that many car buyers don't even know exists. Of course with big tax credits and in some areas with factory rebates. Would they have sold more Primes with five seats and a lower cargo floor, but with lower MPG and reduced EV range? Maybe, maybe not. Someone at Toyota apparently decided maybe not, and thus the decisions were made for the first generation Prime.

 

agreed. when they stop giving them away in the northeast, i'll become a true believer.

 

I've already taken all of my recycling bins, heaping full, to the recycling center in my Prime, with lots of room to spare.

I really don't need either more volume or more height in the back, what I really want is a flat cargo area with the seats folded down, and an underfloor bin (for a place to hide stuff), just like I had in my 2004.

 

I had 2 massive (and extremely heavy) bins of sod to bring to the compost. Both fit in the doors with the seats folded down.

No big deal.

 

i probably recycle more than you folks. but i won't be bothered to fold the seats down, just cause toyota screwed the pooch.

 

There's no way in the world my bins would have fit in my 2004 or even a G4 with no spare (which is bigger) without the seats down. Folding the seats down literally takes one second each.

 

if i folded the seats down, i could haul even more stuff than the prime.

 

Perhaps. I can tell you I've already had things in my Prime that didn't fit in my 2004. PIP is G3 so they might have fit in there.

 

Did you get the cargo option package?

 

In practice the hump makes a LOT of difference

Depending on how you use it.

The hump is pretty much a disaster for a 4 wheeled walker, and with a lot of wheelchairs. The walkers in particular are to tall to fit sidways, and so must be put in long way with the seats down. And with the hump down, they invariably slide forward into the back of the seats or to knock against a shoulder or elbow, etc. Wheelchairs also have a tendancy to slide forward, since very few fit with the seats up.

It also gives a little added momentum to any other small items that may want to slide forward as you come to a stop.

None of this was an issue in my old Vibe, with the rear seats folded down flat.

The hump makes a lot of difference.

 

Use a bungee cord. That's all did to secure our wheelchair.