Why a Prius over an EV?

welcome!
i don't fit the bill, but can't resist:

prius gets great mpg with low emissions.

plug in prius is the best of both worlds.

pure ev requires a place to charge, has limited range and typically costs a bit more with fewer choices.

eventually, when the stars align, it will be pure ev instead of prius.

 

Definitely because I don't have to plug the Prius in. Especially if I'm planning a long road trip, that range is a great advantage.

 

I bought a Prime (the plug-in model of the Prius) because a full EV doesn't meet my needs. I typically do short trips around town on a daily basis, but I also occasionally (3-4 times per year) take long road trips (3000 miles plus) out in the wilds of the US and Canada. A full EV doesn't give me the range or the "fuel" availability I need to make those trips.

For my needs, a Prime is ideal. Almost all EV around town (just a gallon or so in three months) and no range anxiety and excellent fuel economy on long trips.

 

Because of the infrastructure and time restrictions associated with pure E.V.

 

We are a little over a year into our first Prius, first hybrid car.

We didn’t even consider an EV. My wife has an unusual commute that no EV could support properly, so that never entered into the equation. We just wanted a high quality subcompact, and that turned out to be a Prius c.

 

I'm in Australia - infrastructure apart from main centres is zero. Yes, other places are listed - but when you look closer, they're a 240 volt outlet available from 8am to 5pm, which will take several days to charge a TESLA. TESLA has some chargers which only work on TESLAs, but they're few and far between. But in my PRIUS, I could drive around the continent tomorrow with 1000km range (well, not ALL tomorrow - it'd take about 2 weeks fairly constant driving). Australia has about 0.02% of it's cars as EVs.

Cost - a PRIUS is $40,000, a COROLLA Hybrid (Hatch here) is $32,000. Last I checked, a TESLA S is close to $150,000. I believe NISSAN Leaf is about to be released again - as well as IONIQ - but they're $60-70,000.

On the Government "GreenVehicleGuide" - a PRIUS comes up with lifetime emissions less than ½ a TESLA. Most of our power isn't clean - and even Wind or SOLAR isn't zero emission - creating them has a carbon footprint. And that goes for just about every country in the world.

PRIUS - in 4 generations has improved fuel use (and emissions output) by between 10–13% per generation. By that logic - next generation will be another 10–13%, next generation another 10–13%. In all but the cleanest tiny minority of countries, a PRIUS is cleaner than dirty coal powered EVs.

Bear in mind that there are only a few EVs in the world - a tiny, tiny fraction on a global scale. It’s slowly growing - but there are still 60yr old cars out there in regular use in some 3rd world countries.

Anywhere without reliable power (or power at all - which is still a sizeable proportion of the world) - which is still a vast number of places - forget PHEVs or EVs.

Hybrid - great technology, uses ½ the fuel of a similar size petrol car.

Looking globally - no, not declining - but growing very, very slowly. 80 million cars expected to be sold this year - with a bit over 1 million Electrics.

There is estimated to be 1 billion cars (and ½ billion motorbikes/scooters) on the road today - that’s an awful lot of Li-ION batteries to make - and to work out how to recycle them.

Oh - and whether we ever get a worldwide charging infrastructure for a couple of billion vehicles - I'd be surprised. Maybe Hydrogen? Also, don't forget the Petrol and Diesel cars, with hybrid technology is getting more and more efficient and clean.

 

First Prius. Bought a Prime, so I can plug-in theoretically, but can't most of the time. That said, even if I could plug in, I also like to take roadtrips where charging is difficult and inconvenient compared to the existing gasoline network.

While I'm still paying for gas, it's still pretty cheap considering that over the lifetime of my ownership, I've gotten near 60 MPG (hand calc).

It's a great interim car until we get better EV options and EV charging in general. This car was also near 10k off MSRP--in my case, Toyota gave me a $5000 rebate, $4200 or so from the federal rebate at tax time, and $1100 off from New York State that was redeemable at point of sale.

 

Toyota has perfected their Hybrid power train over 20 years to focus primarily on low emissions and secondarily on efficiency.
In addition to the dearth of charging infrastructure, in some areas of the country it is less expensive to drive a Hybrid than to pay the electricity to run an EV.
Here in rural Virginia, a Hybrid makes the most sense. This is my first Prius but my son is driving his second one. He drove his first one for 10 years and the only maintenance outside expected consumables was a pair of headlight bulbs. It even had its original brakes when he traded it in on the larger Prius v..
The well designed Hybrid needs less maintenance that a traditional car.

The salesman that sold me my 2017 Prius still drives his 2001 Prius. They last a L-O-N-G time.

 

I bought my first Prius eleven years ago - a 2008 Prius - and recently replaced it with a 2018 Prius 4. I prefer the basic hybrid and PHEV (Plug-in Prius) over the EV, mainly for their range. Also, the hybrid and PHEV comprise the ONLY fuel efficient vehicles that I know of that can be outfitted as campers and can run AC overnight. An EV will run down it's battery running AC, conventional (ICE) vehicles are equally unsuitable, and Recreation Vehicles are notorious gas guzzlers. So really my only choices were the basic hybrid Pruis and it's PHEV equivalent. I chose the former simply because I prefer to stick with proven designs, and I view the plug-in hybrid as more of a transition with limited EV capability and whose design still need to be refined.

 

We bought our first hybrid (3rd Generation Prius) a little over a year ago because an all-electric car will not let us take the long trips that we occasionally take.

 

I don't meet the criteria...but I bought a Prius plugin (as my 4th Prius). This was in 2012. After plugging in and enjoying the EV mode, even though it was only a few miles, it encouraged me to go full electric. I leased a Nissan Leaf for 3 years, while waiting for the Tesla Model 3. I timed the 3-year lease almost perfectly...I got the Model 3 about a month after the leased expired and have been driving the Model 3 and the Prius plugin the past year.
Most people tend to over estimate how many times and how far they need to drive to make a full BEV a practical car.

Mike

 

I don’t have charging stations between my work and home

My state doesn’t give me any tax cuts for EV

Most dealers don’t sell them in my state

I drive 80+miles daily

 

What is your "other hybrid"?

 

As a Prime owner I fully agree with this view point. Cheers.

 

I'm interested in what you've done in outfitting for Camping. While it's Off this topic - maybe you could post a new topic on what you've done sometime. There have been several others who have done so. @JimmiPri did some posts and YouTube videos - but he hasn't been on PriusChat for quite a while.

 

It pains me quite a lot that I do not own an EV, PHEV or BEV. I have eight 220 outlets in my garage, two of them 3 phase. (for a welder, I bet) However, I serviced an area of Mississippi where the only EVSEs are in my home town. Since my day was often 330 miles of travel, this ruled out BEVs until very recently. Had Toyota made a Prius v PHEV, that would have been ideal for me, as I need a station wagon/small SUV worth of cargo space.




(Gen 2 Prius that convinced me I needed a v station wagon)

Region One Mental Health Center :: Home
3 offices in Clarksdale, 2 in Dublin, 1 in Webb, 2 in Charleston, 2 in Marks, 2 in Tunica, MS. As I was called, I made repair calls. Besides no EVSEs, most of these towns have no computer stores, I carried everything they might need.
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If I needed a new vehicle today to service my clients, The Rav4 Hybrid would have to compete with a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV or a Chrysler Pacifica PHEV. I suspect I would choose the Toyota as they seem to be durable, somewhere between granite and basalt. But that leaves me still looking at eight 220 outlets in my garage.

 

I can think of 8 tools I could leave plugged in available. 3 homes ago, I had about that number, could leave the 2 chargers, the welder, bench saw, sander etc connected continually, just flick the switch and they're accessible. I actually wished I had more.

 

I believe one of the previous owners of my home repaired vending machines, so needed welders, benders, drills, routers, etc. I would cheerfully power a car. Prius v Prime, RAV 4 Prime, Highlander Prime, I am ready! I have never owned a Mitsubishi and my last Chrysler product did not go well, (1977 Plymouth Volaré station wagon) so I am inclined to stay with Toyota.