2023 Prius Reviews

I just love how auto enthusiasts attempt to downplay the abilities of the car, then floor it or take a corner and then walk back the sentiment of their former statement, finishing with, "I would absolutely drive this car on a daily basis". It's almost as if they have to fight the "appliance car" history of all the previous generations with each compliment they give. Toyota just smashed this out of the park for what the average consumer on a budget is looking for.

It seems like a consensus of all the driving enthusiasts I've watched so far, is the ride of the 2023 is "smooth, quiet, and refined for the price".

 

i thought it didn't charge while driving? or is it while parked?

 

It does force charge while driving. They said it makes driving a bit noisier.

 

IMHO, that mode does not really make a sense, as you are using the gas engine as a generator to charge the battery up to something like 75% of capacity. I wonder if it is more efficient than pure hybrid driving, probably less, but that is just a guess (certainly less "green" than charging via plug).
But I think bisco point was you can't charge the battery with solar while driving ... and that's true.

 

He said the roof charged the battery, and if you had a short commute, you’d never have to plug in

 

I’m not sure if he’s confused or I am, but it’s usually me

 

If you could walk your commute.

 

yeah, that guy doesn't really seem to know much about cars.

 

If you mean MKBHD you are totally correct, as he is pretty much "casual" when it comes to cars ... and, let's be honest, even phones and tech in general. But in this case I felt like he shared some useful information regarding solar charging.

 

See, he confused me on the solar charging, and I bet a lot of non Prius people

 

The Prime has lots of functions that many will never use. Charge mode is one of those functions available in the Prime for those times and for those people that want to use it and find a way (or ways) to use it that works for them.

One way that I found to use Charge Mode kinda efficiently is when there is no EV range left and at the top of a hill with at least a 1/4 mile down. Switching on charge mode at the top of the hill and coasting down the hill will put at least 1% of EV range back into the pack, allowing the Prime to add more EV range on top of that 1% under the right conditions, which (typically) wouldn't happen without (driver input), when the Prime is out of EV miles.
I figured this out during a commute during rush hour last winter, so I'd already finished running the warmup cycle 4 miles back and the 1/4 mile or so was long enough to bring the coolant temp back up to a temp allowing the engine to shut off again at the bottom of the hill when I switched off Charge Mode.

If the driver doesn't ever want to use the mode switches, than fore sure, Charge Mode is pretty much "useless". .. C'est la Vie ... and / or to each there own.

 

Indeed. What he fails to mention is that most folks will use the car for something beyond just their short commute to work. He makes an interesting deduction, but nobody is going to drive the current generation on sun power only, unless it comes from a solar-based charging station.

 

Could a person regain a PHEV's full range with a hypothetical massive coast down Mt. Everest, or is there a portion of the battery pack that's separate somehow from coast/brake regen?

I ask this because I thought I read once that older Primes don't gain any range back when the engine is running. I took it to mean that the vehicle MUST be plugged in to charge.

 

Yes, it can fully charge downhill, but can only force charge to 80%

 

Have Prime's always been able to do that?

 

Yep at least since the second one.

 

The first being the pip, which doesn’t have charge mode, but can fully charge downhill

 

When in hybrid mode, the car uses up any charge available whenever it is available. Without steep or long hills, the system won't let the charge build up past the hybrid use range. That can leave the impression that it can't do so.