Cheaper to charge at 240 than 120?

I couldn't say about the price difference, but a couple hundred could cost any car sale within these segments. All the companies are aggressively trying to keep the MSRP low because of the already higher cost from the batteries with an eye towards the time when the federal incentives are gone. For the majority buying a PHEV in the US, better than comparable ICE MPG with low gas prices means that they rather pay less for the car than be able to charge faster.

Early base trim Leafs only had a charger of the same speed as the Prime's. Some have already swapped out the stock plug in charger for something faster.

All the incentives plus the improvements already made on plug ins have dragged the used car values down. Sucks for those that buy and swap their car in just a few years, but a boon in getting them into the hands of more people.

 

The value question for me ultimately relates to how many more EV miles I could get if the car charged faster. Going from L1 to L2 was a big win for me. With a 2 hour recharge time, I frequently fully recharge before heading out on the next trip. Right now I think I'm getting about 2/3rds of my miles in EV mode although that may have dropped a bit with the winter conditions.

With a faster charger (say 1 hour or less for a full charge), my guess is that I could move that ratio to closer to 3/4th...Maybe get 1600 more EV miles a year. I pay $0.03/mile with EV and $0.473/mile with gas...Something between $25-$30 per year is what a faster charger would net...

Not a lot per year but over the life of the car, maybe I could justify a couple hundred dollars at most but I suspect they would generally see sales fall if the car was a couple hundred dollars more rather than gain. So when my Total Cost of Ownership goes up and Toyota's volumes decline, why is it a good idea?

I like looking at the miles/minute metric when evaluating charging...The prime is close to 1/4 mile/minute...Making it a 1/2 mile/minute or even 3/4 mile/minute are not significant to me...Get it to four or five miles/minute and that's interesting...

 

I like how you convert batteries in mins/mike, i remember ev-f1 car consum 4% battery life per lap, each lap last 4 mins for 1 mile long track. Wow your math made me felt prime is damn fast & affordable

 

The Prime's relatively small, air cooled battery becomes a limiting factor for faster charging. Because of the extra heat generation, doubling the rate of the onboard charger won't cut the charging time for full charge in half. There will be a decrease in charge time until the heat requires the rate to slow down. There is also things like handling the heat the faster charger itself generates.

 

That is why we had all those vents inside the car. Why don’t Toyota design vents on outside of the car? Moisture?

 

Darn I’m not used to where to clip and cut these posts. Y’all are much better at it than me and I’m almost a millennial!

 

Hey you give us plenty of good info, and that's what's important!

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AChoiredTaste.com

 

Cars do have outside vents for the cabin. They just tend to be hidden under the rear bumper cover. And the Prime battery vents to there too.
The gen one Prius also had an outside vent for the battery at the base of the left side C pillar.

 

It could be just Toyota's way of making sure the Prime is not mistaken for a vintage Buick.

See: Buick Portholes: A 10-Minute History | Mac's Motor City Garage

 

Well, wow. I had thought those side holes were gun ports, like the ones on armored vehicles. Learn something new every day.