Standard Prius With AWD Coming!

I wonder if it will work like the AWD on the older Highlander Hybrid. My son has a 2007 model, and the way it is designed, the hybrid transaxle is connected only to the front wheels, like on the Prius, and there is additional electric motor for the rear wheels. So the ICE cannot power the rear wheels. I don't know if the rear electric motor can do regeneration, or if it behaves strictly as a motor.

 

The AWD option has been available since the Prius' release in other markets. It is not on the Prime/PHV anywhere.

It is like the Rav4/Highlander hybrid system, but lower power, so works at lower speeds only.

 

<AHEM> Why does this appeal to efficient, plugin, Prius Prime owners?

Bob Wilson

 

cool!

 

Maybe useful in snow country? But otherwise, why do we need AWD in a Prius.

 

to get around the traffic stuck on the tarmac during the apocalypse.

 

You got a point, there.

But the Kardashian girls just called their private helicopter.

 

To improve the small tow rating we don't get in the US?

 

Because starting out on ice, especially on hills, can be exceptionally slow (like 30 seconds to get to 12mph).

Remember, this is probably E-Four which does almost nothing to efficiency.

 

Don't care.

There seems to be a near-absolute disconnect, between owner complaints and wish lists, and what they come out with.

 

E-Four in the US was my number 1 wish-list item, and it didn't materialize in my 2017 Prime.

 

There is a certain logic to building what your missed-opportunity non-customers are buying instead of your car, rather than building what the guy who did buy your car says he wants next.

 

A friend of mine wanted a Prime but his wife won't tolerate any car that doesn't have 4WD, so they bought a Subaru instead.

 

Yes, it's pretty obvious to me that there is demand for (essentially) a PHEV Outback. Given Toyota's stake in Subaru, it's kind of a toss-up whether the eventual result will wear a Toyota badge or a Subaru badge.

As a long-time Outback owner, I'd like to point out that one of the strongest selling points (historically across multiple generations of the car) is that Subaru shied away from technology in the interest of keeping sticker prices low. They don't include a given feature until they are shamed into including it, and usually by then the cost of including it has dropped to background levels. That's a difficult challenge when electrification still adds so much to the bottom line. They know that a lot of the market for the car will evaporate if the base model goes much over $27k.