2025 Prius Wish-List

Yes, it's called city driving which is what hybrids excel at. And as I'm sure you know, there's a lot more to PEAK hybrid driving than hills, trip lengths, etc. Anticipation is HUGE, and pays exponential dividends in the Prius compared to a non-HEV car. Watch the traffic, watch the lights. Stay in the flow and off the brake pedal. Every time you touch the brake, you should imagine fuel flying out of your gas tank and onto the street.. because essentially, that's exactly what is happening.

I also think Toyota does a bit of a disservice to new Prius customers by continually closing the gap on the stated city vs. highway est. fuel economy. Back in the day, the gap was larger, and the conversation was louder on where and how this little car shines. Now they make it seem like the Prii's realized efficiency hardly changes at different speeds. This couldn't be further from the truth.

The Prius's highway EPA est. is just about maxed for most conditions, while the city is underestimated IMO. With many American's having a significant portion of their commutes on highways due to urban sprawl, they are often going to feel overpromised and underdelivered.

Maybe a few more Prius owners could take the non-highway route to their destination. They might just find they don't lose much time - particularly if their highways are congested. But they will CERTAINLY experience greatly decreased fuel usage.

 

I have a 30 mile commute, with 2/3 being highway with speeds up to 65mph. Average speed for the trip is in the thirties.

The city/highway gap started closing because Toyota switched to an engine that doesn't drop off in efficiency at higher speeds. With system refinement, the engine can be kept at the efficient spot for longer.

Then the supplemental EPA tests for the fudge factor likely hurt city more. Air conditioning is going to take a set amount of energy no matter the car speed. So it ends up being a larger portion of total energy use at lower speeds.

 

some people would appreciate improved fuel efficiency over power and big wheels. nothing wrong with that, no need to attack them.

 

Toyota cant please everyone. Many people who buy a Model Y with the black and white interior get stuck with the 20" Tesla wheels. At least if you sell them and buy 19" Gemini's. Has anyone tried to buy 16" wheels for the Gen 5? What do people run in the snow? winter.

 

They still squeal when driving fast around corners - even in Japan And look a little bit funny to me at least.

This might be more annoying in Germany though as we cannot just use different (thicker) tires if we want to. Even Japan seems less strict...

 

what about the pricing
In Canada - top trim is 51K CND => 37K USD which include all the tech package of XSE premium in USA
In Japan - top trim is $33K
USA does get free service which amount to 4 visits and 2 oil change, but I am not sure if that amounts to the big difference in pricing.

 

canada is always more expensive than us, and usually gets different packages. us is more expensive than japan, likely due to transportation and logistics.

 

Those disappointed in the Prius not reaching their unrealistic hopes are wrong though. The Prius has gone through 5 generations over @25 years, with steady improvements over that time. Diminishing returns is a thing though, and it can be seen in the Prius improvements over time. Being disappointed the gen5 didn't get double the improvement of the gen4 is unreasonable.

I understand being disappointed the gen5 didn't improve over the gen4. However, sales were dropping, and Toyota needed to do something to expand the base of potential buyers. They did that without losing efficiency. They could have put the 1.5L system from the Aqua in it to get better fuel economy, but no one would then buy it.

 

Thinking about the "big wheels" for a moment... While my car with 19's would certainly fare worse overall in fuel economy, it might not be as bad as some might think. All things being equal, larger wheels will "roll" better at speed (objects in motion tend to...). If the gear ratio hasn't been adjusted, I would expect a 14% hit off whatever I can achieve on my current LE. That would put yesterday's screenshot (86.7 Mpg's.) in the 74.6 Mpg range. Still nothing to sneeze at and far beyond what I've seen anybody in here post.

I might even go so far as to say, once at speed, the larger wheels might even be an advantage - all things being equal - and depending on the ratio of stops to long stretches of cruising space. Typical city driving with lots of stops, turns, and lights, the smaller wheels will win of course.

Unless... Toyota gets crafty with the gear programming. They could theoretically make 19's feel like 12's if they wanted to. It would all be a matter of what it would do to highway speed fuel economy. In 2024, I would guess we are far beyond the limitations of traditional transmission/differential gearing.

There's of course also a weight issue. But only around 6% from Limited trim all the way down to LE.

I'd love to get into a top trim G5 and see what I can do. Maybe I'll test drive one if they show up on a lot somewhere. I'm fairly confident I'll be able to bring back numbers that will a few in here.

 

Distance/time isn't going to tell you the speed I'm normally driving. It certainly isn't 30mph. In the city, I'm doing anywhere from 52-37. Speed limits are mostly 45, 40, and 35 where I normally drive. Like everybody, I spend a lot of time at those darn stoplights. I will absolutely mash the pedal to make it through a yellow though. That's more fuel efficient than stopping believe it or not. Stopping a big hunk of metal is never going to be a good idea in the fuel economy game.

Many of those gaudy screenshots I post include driving at 55 mph for a while also. Probably 10% of the journey. Much of it in EV mode though.

I would say that 95% of the time that my ICE is running is from a stop. That is the most efficient time for charging. I've said this before, but I'm amazed at how much more EV range I get on the G5 compared to my G4. And the G5 seems to charge the traction battery faster. I have wondered if it might be due to the increased HP. Could just be new charging tech. But yeah, the G5 is a royal sipper. The BEST ever for a Prius and there's no debate... unless you're you-know-who.

 

How did this thread go from a wishlist thread and devolve into a mpg thread?

Is that all you guys care about, mpg? Like I get that it's a big selling point of the car but you guys obsess too much over it. If you can't get good mpg just say you're bad at driving and you never use cruise control.

 

What, you don't think mileage can be a part of a wish list?

 

cruise control lol

 

I would definitely like to see more solar on the car. Get the tech to the point where I gain 25% more EV time on my LE (during errands, not a week parked outside), and it would be worth $1200 to me. My good (realistic) runs would be in the 95-105 Mpg's I suspect. Of course I can hit that now, but there's manipulation in play.

 

External trickle charger attachment like this magnetic plug from a Aston Martin DBX 707. Attaches to underside of bumper. Nice to have a way to keep the 12V charge while charging the traction battery.

 

Probably nothing is going to change in 2025.

There could be small changes toward the end of the generation as it happened in Gen 4,

I will likely wait for Gen 6½ in 2032. It will be good not to have car payments.

 

i don't think people posting on a wish list thread are concerned about sales

 

People wanting higher efficiency here were complaining about it elsewhere.

Aside from offering the smaller wheels on the higher trims, there is nothing Toyota can do about it mid-cycle anyway. The big thing we might see will be the yoke, but I'm not sure we'll see a mid-cycle refresh next year. Prius generations can go longer than 5 years, and they aren't making many of the model now. Sales were only just starting to increase, then there was the recall.So why not wait until demand cools some before doing a refresh.

 

i'm not expecting any changes, it's a wish list. wishing won't make it so

 

Something technically easy to do, would be pull out all the styrofoam under the hatch floor and restore the effin’ spare. It won’t happen, because: it’ll totally alienate model year 23~24 owners, and Toyota would lose face. Can’t have that.