Featured Toyota Prius Prime Was U.S.’ #1 Selling Plug-In Hybrid In 2018

Odd that the Clarity is a continuous upward slope from effectively zero, reminds me of a supply or incentive constrained product.

 

In their defense of overlooking it, it appears BMW doesn't publish a breakdown of the sales into the BEV and REx models, and the combined sales are about a third of either the Prime or Clarity. Then the Rex doesn't have full power in hybrid mode, made worse by CARB's insistence, so may not be considered a direct rival to other PHEVs.

The Prime has been available for a full year longer than the Clarity.

Both are nominally available in all 50 states. We here, on a Prius forum, know about shortages in some regions. This hasn't stopped people from outside those regions from getting the car, though. We will probably have to go to a Clarity fan site to know if the car is on dealer lots in all regions or not, but since this is the model's first full year of sales, the odds are that it is not.

The Prime and Bolt had similar slopes in 2017. The nature of the federal incentives appears to shift many plug in sales towards the end of the tax year.
Monthly Plug-In EV Sales Scorecard: Historical Charts

 

The Volt was sold with California and non California emissions for a time (call it what you like)

Seems to me BMW could do the same offering an “emissions “ package that involves the crippling of the cars REX in CA but in other regions outside carb leave the hold mode and gas tank settings alone.

Why a 2 second change in a hidden menu is such a big deal is beyond me.


Looking at the upward slope for all models concerned and knowing what I know about Bolt and Prime “incentives” over time I am pretty sure the slope followed extra cash incentives on the table couple with there simply being more cars in inventory.
The Clarity was of no interest to me so I haven’t followed to see if there were regional deals on it but I’m betting there was some sort of year end financing deal.

That said although all cars are 50 state available in theory (as is the plug in Subaru that has a 250 car cap) I doubt demand is helped by folks having to fly out to get a reasonably priced car or wait 3 months on order.

 

Sounds like clarity deserves a look see.
Too bad ma dropped the tax credit

 

Many owners of the REx do get the CARB parts turned off with the help of third parties.

Any sources for that Crosstrek PHEV cap? A dealer told someone in another thread 200. A quick search just returns that the initial roll out will be to CARB states first.

Thought the 7 gallon fuel tank took it off your list.

 

We use:

• iCar - WiFi OBD interface
• BimmerCode - iPhone App to modify coding
• BimmerLink - iPhone App to look at and clear ("boat payment due") error codes

Sometimes a BMW service department will update the software and wipe out the settings. So with iCar and BimmerCode we can reset:

1. Enable starting the REx at 75% SOC
2. Enable 2.3 gallons versus 1.9 gallons available from gas tank
3. Default to middle power setting, "ECO Pro", instead of high power "COMFORT" or "ECO Pro+"
4. Allow automatic clock setting option from GPS
5. Let the key fob "Panic" enable cabin pre-conditioning, cooling in summer and heating in winter
6. Suppress various nanny bleeps and bongs

Mz. Bisco must have exceptional 'plumbing'. Mz. Wilson and her dogs like frequent gas stops and Mr. Wilson likes to filter coffee.

Bob Wilson

 

we stop every couple hundred miles, takes about 5 minutes for a bathroom break.

and fill up with gas at the two hotel stops in va and ga. each day is 500 miles, then about 200 into orlando from savannah

 

i was thinking for myself. mrs bisco will never give up her hycam. but if we can get 50 on the highway, the smaller tank in the new hycam will probably work out for our annual trek

 

i3 sales still behind the Volt - and both are winding down their production iirc? And volt only ~ 500 / month less than the prime, even tho the Volt's pretty much gone by the way side. I see our plugin Pacifica has passed the i3 too for December. Weird times.
.

 

I know. It was only the 'end of lease' that made the i3 affordable for us. But other than first model year, infantile problems, it has been (and remains) a hoot.

Bob Wilson

 

I admit, only having to fill up the ICE Camry at the point of a 600 trip is nice. But the dog and myself need to stop more often. The time getting gas during those times won't add much to what is all ready a full day of driving.

I'll consider a used long range BEV one in a few years.