Cold weather video review of Prius Plug-In

Not unexpected but 20-25 mi is still quite usable for many commuters unlike the 6 mi in the "soon to be released" Prius PHV.

 

Why would you mention anything beyond that cabin warming anyway?

It's basically the electric equivalent of remote-start.
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Formal EV mode disengages above 23 MPH ...

 

Toyota could automatically heat the batteries to an optimal temp while plugged in without driver intervention or knowledge.

 

The engine remains off... electric only still.

The purpose of the EV button should be obvious at this point... to demonstrate the additional power available. Toyota's taste of what was to come.

Remember, being able to exceed the 46 up to 62 is due to the battery, not the motor. The design itself already supports it.
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At what speed must the ICE begin to spin to avoid over rev of MG2?

 

Road Test: Plug-in Prius less cool in cold

 

The design supported it but facts like this one show the Prius Plugin feature is an afterthought.

quote: That requires a higher trunk floor, robbing the Plug-In Prius of much of its cargo volume. The higher trunk floor also obscures most of the lower rear window, reducing vision through the inside rear view mirror.

 

It appears as though the PHV is getting mixed up with aftermarket conversions. The trunk floor was only raised by 2 inches.
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The colors of the car's are so cool and even if you see those car's they are so expensive. looks like so elegant.....

 

Here's the entire paragraph

quote: The battery pack of the Toyota Plug-In Prius, despite being advanced lithium-ion, is still larger than the nickel-hydride battery of the standard Prius, and Toyota places the extra batteries under the floor of the trunk. That requires a higher trunk floor, robbing the Plug-In Prius of much of its cargo volume. The higher trunk floor also obscures most of the lower rear window, reducing vision through the inside rear view mirror.


The current Prius is not designed to hold a large capacity battery.

 

That's not a PHV being described.

As for even larger capacity, the same location Volt uses is available as well as the larger model called "V". But how much capacity is needed? For this topic of cold weather performance, the benefit of being a hybrid and having an engine to draw heat from should be obvious.
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It looks like a John1701a vs John Matras fight.
The article is spot on.

Who has inside knowledge of Toyota's plans and intent right from the beginning ?

quote: By John Matras
For almost thirty years, award-winning author John Matras has written about cars. He's been in all the major car magazines, on the web and written...

Here's the full quote of the paragraph you claim is misrepresenting the vehicle's prowess.

quote: The current 2010 Toyota Prius II can operate completely on electric power up to about 23 miles per hour, but if the accelerator is pushed too hard, the gas engine will kick in and aid in acceleration. And too hard means anything approaching normal urban acceleration.
http://www.examiner.com/auto-review...ype-cold-testing-toyota-s-socket-ready-hybrid

 

EV-mode and Electric-Only have different threshold speeds.
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I wonder whether Toyota will recycle exhaust gas to warm the battery in cold weather. Typically, the battery needs cooling ventilation, but Japan has cold winters, too, so the engineers must have thought about plumbing a heater core to the batteries, or something similar for better cold weather economy.

 

MG2 is the big one tied to the vehicle speed. MG1 is the one needing protection.

Around 64 mph from PHV use by several here. That is when the ICE kicks on even when ample charge in the pack for EV.

EV "mode" on gen2 and gen3 is just for avoiding warmup cycles within the confines of your driveway or parking lot. EV "operation" is available up to 42 in gen2 or 46 in gen3. Since it is a gas car with very limited AER, it makes sense that acceleration brings the ICE into play. The PHV is programmed to run EV except under very hard acceleration or to protect MG1.

None of the rear view is blocked in the PHV. That is absurd.

 

Just puzzled: what do you mean by this?

 

What he means is that the larger battery of the PHEV does not obstruct the rear view; the rear view of the Prius PHEV is the same as an ordinary Prius.

 

Note that the ICE doesn't necessarily consume any fuel then, it just needs to spin to balance the power-carrier rotation within the PSD.
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That's right . . . . . . my god, if the battery blocked the rear window, the battery would have to be so HUGE, that it'd take up the whole trunk. Kind of makes you wonder where people come up with this stuff. See this picture where I posted on another thread, the battery height in the proof of concept PHEV for instance:


The final version may STILL end up being completely flat with the trunk floor, turning on how Toyota ends up setting up the different packs.
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