Looking into buying a Prius

That's certainly a good point, but it kind of gives validity to what the dealer said, "worrying about charging" - forget to plug overnight and poof, you are back to the "self-charging" regime the morning after. With an L2, I would guess the Prime needs about an hour.

 

Do you mean drive it like a hybrid for a day?

Too, I could probably forget to set the timer for a 2 hour charge as easy as a 5 hour charge, lol.

 

I don't know if I entirely agree with this.
Let me explain.
Toyota has done a great job over the entire existence of Prius of making what was a very unique vehicle part of the mainstream. It's no longer considered a weird science experiment or even that exotic of a vehicle.
BUT...
As far as any vehicle that can be purchased by the masses, and owned and operated, I would argue the Prius still in reality IS a pretty drastically different vehicle.
The Hybrid reality, the blending of both electric propulsion and ICE compulsion, the engineering to create low emissions, and all the components needed to make it all work, IMO represent a vehicle that while it has become mainstream, is really still an engineering feat. There is a lot more to a Toyota Prius, than a Nissan Leaf.
Full EV's might have the perception of being more of a unique machine, but I think that has more to do with their mainstream acceptance not yet having reached the success of the Prius.

Also however, to a new Hybrid Owner or someone considering a Hybrid I would say, The Prius is amazing in what it is...but also how Toyota designed it to be used pretty much just like a normal vehicle. You pretty much can just get in it and drive it like a normal ICE with very little adaptation really needed.

But I guess I kind of think of the Prius as the "weird" science experiment.....that crossed over to mainstream acceptability and success.

 

to the op, I was in the same boat that you were in. I was trying to decide between the prime and the regular prius. When I finally went and compared apples to apples (XLE models) I realized that the prime offered more of what I wanted vs what was offered by the regular prius

1) large screen was an advantage. I never thought I would care, until I got it. It is so much easier to view the maps on
2) apple car play. not a must have for some people, but for me it was a definate
3) native nav. Must have for me
4) all electric capabilities (my commute to work is 10.5 miles)
5) state and local tax incentives. I live in new york so they give you 1100 back directly

now for others this may not break the deal. For me it was a no brainer... I love the car and it is light years ahead of the gen II and Gen III models

 

I have a regular Prius and a Prius Prime. I LOVE my Prime! I love the fact that I can plug in and drive it 25 miles on electric when I want to. I go back and forth to work all week on 2 charges. I usually only put gas in my Prime once a month. If I forget to charge it its no big deal. It still runs like the regular Prius and gets better gas mileage than my old Prius did.

 

Wow, this made me want a Prime .... (un)fortunately, I shouldn't need a new car for probably 5-6 years

 

Almost the same here. Except the last time I bought gas was mid August. I have just under 1,900 miles on this tank so far and it's reading a whisker under 1/2 full. Plugging in is just a habit and if I can't or if I forget, so what? I suppose in November I'll probably have to try to remember how to put gas in it again.

The only trade-off I can see is a little less storage than the regular Prius and the unavailability of a spare tire. I have a donut tire cinched down in the cargo area to a d-ring I installed. Otherwise, it's like the ultimate Prius.

 

With the tax credits available here, a Prime is cheaper than a base model Prius but comparably equipped to a fully loaded Prius.

Electric driving is awesome in the city. I like to play a game of, "can I get across the intersection before the person on their phone in the car next to me even notices the light changed". Usually I win or get pretty close.

Not burning gas is nice. I can't remember last time I went to a gas station (a few months ago I guess?). I stopped keeping track of my mileage because there's no point.

I charge on 120V everyday, just a regular outlet in my garage. It charges overnight, and if I need to go somewhere before it's charged I just use a little gas. If I can't charge it's about as efficient as a regular Prius.

If people don't want a Prime over a regular Prius it's probably just because they don't know what it is (with a few exceptions like the reduced cargo space). Dealers do a terrible job of selling these cars. They won't tell you about it if you go in shopping for a car, and they won't tell you about the tax credits. You basically have to know exactly what you want and ask for it.

 

Gatorfan, I would buy another Prime in a heartbeat. I drove my Gen3 non plug-in prius for 270K miles before I sold it and purchased my 2018 Prime. I drive 65 miles each way to work. My drive from home is a lot of downhill so I end up getting ~44 miles before the ICE kicks in. On my way home I get ~30 miles of electric. I charge at home overnight with 110 volt. At work we have a 220v charger that we share. Like others said if you forget to charge its no big deal, gas engine is there to get you where you want. I have almost 25K miles on it so far averaging 105mpg. My solar at home offsets most of what I use, and at work we pay $10 a month to charge here. In California I can drive solo in the commuter lane for the next 3 years since its a PHEV. Good luck on your decision, I don't think you can go wrong buying any kind of Prius.

 

In my situation, the benefit is I haven't had to visit a gas station in 6 months and I still have a quarter tank left!

Also, if you can remember to plug in you phone every night, you can remember to plug in your Prime. Every morning I start with a full tank of electrons.

Sadly, this level of dealership ignorance is common.

Edit: Although I love the Prime and would recommend it to anyone, you may also want to check out the 2020 Corolla Hybrid. It gets Prius-level fuel economy at a slightly cheaper price, plus it better blends in as a "normal" car.

 

I suddenly realized how funny and ignorant that dealer is. Ask the dealer if the regular Prius can go this far on this much gas.



And my stats are not really exceptional. Several people here buy even less gas than I do.

 

Here's the status on my current tank (filled up in April 2019):


I'm hoping to beat 500 mpg for this tank.

 

Ha! Excellent. I knew there were people here who had better EV percentages. Mine will pass 2,000 miles tomorrow, but I had to use a little more gas the past couple days due to some long-distance errands. Still well over 3/8 of a tank, tho.

 

And the 2020 Corolla hybrid has lane keep assist which no Prius Prime has.

 

Hopefully you will also get the 2 liter hybrid drivetrain that we can get in the Corolla and C-HR.
Here in the Netherlands you get a free upgrade to the 2 liter the next two months. Sadly I couldn't wait to place the order since my old car had to go. My Corolla was ordered July 2nd and was registered on September 11th.

 

Yes, but the hybrid Corolla is a sedan, so it doesn't have the hatch, and it's 1.5" (40 mm) lower than the current Prius. IMO these would limit its appeal to average US drivers, who have been shifting towards CUV styling for both aesthetics and practicality.

If Toyota had to put a hybrid synergy drive into a smaller-than-RAV4, non-Prius vehicle in the US, they should have probably gone with either Corolla hatchback or CHR.

 

I've always found "some" explanation was needed, when someone's borrowed our 2010.

 

Almost every weekend I drive 240 miles round trip to take care of my mom so that's where I use most of my gas. LOL