Tomorrow I'll be driving the new Prius Prime at Toyota's national press event, so let me know what I can try to find out for you from the Chief Engineer and other Toyota folks tonight and tomorrow. Shoot away!
I am most curious about whether we will get a 6.6Kw charger, or the 3.5Kw that it sounds like Japan got… would be great to get a ~2hr charge on my L2. Also curious if the solar roof will be available in North America.. heard it was not, but the prototype I saw at the Toronto Auto Show in Feb had one, which was odd. And the obvious one… When will it be finally released? Thanks Danny.
Just a couple or three I heard the cars ordered with the Solar roof may be delayed a bit. If so when they'll start shipping? What is the power output of the solar roof? Any idea of how often Over-The-Air (OTA) updates will be done and if the car has to be on a plug or just off?
Will they be sharing a release date? I have an appointment tomorrow morning to order my Limited AWD… and I want to know if I should hold on for the Prime!
I'm interested to know what their production numbers will be. Not sure if they'll answer for Canada, but USA estimated sales numbers will give me a good idea of what's in store for us up north.
Copying some things over from my regular-Prius request: Does HV Mode allow some flexibility in battery discharge on the mountains and highways to support the gas engine, à la Volt Mountain Mode / Clarity HV Mode? (Or does EV Auto make more use of the gas engine than in the Gen 4 Prime?) Are there more display options to see some more numerical details, e.g. engine and battery power output/input in kW and battery % SOC (unlikely as this might be)? Is the Prime battery liquid-cooled? Is there a battery heater and/or heat pump? Can active driving assistance features (e.g. Proactive Driving Assist, Lane Change Assist) be turned off? And, of course, how does the driving experience in HV differ from the Gen 5 regular Prius? Thanks, Danny!!
The owner's manual for the US-market Prime has already been released (linked in its own thread) and it looks like the charger will be 3.5kW, sadly.
Thanks… not the answer I was hoping for, but not a huge deal either, particularly if it is in exchange of a lower cost. I will look up the manual, I didn’t know it was already out. Thanks!
+1, good questions. Does this mean North America *will* be getting the solar roof after all? Assuming this, will the Charge Timer allow for charging to a specific %? (I don’t believe the outgoing model supported it… I know my PiP doesn’t). Just thinking that if the solar roof *is* available, then having ability to set 90 or 95% max charge (on a quick touch) would be convenient if one were to want to leave some overhead when knowing the car will be parked anyway…
Cleanmpg posted some of the pre-release photos from Toyota for the event, and they include the solar roof.
No one here seems to have heard anything about any issue with solar roof production. I can tell you availability dates on April 4. Check back April 4. OTA updates seem to be destined mostly to be for the Multimedia system (maps, features, etc). It does not sound like the car will need to be plugged in to receive OTA updates. I can share it on April 4. April 4 10,000 units in 2023, 15,000 units for 2024. Let me find out about the way that's programmed in the Gen 5 Prime. Battery % SOC CAN be shown. I was surprised, but your post made me dig through looking for it. I'll have a video showing how to access it on April 4. Nothing was mentioned. Let me find out. Yes, I'm fairly certain all driving assistance features can be turned off. I'll let you know April 4 when I post my HV vs Prime thoughts.
So it sounds like April 4 will be the big day when the Prime will be officially announced, including packages and pricing… or is that only the date of an embargo being lifted? Any idea if the same date/timing applies for Canada?
Ok, I chatted with the Chief Engineer tonight and got some answers. The Prius Prime uses the connected mapping system to help determine when to save SOC and when to use it based on the terrain and distance of your trip. It does pass data through at least from Google Maps (I know because a message popped up a couple of times today for me about the connected service). The user cannot control it via any button or interface. The battery is liquid temp controlled via coolant, and the heating system is a heat pump. 10,000 for US, though it sounds like the US is getting the lion's share of the production. I asked if those numbers were based on expected sales or production constraints, he said it was a mix of both. I would guess that Canada will be releasing information around the same time. Their press is coming in Friday for their drives. April 4 is the day that embargo ends on driving impressions, pricing, and all of the other details.
