Why are Prius Prime Advanced (2018) rare?

Simple... our market here is in a state of chaos... which is why Toyota found worldwide rollout all at the same time a better approach.

A little over 51,000 were delivered in 2017. That's amazing for a first-year rollout. Think about how complex the production process is for the intricately shaped carbon-fiber hatch and that distortion-free dual-wave glass, both new tech introduced by Prius Prime. There is also the vapor-injected heat-pump. Getting enough of that spread to each market to begin the education process for business & consumer has been a major undertaking.

As for the chaos, much of that has to deal with the push of Tesla (a non-legacy automaker) combined with the fallout GM has been facing, each heavily dependency upon greatly reduced production-cost. Why get involved in that mess when neither is targeting mainstream consumers in the short-term anyway? Toyota is refining in the process, using early-adopters to provide real-world feedback in the meantime.

Consider the obsession with SUV offerings. It seemed absurd 2.5 years ago when Toyota revealed a change of focus for Prius. The Prime model was aimed at families who have now grown up, hence seating to become more a sport/luxury design. Since RAV4 now targets the "family hauler" buyer, why not? We see the entire industry shifting away from sedan market for that very reason. In now makes a lot of sense that Toyota embraced the shift; after all, it will be easier to adapt a SUV to carry a larger battery-pack than a sedan.

Watch what happens with the market as tax-credit phaseout is triggered. Also, keep in mind the potential mid-cycle upgrades Toyota has had to consider for Prius Prime, as well as Prius itself. Change is coming.

 

Part 2 of your inquiry is more complicated. It has to deal with infrastructure... which is beyond a mess.

Most people have little to no understanding of how recharging actually works. Sadly, that includes many enthusiasts. So when it comes to plug-in hybrid operation, there's a huge void filed with misconception, confusion, and discouragement. We have much to address still before the inhibition of dealers to stock inventory subsides.

It starts with education of what is needed for recharging at home. Do you know? If you are lucky, there will be a standard household 120-volt outlet available in your garage for recharging. That works well for charges overnight for one vehicle, but what if you have two? Most people have no idea what it takes to run another line for more electricity. That unknown creates trepidation, enough to deter the pursuit of even just a first plug-in vehicle. Why bother with the extra expense?

Public recharging is in the earliest stages still. We see a lot of standard uncertainty combined with a user-base poorly informed about what kW and kWh represent. Not understanding efficiency measure values and charging speeds, as well as the related costs, make adoption a nightmare. How do you attract business & consumer interest when there is such a basic shortcoming of knowledge along with the lack of actual chargers to use? There's the unknown of charger-etiquette too.

 

Easy.
A Prius is a $23,000 car.
A Prius Prime is about $27,000, with about a $4,000 kickback....which is the same thing as saying its about a $23,000 car post-incentives.
A Prime "Advanced" is about a $35,000 car which means that it's still about $30,000 after the kickback money.
So....
With a Prime Advanced.....you're out on the far end of the market for a small, FWD hatch with a big battery and some tech, and dealers tend to try to buy what sells....and Prius sales are down.

Oh wait a minute....
I just noticed that you're in California.

Never mind all of that.
What I said above will generally be true in most of the other states.
BUT.....
In Caly, Prime Advanced probably ARE selling because of factors that do not exist in most of the other states that we really do not need to go into here.

Here's what really happened to YOU...
Your dealer didn't have what you wanted and so they resorted to a tactic that all dealers use in situations where they cannot immediately separate the victim from their cash:

They lied to you.
They wanted you to look at something else, which is the same thing as saying that they wanted you to BUY something else before you had a chance to go home and do a little internet research.


Surprised?

 

there were a ton of advanced's purchased by members here.

 

I don't understand OP's question. Is he/she asking specifically about Advanced trim, or Prime in general? My local Toyota dealer have over 30 PRIMES (all 2018) in stock, and have 7 Advanced. It is far more number than, 2018 Nissan Leaf I am currently searching. My local Nissan dealer has one, yeah, only one Leaf in stock.

 

i haven't seen dianne post in awhile, i wonder if supply is constrained in cali?

 

Perhaps @DianneWhitmire is dealing with brush fire air pollution ... a by-product global warming that dried out the hillside brush and scrub?

The legacy of decades climate denial.

Bob Wilson

 

With either of our plug-in hybrids, I continue to drive and fire up the engine.

It looks to me that if Toyota adopted either the 2170 or 18650 cell, the height of the battery pack would be flush with or lower than the rear lip and a version could fit in the empty wheel well, probably a double height. Put the same engine engineers who fixed the 1.8L engine cooling and the problem is solved.

Bob Wilson

 

Actually I also think Advance trim is much less available, compared with Plus / Premium trim, at least in southern California.

For example, search zip code 90245 on:
Toyota Inventory | New Toyota Inventory Search

Here are the inventory:
Plus: 146
Premium: 123
Advance: 13

So only <5% is in advance trim.

 

I just checked the inventory here in Upstate New York where I live. And all they have is the Prius prime plus.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Where in Cali are you?

There’s no shortage of advances here in the Bay Area....unless you were stuck on a certain color

Congrats on finding your prime.... what color did you get?

 

There is boat load of Advanced Prime's at the dealers here in Seattle. More Advanced models than the lower end models.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.