Some observations Ive made about my 2013 Pip vs my coworkers 2016 Chevy Volt

Yeah, just like every other car, they've all got their differences. The best scenario depends on your usage. I don't know of all of the different models at this point but essentially my views personally are kinda like:
If you can afford a Tesla and deal with iffy reliability and the inevitable increases in planning/time for trips over hundreds of miles, that would be good.
Otherwise if you're going hundreds of miles or more per day there's not really anything that beats a Prius for MPG. I've got a '12 PIP that I've had for a month or so now and put about 6K miles on now doing Uber in a hilly town. It works great because I get great gas mileage when on the ICE, and then the larger battery doesn't run out of room down the big hills and then gives me a couple miles of cross town EV driving when I reach the bottom.
Obviously the Prime would be the step up from that other than the ones missing the 5th seat which woudn't work for Uber. But my next planned vehicle will be an AWD Prius just because I'm REALLY going to miss my old Subaru once the snow starts covering the roads and I'm climbing hills.

I had a 13' Ford C-Max Energi before the Subaru. Never could love that car, but I attribute that to Ford's engineering more than anything else. It was nice though. Basically the same as the PIP except there was half the trunk space, twice the battery and it had a resistance heater, so down to about 15F you could still do EV only as long as you kept the heat to a minimum and EV range went from around 20 down to about 10 miles.
Another thing I think I've noticed is that from what I can tell, I can't just plug in the PIP and leave it on beyond ACC mode. I.e. in the Ford, I could plug it in and leave it "ON" and use the AC, etc while it charged. From what I've seen in the PIP, it will only let you turn it to like IG ON for a minute or two and not with the AC on... I think I read I could use the remote AC while it was plugged in, but that's about it...

 

congrats and welcome!

honda clarity is another, and hundai. every mfg goes for what they think will sell. pip owners demande more ev miles, so toyota gave them prime. now prime owners want more ev.

toyota generally designs around pollution, trying to be as clean as possible. mpg's and ev range are just a byproduct.
gm's approach was a sales disaster, and they have moved on to pure bev's. phev's are expensive, having to include battery and engine, and customers demanding more and more battery.
honda has had little success, and toyota only sells prime for carb credits in cali.

ultimately, phev's are a compromise on the road to bev's. the time frame is uncertain, but the next 4 years will move things forward.

 

My friends have a Chevy Volt and they Luv, but I don't know that they ever took it on a long trip anywhere? They live in San Jose Ca, a commuter hell. RIvaled by only LA in Ca or anything near Washington DC on the East Coast!

I think they got it because they drive a Suburban and tow an AIrStream. So the fuel management would be outstanding by that standard.

And yeah as I understand them, the motor is there to keep the battery charged not to really drive the car? They can run the car on motor but they are not that great at it.

The Teslas are great cars and crazy fast, apparently? But they do seem to be put together like crap? Peeling, paint, rear windows blowing out and they can't keep a consistent fender gap from front to back or side to side?

And God Hell help you if you get in a wreck with one! Which the car will happily record. Repairs are insane! And the car will happily record a disaster if it happens. And don't hit pot hole. If you damage a wheel on a long trip? A local Tire Store will be no help, not with the Tesla S anyway. There are lot's of Tesla's out here we are 40 miles from the Gigafactory in sparks.

As a normal everyday car that you can take anywhere and not have to worry about range? The Prius beats them, hands down and the Prius Prime more so.

 

Different car makers chose different version of hybrid tech. The early Honda Insight used a small "assist" electric motor that basically provided extra boost and recaptured braking energy. It was quite effective for a 2 person car with very little storage. It should be considered a mild hybrid since the engine runs 100% of the time. The early Chevy Silverado used a beefed up starter system so that the engine could be stopped at traffic signals and cleanly restarted. Yes, this is still considered a hybrid, although it falls into the "mild hybrid" class. The Toyotas use a full hybrid that can/does run in parallel mode. That's one where the car can be moved by the engine, the battery or both as demands arise. The original Volt is, in essence, a serial hybrid in that the motor drives the wheel and the engine runs a generator that powers the electric motor and charge the battery.

Personally, I really like the Toyota PHEV design. I do long trips once a month and short trips the rest of the time. The Prius Prime is perfectly capable of handling the daily errands as well as the monthly 1000 mile round trips.

 

I purchased a Chevy Bolt back in January and recently purchased a used 2013 Prius Plug in. I am able to use the same charge cable for both vehicles which is great. When I'm driving the Prius, I feel like an 80 year old grandma on the road. The Prius is slow and sluggish, even in power mode. I guess that's the idea of being fuel efficient. When I drive my Bolt, I feel like Richard Petty in Talladega. The Bolt feels like riding a jet engine compared to the Prius. I do like the interior of the Prius over the Bolt though.