Featured RAV4 Plug-in Coming In 2020 (Page 4 for deets)

Absolutely. That is part of the package of safety features in all 2019-2020 Rav4s. They wouldn't cut it out for the Prime. Not everybody finds it all that useful at this stage.

 

Can't sell a car without a bunch of TLAs these days.

 

Good catch Tideland, however did Toyota Canada edit the Press Release?? Try the link again, it no longer mentions the 17.8kWh spec. Did someone let the cat out of the bag when they were not supposed to? Lol.

It does look like a sweet vehicle tho, and has all the other things I wish the “other Prime” had, like a moonroof, more cargo capacity and a rear wiper. (Not deal killers, but nice-to-haves in my book). 300hp is nice if not a bit of overkill IMO, but I’d take it.

Now about the price.....

 

I think there is absolutely no point in having ICE in a small efficient car like Prius. From a price perspective the pure EV with 40 kWh will be so much cheaper than PHEV with 18 kWh battery, that it does not make any sense in doing that. Prius has only two option, go with the solar cells and small battery for people that don't have option of home charging or go with with full EV.

Also one would think that "refuel" time is determined by charge speed alone, but it can be completely different story if you are charging an EV that gets 130 MPGe at rate of 150 kW or if you are charging big inefficient pick-up truck that gets 70 MPGe.

So a plug-in hybrid makes more sense on the SUV and truck segment (from price and refuel time perspective), but it will have very little sense in a small cars, because a small cheap battery is all you need in small efficient car.

 

Except Toyota claims they do not have the battery supply chain to produce full BEV in the needed quantities.

 

As a devoted lover of station wagons, I'm all too familiar with the pain of seeing all the cool automotive tech I want and none of it available in the package I want.

I'm not sure I'd expect much for discounts. Toyota has already reacted to tepid demand for the Prime, they aren't shipping many in. I'm sure there will be a few deals but if you want to find $5k in the glovebox you'll still have to visit a GM dealer.

The Prius started even smaller, in a body that replaced the Tercel, and was eventually succeeded by the Yaris. Meanwhile the Prius hopped platforms and scaled up a size. To take your idea to its logical conclusion, they would discontinue the Prius altogether, and roll out a Yaris-sized (if not derived) BEV.

 

Yes at this moment, but next gen Prius will come out ~2023, plenty of time build up the supply chain. And once again Prius does not need 100 kWh battery like an SUV does, it needs 40-60 kWh battery.

Toyota did the investment in Orocobre a lithium miner, as far as I know they are already heavily invested in Nickel mines, also a crucial component of LiIon batteries.

Remember Toyota has a roadmap of bringing 1 milion zerro emission vehicle per year till 2030. They are starting with 2020 and they will ramp up production steadily. But Surely in 2023 they will have to have capacity for at least 300,000 EVs I hope even more.

 

..... unless you & your company's interests are in China, where fortunately for your company, China seems to be more forward-thinking.
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oh but it is .....
7 or 8 seat configuration, 33 all electric miles, ventilated / cooled & heated leather seats, heated steering wheel, Lane assist, smart cruise control, park assist, auto emergency braking, 6.6kW charging speed, video screens on backs side of front seats for kiddie entertainment with Bluetooth headsets, etc etc. It may be just a tad taller in height than you recall, but hey, back when the old fashioned station wagon was popular, that generation of people were a lot shorter anyways.

And - after a full year of driving - which tallied up to nearly 8,500 miles - our average mpg, including local mountain trips, & one interstate adventure, fuel sipping is still higher than the standard Prius.

Not too shabby, considering some of it's non plug-in cousins will get mileage in the teens around town. With the revival of large vehicles, the potential fuel savings is much greater in a land barge, percentage wise than in a compact car.
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@hill

*sigh*

That's a minivan. I'll agree that it can functionally replace a 1970s full-size station wagon, but... it isn't one. And those 70s fullsize wagons are so long gone that I'm fully adapted to their mid-sized replacements. I've got nothing against minivans, but nobody's going to give me a 35% discount on the grounds that I only need 65% of their capacity.

I've rented the current gas-only version of that van a few times, it's a fine hauler. Leaps and bounds ahead of the earlier chrysler vans. But it's no station wagon.

This is a lot closer.

 

Wow they might not call it a minivan preferring the 'wagon' word, and I know there's a weird stigma just saying 'minivan' with many people, but yeah same thing only shorter. Even the Prius v, toyota refused to say what it was.
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I agree that the term 'minivan' has developed a very unfortunate and undeserved stigma. From my point of view it was never the car, it was the driver. And now all the former minivan drivers have SUVs, so...

The more I study it, the more I think I'm likely to replace one car with two. I'm leaning towards a secondhand Volvo XC70 for long trips, hauling & towing, and a secondhand Leaf or Spark for local use. There's a good chance I can get both out of a $30k budget, maybe even $25k.

 

That might be accurate but operating costs will more or less double, and that's not even accounting for the repairs.

 

How about the 5 trips I've taken in mine that were away from charging stations?

 

I have yet to do a detailed workup on estimated operating costs, but I suspect you're correct.

I'm not terribly worried about that though, because the annual miles split between them wouldn't be that much. My gut says I'll catch up by avoiding the steepest part of the depreciation curve on a new vehicle and the higher insurance premiums that go with it.

Over the years I've learned that I'm largely immune to the charms of a new car. I do most maintenance and some outright repair myself. I've only bought one new car, our Prius last year. I have to say that experience was underwhelming, and it wasn't the car's fault.

EDIT: adding, I've also noticed that the most expensive car selection choices I've made were all the result of trying to find one car that could do everything on my list. For the first time I have enough parking space to try it the other way.

And adding further detail: our "motor pool" would probably look like this:

Prius c: 20k miles/yr, ~350 miles per trip

Secondhand Wagon: 4k miles/yr, ~150-400 miles per trip

Secondhand small EV: 3k miles/yr, <25 miles per trip.

 

I guess they could buy batteries from Tesla ...

 

I've gone places in my Prime where I wouldn't have made it if I didn't have at least 140kWh of battery.

 

There are other factors in play. A smaller battery will drop down to a slower rate sooner, regardless of the car's efficiency. Then the construction of the pack, or manufacturer's desire to coddle it or not, has an effect.

The 2020 Ioniq Electric is getting a bigger pack. Its max sustained charge rate is just over 40kW, which is far below the smaller battery model's.

That's my plan. Though the BEV will be an Ioniq or Bolt.

Insurance will be an increase, and perhaps tires. The Camry sees around 18k miles a year. The ~13k miles for commuting will be going on the BEV. The thirstier, maintenance requiring ICE car will only see 5000 or so a year.