Do (or should) Toyota dealers provide courtesy charging for Toyota Primes and Plug-ins?

1) i have not encountered L2 charging at any of the 7 toyota dealerships i have done business with over the years.
i have never heard that toyota requires dealers to have L2 chargers installed, though it may be possible.
neither my pip, nor my prime test drive came charged.
i assume if a dealer needed to charge a battery for diagnostics, they would just plug in the 120v evse.

2) yes

 

Toyota does not make an EV.
All their customers can make it home on gasoline if need be. (this is in stark contrast to Nissan customers)
Should Toyota desire to have all dealers do something, they will have to renegotiate the contract between each dealer and Toyota, each is an independent company.

Nissan can't make Nissan Dealer behave either 2011 Nissan Leaf: Free Recharging At Dealers, Except When They Balk

 

blah, blah, blah...

 

While logic would suggest Toyota Dealerships maintain and PHEVs purchases be delivered with a fully charged battery, I would suggest that being a niche market with limited vehicles "so far" they just have not caught up with the logistics yet...if they even choose to. As for dropping in for a free bump...should I then expect them to give me a free bump on gas for my regular hybrid?

 

Can't you charge the Prime, or the Plug-In predecessor, with a regular 110 volt outlet? I would think if they're hoping to make a sale, and you requested that the car was charged for a test drive, they could easily accomodate you. Or the demand is high enough that they don't care, they're selling anways?

 

When I bought my new Prius in November it came with a full tank of gas and I didn't test drive a prime.
The dealership had two of them, one inside and one outside. My wife make a comment, "they are always plugged in".
We make two trips to the dealership and they were plugged in at Lake Shore Toyota in Burns Harbor Indiana.

 

my thought is:

if they give you a full tank of gas (for a normal gas car) when you buy one, and they advertise >600 miles using both Gas and EV, then the Gas tank should be Full and EV fully charged prior to leaving the lot.

for the price you pay for the car even for a lowly Leaf or EV soul, giving the customer a full fuel source (both gas AND EV in the primes case) is mandatory for marketing (match what your advertising.) your also making the customer happy.

again this is how i see it.

 

What do you think would happen if Tesla sent one of his cars out the door with a flat battery.

 

This may be the answer. They can't charge the Prime unless they have a charger from some other source.

 

Hmm yeah: extra cables don't grow on trees:

Cable Assembly - Toyota (G9060-47130) | Toyota Parts

 

^ (link above) Gahhhh! That is a totally ridiculous price for the Toyota 120v charger. You can buy TWO L2 chargers for that!

...and yes, all Toyota dealers should have an L2 or L1 charger. Same price, or less, than many of their service dept. tools they use every day. And... yes, they should use it for all test drives and deliveries of any car they sell/service that can be plugged in. Heck, they can't even diagnose an EV problem without a charger of their own, assuming the customer's charge cable doesn't, or might not work.

My Prime had not been charged at the time of delivery. Their sister dealership, next door, selling BMW i3's, has an L2 charger. Apparently, they aren't allowed to use that, even though it is technically theirs to do so. Doesn't make any sense to me.

 

At the dealership my brother works at, there is a charger available for anyone to use for free (GM Dealership). He has seen people on more than one occasion get into an argument with the Service department because the dealership itself was using it. Seriously, it's the dealerships charger, therefore the dealership gets priority for it's use.

But I do not think any business (dealership or otherwise) should be "required" to provide you with a courtesy charge. Let the business decide whether or not to provide that service. But don't think it should be a free service. Why should they have to pay for your drive? Do you also think they should be require to put gasoline in all the other vehicles for free to customers who "happen to be in the area"?

 

They should provide a courtesy charge at sale or stop providing a courtesy tank of gas to the vehicles they sell. Otherwise they are discriminating against PHV buyers.
The comment about not being able to troubleshoot should bring up another thought to those who southern people who bought Prime's even though their Toyota distributor has chosen not to sell them. Service could be a long distance nightmare.

 

When I bought the PiP, none of the samples the dealer had were charged. I mentioned to the salesman that the whole idea behind the car was to use less gas, but nonetheless, the car wasn't charged when I took it home. When I traded it in on the Volt, all of the ones I looked at were charged and gassed up. The shop has a Level 2 station for the Volts and Bolts, as this is part of the prepping. Now, Chevy dealers have been putting up Level 2 charging stations outside for the Bolt owners and some of them even have Level 3 stations.

 

If gas poured out of a wall socket anytime you pushed a hose into it then, yes, it would probably be considered OK but gasoline distribution doesn't work the same way as electricity does (apologies for stating the obvious) and is tightly controlled/regulated so it's apples to oranges comparison. That's one of the biggest cons of it, you can't make it at home like you can with solar.

Are dealership customers told they can't plug in their phones while waiting? What about the coffee, donuts, and bottle water? Air for tires? etc. I have a local dealer who gives free car washes for life of the vehicle. I took them up on it but eventually stopped going only because it took too much time as they were on the other side of town but they never declined no matter how much I went in. It's just overhead they choose to allow and when they sell a few extra cars to those waiting customers who otherwise wouldn't be there, then it easily pays for it.

So yes, I could see a dealership giving out the equivalent cost of gas required to travel the same distance as a fully charged Prime; about 1/6th of a gallon for the average 25mpg car! Who knows, it might sell a lot more PHEV's when folks see the dramatic difference in economy!

 

they make a point of 'giving' you a full tank of gas, (not sure why) it would only make sense to put a dollars worth of electricity into it.
but most toyota dealers are way behind the ev curve.

 

It makes sense to provide you with a charged plug-in when you come in for a test drive, if that might tip you to buy. And sales are slow enough...

 

That's a lot of "overhead" you seem to think they should assume. Neighbor has a Chevy plug-in Bolt/Volt whatever it's called. He said his car costs him on avg of an extra $28 or $38 dollars a month (can't remember which he said). But he only charges once a week. Imagine that being every day and on more than one charger.

I say pay for what you use just like everyone else. Have read other threads here where individuals have worked out a "deal" with business or homeowners to charge while they are at work for a few dollars a week. Never heard any of them expecting it for free.