My wife and I recently returned from a 1,500 mile road trip from Orange County, CA to Southern Utah and back in our PIP. A few notes and observations: •I did not want to get a flat tire miles from a gas station or garage (already having the fun of a flat and no spare in metro LA). I checked with my local independent tire store–Ken’s Tires in Montebello- and he was able to locate a mini spare from a junked car that fit. Took about a week to locate. That, plus a cheap jack and lug wrench from Amazon, fit into a large shopping bag in the rear of the PIP. Cost, about $100. Luckily, never had to use, but will put in car for trips out of the city in the future. •Plugging in. Some hotels went out of their way to help. In Bryce Canyon, the desk clerk asked a worker to remove a secure cap so I could plug in over night. A casino guard suggested I park by a stairway in the parking structure–there was a plug nearby. Checking other lots, this seemed to be the rule. A good thing to know. I always asked either the desk clerk or security before plugging in. Never was turned down. A cheap master lock for the plug handle gave me some sense of security. If someone had a problem, they could always unplug the other end, but that never happened. About half of the nights, no juice available. •I changed my driving method. Since I never knew if I could plug-in, I turned of EV unless I knew for sure I could recharge. Most of the driving, outside Vegas, was mountain. Coasting downhill as much as possible recharged. I usually never went below 5-6 miles EV left. It was fun watching the EV miles build up. Most speeds were below 50, so much driving was all electric, via the car’s computer. Highway 12, from Bryce to Boulder, UT was fun. Overall mileage was 51 for the trip. Not bad for so much up(with mpg below 25) and down driving.
i take it the Gen 3 prius spare tire would fit the PiP. anyone know where we can order one for a reasonable price?
no, they are hard to come by and expensive new. greinstein did well locating a used one for $100. that's your best shot. well done on your trip greiny, thanks for the tips!
•I did not want to get a flat tire miles from a gas station or garage (already having the fun of a flat and no spare in metro LA). I checked with my local independent tire store–Ken’s Tires in Montebello- and he was able to locate a mini spare from a junked car that fit. Took about a week to locate. That, plus a cheap jack and lug wrench from Amazon, fit into a large shopping bag in the rear of the PIP. Cost, about $100. Luckily, never had to use, but will put in car for trips out of the city in the future. I got a donut spare from my local Discount Tire store for $135. with tax. I just asked them to order me a new donut spare with wheel for the 2010 Prius.
Hate to rain on your EV parade, but you probably ended up getting worse overall fuel economy because of this. It is never in your interest to get to an outlet with charge remaining. 51 mpg is really low for driving that was mostly below 50 mph — I've gotten 49 mpg with most driving at 75+ mph and an empty charge.
quote="lensovet, post: 1685539, member: 50976"]Hate to rain on your EV parade, but you probably ended up getting worse overall fuel economy because of this. It is never in your interest to get to an outlet with charge remaining. 51 mpg is really low for driving that was mostly below 50 mph — I've gotten 49 mpg with most driving at 75+ mph and an empty charge.[/quote] Was that with many miles of uphill driving with less than 25 mpg on the uphill?
Huh? I'm talking about driving for 650 miles and the trip average being 49 mpg. This included uphills, downhills, and flatlands driving. I'm not talking about instantaneous mpg, which is obviously useless.
