My Concerns with the New Prius

I think it goes back to a little while ago (haha) when gas was $0.25/gal. (I remember gas wars when I was a student a few years ago.) To make it look cheaper than the next station, one might have seen gas at 24.9/gal.

Retail does this as well. That item of clothing isn't $25.00, it's $24.99.

With gas so cheap back then, measured in cents/gallon, the third decimal was used.

At least that's my theory...

 

Depends on the grid. Where you are at, the average plug in emits less CO2 in use than even a Prius. While the plug in has higher emissions from production, the use difference means their net emissions are better in just a few years.

And the US grid has been getting cleaner. That isn't happening for gasoline. The carbon emissions could be increasing with sources like tar sands. It could decrease with a renewable gasoline. Porsche is building a plant for such. For $10+(plus tax) a gallon, your Prius could emit less carbon than a BEV.

 

How is the new prius a lot safer than the Gen 2?

 

Gen 2 was not subjected to the variety of tests that newer models go through. Likewise, Gen 4 had more rigorous testing than Gen 3. There is no published data for Gen 5 yet. One of the big updates is collision avoidance systems, rather than just collision survival systems.

For 5 minutes of details:
2008 Toyota Prius
2015 Toyota Prius
2022 Toyota Prius

 

So the safety advantage is software based? I am more interested in the safety improvement from crash tests.

 

TSS 3.0+ vs. TSS −1.0: a difference of four generations of the Toyota safety system.

Gen 2 Prius does not even have ESC, right? It is a crucial safety system.

Moreover, with older cars, even the safety belts and airbags might not deploy when needed because they are old as far as you know.

 

Above the base trim of the 2005 had ESC.

 

Not loving the styrofoam compartments under the cargo floor. For those of us in northern climates, that's a great place for survival gear storage and other winter stuff like tow ropes. I doubt that styrofoam will hold up to the repeated shoving in of heavy and sharp items. Plus all the small compartments aren't good for bulky clothing. Hopefully this is a pre-production thing or else the aftermarket will step in.

 

I agree and wonder what’s up with it. Is it just there to make the load floor level with the folded rear seats and why do the XLE and Limited have 3.5 cu ft less cargo room than the LE? Is it because the LE doesn’t have those chunks of styrofoam and they lowered the load floor down to the space saver spare?

 

I have to say that after the initial flood of drive reviews I’m a good bit less enamored with the new Prius. Here are my disappointments:
Lack of headroom
Less of cargo space than previous models
The 19” wheels and 5mpg less on the XLE and Lmited
The restricted rear window vision and smaller side windows.
The ugliness of the driver instrument binnacle
The piano black! That no longer seems upscale, it’s just a dust and print magnet.
Paint options are pretty boring.

They may be embarrassed by the LE
I’ve only seen a couple of quick views of the 17” wheels and covers and am not impressed.
I have yet to see what the LE cloth seats look like.

 

Or hey: a spare.

 

Hello.
I like the new Prius with a few caveats:

- I was waiting for a real updated navigation system, which enters your journey and the artificial intelligence studies how best to use battery energy to save fuel by knowing curves, ascents and descents.

- Tire noise continues to be loud especially on the highway from the video feedback. Camry is better in comfort and sound insulation and fuel economy is similar.

- The trunk is smaller than the Prius 4. The white polystyrene finish, if you lift the carpet, screams economy like the absence of 2 glass in the tailgate due to a plastic band. Will they have also removed the active grille air shutter present in Prius4?

- JBL sound seems the same crappy as in the Prius4 (money spent for nothing).

I think I will also evaluate the Honda Civic which is also faster and quieter in the passenger compartment.
Too bad, I'm a fan of the Prius. Or maybe, we have to wait the 1800cc engine for the true Prius 5.

 

grille shutters are standard on all trims, se danny's breakdown tables

 

I noticed that as well. I'm assuming there will be 'mods' done to remove the compartments and lower the floor for more overall cargo space....perhaps even from a 3rd party company ( i.e. - an insert that makes the floor flat but at a much lower level ).

 

Hit the nail on the head. Those were my main concerns as well. Mainly the headroom and rear visibility. I’m 6’4” and fit perfectly in my gen 3, even the rear isn’t terrible. I’d go for the XLE but don’t want 19’s. I think those should be an option and not standard in the XLE.

The reality is, in my opinion, the compact hybrid is dying. Toyota makes so much damn money off the Rav 4 that it’s obvious they’ve lost site of what Prius customers really want. Which I don’t really blame them from a money perspective. But as a Gen 3 owner I’m pretty bummed. Cargo space is down, visibility is down, headroom is down, but hey it looks cool.

 

One of the drive videos I saw reported the basic LE trim will come with the compact spare, while the higher trims are "treated" to styrofoam.

Since the battery is no longer there, I don't understand why they would think people would prefer styrofoam to an actual spare (to save a couple pounds?), or at least more useful storage under the floor than a couple cutouts in the styrofoam. All indications seem to be the cargo area is the same, so it should be something easy to retrofit? (likely even with the same threaded mount in the floor, since I doubt the would produce different metal). I wonder if maybe Toyota will offer a compact spare as an "upgrade" accessory at point of sale? Worst case though, I would imagine there will be some third parties all over this to make a more functional under-floor solution (i.e. thinner leveling option to extend space, etc).

I am curious to see if the Prime will have the same styrofoam or something else. I imagine the EVSE will have a space there.

Interestingly, Canada will not even be offering the LE trim at all - only XLE and Limited. So every 2023 Prius in Canada will have 19" tires, Softex, and no (factory) spare... sorry @Mendel Leisk .

 

Where did they put the rear motor for the eAWD models?

About the spare tire. So, @Mendel Leisk, when was the last time you had to use a spare on your vehicle? For the last 5+ years, I have owned Gen4 PP, I carried a full-size spare in the rear seat footwell. Did not use it. Not even a single time. If I tally the number of times I had non-fixable flats I had in the last 40+ years on two cars we drove, there were probably less than 5 times. For two cars, that would be less than once every 16 years.

I am sure there were some people who encountered more flat tires, but it all comes down to statistics and the risk tolerance of the owners. If the chance of getting flat is low enough and willing to take that slight risk, people will accept the cars without a spare. We are now a single-car household, so I am less willing to go without a spare on our only car. Fortunately, our newly purchased Escape PHEV came with a factory option of compact spare already added which is mounted directly over a tiny 12v battery that sits on the floor of the cargo under the deck. The cost was +$110 already added to the MSRP. And I read somewhere that this was Standard in all models until this year.

Yep, the spare tires are no longer Standard equipment on many new cars.

 

With 4th gen, in the hollow the spare would have occupied.

Yeah I’ve thought about that. I did need ours once, I’d guesstimate 2013~2014 (can check).

 

Yeah, I knew that. Maybe it was not a rear motor but an inverter? But anyway, my question was about the Gen5 Prius AWD. Where did they put the rear motor and/or inverter? Is there space there one can put a spare tire now?