Featured 2023 Prius Prime PHEV debuts with 220-hp engine and 40-mile EV range

Obviously, if GM was selling it profitably, they'd still be producing it.

 

Not only is it not hideous, it actually looks good! I'm surprised and impressed. The seats even look comfortable, not like my Gen 3.

I think I'd still prefer the RAV4 Prime as it is easier for an old goat like me to get in and out of.

 

In 33 degree weather? How many just do 15 mile trips (assuming 25% degradation for HVAC and warm up)? How many stops and cool downs and stops is normal?

Thinking of my yesterday 10 mile trip one way climb a steep hill with heater and steering wheel heat on to the barber (hair at 79+!!), Lidl, gas station, recycler and back at 65 MPH. I try not to do many one stop trips.

 

that's why it's a phev

 

Eventually I will not be taking long trips. Until that time, the PHEV model works really well. The 50 mile EV range will be plenty for me.

 

What winter range hit?

Many PHEV's have different designs. Ours uses the gas engine to supply heat in the winter. So, if you were running on EV battery and were going 45 mph in the winter the gas engine would run at idle warming the coolant to supply heat and charging the battery as well, so your electric range is minimally affected. The engine then shuts off once the coolant reaches the set temperature and starts and stops to maintain the coolant temperature.

I do realize running the gas engine while EV is available is heresy to many, but I don't mind a bit and think it is a good design taking advantage of components already in place. The engine is warmed and ready to rock and roll if you need it as an added benefit. The Hybrid batteries are inside the heated passenger compartment. Maybe advantages of a PHEV design!

I also think the Prius heat system is a good design and using a heat pump is an outstanding design.

 

And? I mention the slower charger and public paid chargers, because it is what PHEV owners here have brought up in the past. One a Volt owner. If you think they should just suck it up, and use gas instead, I agree with you. Effort put into trying not to use the engine is effort that could have made a BEV work.

Bigger battery with the same charger will mean longer charge times. A 50% in range will mean a 50% increase battery capacity. So far, the reports are a minor efficiency bump for the hybrid. If so, that will be true of the EV side. Maybe it won't have a full 50% capacity increase, but it will be close. Charge times will likely increase at a similar rate.

I think the designers did a great job of distinguishing it from the Corolla. The performance improvements are a good move. The raw efficiency ones are entering the area of diminishing returns, and people here aren't going to pay hundreds more for an additional 2mpg.

There is still a lot we don't know. No back seat photos has me concerned it is like the C-HR, which isn't a good move for a family car.

Roads here are filled with SUVs. Many sedan models were cancelled do to lost sales. GM cancelled the Impala, LeSabre, CT6, and moved to close the factory they were made at. The Volt was also assembled there. Being profitable wouldn't save it. It was sedanish and a small seller(the Prius Prime is also a small seller); moving production wasn't deemed worth the cost.

GM should have made a crossover version. They sell a Buick one in China. It seems they are planning for the end of the ICE though with the focus on BEVs.

 

Don't know total range, but there is a picture of the dash of the European model (steering wheel on the left, km/h on the speedo) and it shows 669km left on the gas and 45 km left on EV. Both gauges show less than full.

 

The supplied EVSE being Level 2 capable is becoming the norm; optional with the Bolt EV and standard with the EUV for instance.

That isn't the charger on the car though. If that is still 3.3kW with a 16 amp limit, then it will take longer to charge a higher capacity battery.

 

And it looks as if the steering wheel is in the way of seeing it?

Still, I like what I see. My Prius has been the most trouble-free car I've ever owned.

 

maybe that's supposed to be a "40mile range?
.

 

think again - if range increases twice as much it necessarily means roughly a traction pack is twice as big as before. If the pack is roughly twice as big then it will take twice as long to charge unless the charger is stepped up from 3.3 to 6 or 7kW.
Our Chevy Volt charger rate was increased to twice what the previous year would charge at Time Wise - so instead of 4 hours time charging on 240v it would only take 2 hours.
There's nothing in any of the early released literature that says the new Prius will charge twice as fast as before. That's what we are hoping for though.
.

 

I'm confused. I was consistently getting ~34 miles of EV range from my 2022 Prime Limited. The app. would also show 37 miles of range available after a full charge.

This new Prime should get close to 55 miles of EV range...

 

It is a bit confusing in the stories I've seen. Them most speculative cited an estimate of 58.5 miles based on comparison of KWh capacity of the battery and extrapolating from the UK range of 38 miles. Besides the fact that we'd need to factor in weight differences and the rolling resistance of those new fatter tires, among other things, is the base number estimate is different for the same battery in the US estimate. In the U.S., Toyota lists the EPA estimated range at 25 miles. In the UK, the article states 38 miles. That's a huge difference. If you did the same extrapolation just using battery storage capacity differences, then the EPA estimated 25 miles would become 38.6 miles. Obviously, you are beating that range, so assuming yours is better for your real world driving conditions and habits, you'd get an estimate 52.5 mile range. Again, not considering those pesky other factors like weight and rolling resistance.

 

Did the base US Rav4 Prime always have a 6.6kW charger?

As stated, 25 miles is the official EPA range for the current model. Toyota tends to understate those numbers, so many have had no problem doing better. If the 50% improvement claim for other markets is true for the US, which does have the hardest test, the EPA range will be 37 to 38 miles.

 

Somebody on Yahoo had a semi-good point, saying they would never buy a Prius (plug-in) again due to bad experience with stolen cat converter.

Has Toyota started making that cat converter more secure? Doesn't seem as big deal on our 2020 RAV4HV