Second thoughts . . .

I buy when there is a plug - with significant battery-only range attached to the other end of it.

 

Okay, here is a style question for all of you. I am looking at a black 2010 (as black is the only real color for a Prius ), but have mixed feelings about the color of the leather. Our current 2006 is black with light grey cloth seats. It looks good. I suspect the Misty Grey Leather is close to the same color. What I don't know is how dark the Dark Grey Leather is. So here are my questions:

1) Did anyone get a photo of the Dark Grey Leather interior? If so, I'd love to see it.

2) What are your thoughts about a black car with Dark Grey Leather? Obviously it will be hotter in the sun, but do you think that would be too much dark?

Thanks,
Tom

 

The questions still stands. What could Toyota get if mpg were the focused goal and the 2001 Prius or Yaris size was targeted?

This is not a complaint about the 2010, since you are right, the 2010 is definitely a mainstream car and is designed right for that purpose.

I ask since I use the 2001 Prius as a commuting car for a single person every week to the same place carrying only me (past the gas station). The inevitable swelling of cars from model year to model year seems to be happening to the Prius as well.

 

Our goal is to go fom 2 vehicles to 1. If everything works out the new 2010 will replace the 07 Prius and an 06 TDI.

 

Can anyone point to Toyota's announcement of the basic curb weight for the 2010 Prius?

I've seen the mention in some article of it being '100 lbs' more, but the source seems shaky.

btw, that Blue Ribbon or whateva .... is much like Spectra Blue.

 

My Xebra may be for sale in a couple of months. I hope to have my EV Porsche by then.

 

I'm due for a trade in and was having second thoughts BEFORE the 2010 was revealed. I like what I saw. Not to mention the fact that my state is eliminating the sales tax for the Prius this year. That is a huge savings in and of itself. I think I may just go for it, will need to test drive first. I absolutely love the moon roof.

 

problem is that few inches of space is not where weight is... batteries, crash protection, options are what brings the weight up. so you end up having to use aluminium like prius, and it ends up being almost as expensive vehicle, but much smaller in size (and hence less usable)...

iQ, while great, is not that much more efficient than Yaris, and Yaris is a lot more usable than iQ.

 

I have both a 2001 and 2007. When you put the two side by side, there is no mistaking that the 2007 is a lot bigger, but the whole Engine/HSD takes up the same amount of space as the 2001. Following the initial reports, the 2010 HSD looked to be lighter and not take up more space than the 2007. I was just seeing if someone had a good idea of what the difference between the 2010 system in a "2001 body" mpg would be as a thought experiment. Nothing more. No complaints or desires implied.

 

ok. another post says that they just started it Jan 1, 2009 and it will run 3 years... sooo, how long has this sales tax incentive been going on? was it available for vehicles purchased in 2006?

 

When cruising, most of the engine power is required to overcome air resistance - drag. If you look at the drag equations (Wikipedia), you'll see that the only factors in calculating high-velocity drag are the density of the air, the velocity of the vehicle, and the drag area. We know that the co-efficient of the 2010 Prius is lower than that of the 2004 (0.25 vs 0.26) and that the 2001 Prius was 0.28, but I would assume the nominal area is larger in the newer cars, so the actual drag area is roughly the same (I can't find any drag area numbers for the 2001 car). The actual 'area', measuring by vehicle height x vehicle width, is 5% greater for the 2010 over the 2001 model, but the 2001's drag coefficient is 12% bigger.

Of course the tests also covers acceleration, which will require a lower force for a lighter vehicle (famous equation: F = ma, force = mass times acceleration, so for a given acceleration, the force needs to be greater for a greater mass). The mass of NHW20 isn't substantially greater than NHW11, though: the brochure I have states 1300kg for NHW20's kerb weight while this Aussie press release states 1250kg for NHW11. That's 4% heavier.

In sum, I'm not sure that fitting the 2010 drivetrain into NHW11's body would give much benefit. A theoretical new body of the size of NHW11 - about two inches narrower and two inches less height - with the 2010's drag coefficient would likely give some benefit to highway mileage. However, it would be at the cost of internal space, as new safety technologies have required greater amounts of space in the doors, etc.

 

I echo Efusco "I want a PHEV...period."

 

No. Car must be purchased new on or after Jan 1 2009, and meet certain criteria. It's uncertain whether vehicles such as Zenn and Xebra would qualify, and conversion cars apparently do not.

From the page you cite, the coefficient of drag is another factor. I.e., two cars with the same area can have very different amounts of drag at the same speed and air density.

 

well im certain that unless i "repurchase" my Zenn, it qualifies for nothing...

 

The car must be purchased new to qualify, and I think it must be purchased from a regular car maker; i.e. conversions would not qualify. I'm not sure of that. But I think they went to great lengths to exclude everything but new cars from major car makers.

 

Buyers of low-fuel cars get a sales tax exemption

"The tax break, which takes effect Jan. 1, applies only to new vehicles. It also only covers cars and trucks getting at least 40 highway mpg, which includes the Prius and hybrid Honda Civic, but not the Toyota Camry or hybrid SUVs." and

"It does, however, appear to cover what are called "neighborhood electric vehicles" or "medium speed vehicles" sold by The Green Car Co. The cars are street legal, but don't go faster than 35 mph. It also applies to vehicles running on alternative fuels, such as natural gas, propane and hydrogen, though they're rare."