I had the chance to test drive a plug In Prius PHV and Prius V today in Long Beach, CA Overall, I was really impressed by the PHV. It was very quiet ( except for the road noise from the tires) Acceleration was good ( it seemed better than a regular Prius ). The Toyota rep said that she is getting 80mpg, but she hyper mills. Next we drove the Prius V. It had the new center console and dash, And seemed well layed out. It drove well, and you really couldn't notice the extra size/weight. It seems to have a LOT more room in the back seat and trunk ( well suited for a family w/2 kids) Over all, I think that I liked the PHV the best. It seemed to have better acceleration and was smoother. (maybe because the engine never kicked in) If the PHV was available today ( with ATP + sunroof ). It would be a tough choice between the PHV and a ct200h. Let me know if you have any questions, I would be glad to answer them. Jerry
It was by the convention center / Hyatt. Yes, anyone could try it out. But I think that it was only today until 3pm. Sorry
No, I haven't driven them. The leaf was available for a test drive, but I'm not interested in an electric ONLY car. The volt interests me, but right now it's unproven. I'm not willing to be a tester for GM with $41k of MY money
Actually, due to the popular demand, Southern California Prius Enthusiasts will have another opportunity to test drive the Prius v and PHV on Saturday, June 18th between 10 AM and 5 PM at the American at Brand in Glendale! If you test drive the cars, you will receive a family four pack of tickets to a Dodger game as well. KABC's Motorman Leon Kaplan will be broadcasting live from 10 AM to 12 noon. Don't miss this rare opportunity to test drive these cars before their launch.
EV acceleration is so much stronger with the PHV. We have been deceived on the power of the MG2. The bottle neck was the NiMH battery all along but it was all we needed for the cordless hybrid.
well we knew battery had only 26hp output or whatever it was in gen2, right? I forgot what was the number for gen3... and yet the motor is 80hp. I think even in PHV you might not get full electric motor power just to optimize miles/perkwh
An additional problem that has been present ever since the Gen 1 is that the e-motor is too powerful for the tires at start-up. TracCtrl was introduced to moderate the initial torque from the e-motor. Many might not realize that the Gen 2's had more torque ( potential ) from the e-motor than most V6's at the time. Trac modulated the output to the tires so that the vehicle wouldn't spin in-place at a stoplight.
Gen3 NiMH battery is rated at 36 hp. MG2 is 80 hp so the bottle neck is the battery. In the cordless Prius, MG1 fill in more electricity by running the gas engine. PHV Lithium battery pack should be rated at 80hp to unleash the full power of MG2.
Tell me again why Toyota isn't just going to sell the PHV? Seriously, every time I read something like this, I mentally up my estimated price for the PHV. Take a standard Prius price, add the Federal rebate, any state rebate (particularly California), whatever an HOV sticker is worth, and that is what a PHV would be worth if it had absolutely zero benefits. With benefits the price must go up from there if Toyota ever wants to sell another cordless Prius. I fear it will drive it up to the Volt price.
AutoInformed Article has a memo to Bob Lutz! Driving the 2012 Toyota Prius V – Another Hybrid Benchmark Driving the 2012 Toyota Prius V - Another Benchmark - AutoInformedAutoInformed
I've driven the phev prius proof of concept. With that as a basis of comparison: The volt, on a test drive. It was ok. I did like the higher def MFD. The Leaf? Over 3,500 miles ... it too, is VERY nice. PHEV Prius ... several days of test driving. Now THAT is the car for me. More roomy than Volt or Leaf High MPG's ... on my (appx) 20 mile drive to work, I max'ed out the efficiency gauge at 99.9mpg. I'd have to say imo the Prius is more stylish than either Handling / power of the phev Prius wins over both over all.
Hope you can spread the word or let the powers that be know that it'd be cool if folks in Nor Cal could test drive it too. I'm moving back there towards the end of July. I don't need any tickets to a baseball game. I wouldn't use them anyway.
I like that the PHV could be owned without getting a 240 V in your garage, something that with say a volt or leaf you'd be hard pressed to tolerate since their batteries take/need so much more charge.
