No, actually, it is the best case scenario, from my point of view. The Gen3 would require 5-6 minutes to warm up enough to get great MPG's. As it was, the daily commute drives of 1.5 miles each, (four minutes to get there) and especially in cold weather, would produce a MPG average of about 25. Bad. On longer drives the Gen3 would begin to show its strengths. The Gen3 was the best car I owned, over all, but it really needed more miles per drive than what I was giving it. On longer dives - great! On vacations, I'd see 525 mile tanks, repeatedly. But the extremely low mileage commuting stats were always wearing on my mood. Going Prime fixed this situation. EV-only mode to use on commutes and shorter drives, has allowed me to stop worrying about the low MPG's I was getting. Even though many are at 30+ on every 'pluggage' (not a word but I like it), I am happy getting 28 miles in the summer, and even 17 miles in the winter. When it hits 15 miles at 15 degrees F, I'll just use the gas and HV mode. As it is, since August 23rd, my gas gauge has been stuck at 3/8ths. I've used a few ounces since then if I had to "limp home" in HV mode from a longer drive. At 7.2 cents per kW, any time of the day, I'm a happy camper.
Sorry I was thinking worst-case as in AER. But you're right, it is a better solution. My trips with the Gen 3 are getting shorter so mileage is getting worse (lifetime used to be 4.8L/100km or 49mpg. Now it's 5.0L/100km or 47mpg)
I already posted this in another thread but, I drove 135 miles yesterday in 18° temps with the heat set to 69° with a preheated and very warm feeling cabin. I made 22.1 miles on EV with a trip total 86.0 mpg! I find that pretty amazing. My Eco score sucked @ 73 but over all I was impressed. I could not have done this in my 2010. I remain very impressed with this vehicle.
Yes. Both nice days in Minnesota each year confirm you don't always need boots, gloves, and a hat. Oh, wait a minute. That's what I wear outside to do yard work. Gasp!
Yes, I wine, but I have nothing to stand on. My commuter I replaced was a Tundra averaging 11.9 MPG on E85 fuel! The Prime is much better than that! Remind me if you know, why am I wining? LOL
I have and still drive a 2014 4Runner TEP, but I get around 19 mpg except on the trails in Ouray, CO. It's all about the right tool for the job. I never commuted with "this" 4Runner, but I did with my 2003 4Runner V8 Sport Ed so yes, I understand.
Still winter Here in Finland - not very cold though between 18 - 20 F - I have been able to achieve around 20 - 22 EV-miles in this kind of winter weather..one of my normal trips is to go for skiing which is around 30 miles round trip - so burning bit gasoline then but not much..also it seems that EV-range is now much better in colder conditions than in October, car seems to be learning (or may be I am driving better☃️☃️)..
I wonder if there is some setting that allows us to modify the battery intake to get he EV range up to 37-39...
taking a que from @retired4999, who(m)? divulged his secret in a recent post somewhere I found a route I can take to up my available EV miles. This route is only available to me between Nov1 thru April 1 as a swing bridge is opened for boat traffic in the summer. So along with my previous post above this morning (fri 16feb2018) I'm at 30.1 estimated EV and the weather forecast for next tuesday calls for 50 night and 60 F daytime. :_)
