New Prius Plug-in Advertising Campaign

I see what you mean, a few days ago, someone was so excited to see a plug-in vehicle that he flagged me down in traffic to ask me to join a local plug-in vehicle club.

 

Well over a year of ownership and I have yet to see another PiP in the flesh other than my own.

 

I know of one a block and a half from where I live... It is identical to mine, even the same color, just a year younger. I must have done something right. The son of the guy that owns it was one of my Boy Scouts back when... He told me his son learned the Outdoor Code well!

 

I was in Iowa last weekend for Nordic Fest. Had a blast, in a tiny Midwest town... where there were Prius everywhere! I was surprised as heck by the quantity. It got to the point where it was rather amusing. Not only was I seeing them all over the place, sometimes there were several parked together. Twice I ended up in a group of 3 and once a group of 4. And yes, there was even another plug-in model.

Of course, if you think about it, Prius is a great long-distance travel vehicle. So, it does make sense seeing so many concentrated like that at a special event. Last year, a trip to Wisconsin had similar results. But in that small town, there were actually 3 plug-in Prius all within sight at the same time. We even saw a special edition model. It was sweet!

 

Well, it wasn't a PiP commercial, but there was a Prius commercial on Under The Dome tonight. The PiP did make an appearance on the show.

 

1) I guess it didn't make sense to me because the friend offers the garage to plug in, but no actual outlets to do so. I guess I'm a glass half empty kind of guy.
2) It's implied that he was going to unplug the aquarium since he's staring at the fish, but after seeing the boy's guilt trip, decides not to.

 

Plug-ins are definitely a rare beast around here.

 

Ooops . I didn't notice that the aquarium and the refrigerator were on the same plug.

Would you be kind enough to point to that thread (concerning rollout in other states)? TIA

 

hang on, let me take a look. okay: prius team fyi/intros, post#34.

 

As a link:
Prius Team FYI/Intros | Page 2 | PriusChat

 

Are we supposed to be hearing the chick in the "Manual" video's thoughts at the beginning? Or the remainder of a previous conversation where she was trying to explain it to the dad? I didn't really understand why her lips weren't moving: "Dad it's a Prius, that you can plug in if you wan't extra mileage. It's a Priu [gets cut off by the dad actually talking]". Although I guess you use an attractive chick and nobody will care.

Also I don't like the focus on the 95 MPGe at the end, but that's because I find MPGe to be a silly number that doesn't have a direct real world meaning to most people. MPG and MPkWh are significantly more useful for comparisons. MPGe seems more like a boastful advertising number than anything else.

 

Ok in the third commercial, a guy named Andrew comes on and talks about mileage stats as well turning on your A/C using the Entune app on your phone. I've got the app and have no such capability, what am I missing?

 

There are few Entune apps that are exclusive to the Prius Advanced models (where you get the Premium HDD Entune nav unit). That includes turning on your A/C, starting a charge session, notification of complete charging, and locating your vehicle via your phone.

 

A bit more detail: These apps use the built-in SafetyConnect cell phone to talk to the Internet, which is only on the Advanced. There is a charge for SafetyConnect after an initial trial period (three years, I think).

 

Disclaimer- I don't use Entune. But I thought it uses your smartphone even in the base model to get things like gas prices, restaurant reservations, movie info, etc. If not, how does it work? Or do you mean you don't need a cellphone at all with the advanced model? Can you make calls on the built-in one?

 

correct, but you can't turn on the a/c, check your charge, etc.

 

With the built-in SafetyConnect cell phone, the only phone call you can make is to the SafetyConnect operator. Unlike the service in the Lexus, which can provide navigation assistance, the service on the PiP is limited to road service and emergency response. The operator is provided your GPS location, so they know where to send the assistance. The SafetyConnect phone makes or receives data calls to/from a server for the Advanced features such as charge management.

Totally unrelated are the other Entune apps such as gas price and movie info and real-time traffic info. On the Advanced, this is provided via data service from Sirius/XM; on the Base, it is through the user's smartphone.

 

Thanks, guys. I think I understand it a little better now. Still don't have any use for Entune, however.

 

me either.

 

Thanks, that's slightly comforting to someone like myself, who has no access to it!

Sorry, still a touch of bitterness remains.