Featured 2G Prius Plug-in Reveal - March 23 @ 9:10 am EDT - Live Stream here

Whups!

 

The average roundtrip commute is not 40 miles in the U.S., rather around 20. Toyota was correct in their LiveStream this morning- at least half of U.S. commuters will be able to go all electric round trip (no charge at work) in the Prius Prime and 80% if can charge at work.

Commuting distances in the U.S. have been discussed on this board before, but here is the link:

Commuter Driving Statistics – Statistic Brain
Source: National Household Travel Survey, US Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics

80% charging is the national number, not California.

It remains the case that the Prius Prime uses less gasoline fuel for 50%+ of commuters compared to other PHEVs.


Merged

Will be a deal breaker for some. Maybe it could be added back with a model refresh in a couple years.

 

well, we can't all be Fanboys of Natural gas or coal- to-hydrogen cars now can we? and that's okay - that we discuss the differences and comparisons, I'm hoping. ...... or is it more important to chase away the Volt or diesel or Tesla or C-Max people for the ostensible appearance of one big hand holding happy rag doll - hummm hummm family? Oh ... btw ... best to check again ... every other post is about tesla model 3? really? Time for a group hug?

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yes, decent families don't air their dirty laundry.

 

My washing machine is broken, I have lots of dirty laundry. Starting with a 55 mile ONE-WAY commute. So I could get almost halfway to work on EV. My question for owners of current PiPs: when I run out of EV range at 22 miles, how long would it take to recharge while driving gas? Would I be able to drive the last 10-20 miles as EV also in the 2017? If so, that would make my purchasing decision easier. (I really want to trade in my 14 for a new one).

 

PIP was rated at 31.6 km/L in hybrid gas mode. PiPP(Plug in Prius Prime) is rated at 37 km/L.

 

Currently in the garage: 2004 Chevy Colorado, 2012 PiP basemodel, 2015 Model S (85D). Lifetime purchaser of 5 Prius cars, 4 still on the road. I hate the idea of getting anything under 40 mpg. (Yes, pickup truck is only driven when really needed - gas sometimes goes bad sitting too much).
If I could only have 1 vehicle, it would have to be the 2012 PiP. The Tesla doesn't make the cut because I won't take it on gravel roads - clearance too low + flying rocks would bother me a lot, and the supercharger network isn't built out enough to take it everywhere. I was really hoping to upgrade the PiP, but we need a 5 seater (7 seater would be better) for when friends and family come to visit and want to go somewhere. I'm also not sure if the lower clearance of the new PiP would cause problems on the gravel roads I frequent. Got rid of the minivan when the kids all went off to college and got jobs, with the thought of renting a minivan for the infrequent times we'd need one.
The Gen III prius could really hold a lot of cargo and was/is a really good general purpose car that sips gasoline. I fear I'd lose that capability with the Gen 2 PiP. I suppose I hold on to the old PiP until it croaks or something better comes out in 6 yrs (next cycle).

 

That's not what I posted, nor what I've been saying since last June.

Again, there are only 200,000 tax-credits available (prior to phaseout). Using them to promote a generation with a much better replacement on the way would be a waste, especially with the other plug-in choices hitting phaseout sooner. It made a great deal of business sense saving them for gen-2.

Toyota saved them. Their strategy is to generate enough demand that sales will grow and continue strong even when the tax-credit ends. That means careful consideration of how to use them. Stopping efforts with gen-1 so there would be more for gen-2 use is basic economics. The logic should be rather simple to follow.

 

Point being? (I'll hopefully get back to this in the morning .... early riser g'night)

,,,, nothing about Toyota logic has been simple to follow. On one hand, Toyota has continually praised their hydrogen tech & lobbied hard to skew its CARB credits. On the other her hand toyota has damned their plugin tech via ads, claiming charging is a waste of time. So -- how are we to reconcile that ? After all ... as plugin tech takes off ... how is it NOT the death knell to the uber costly - fossil fuel burning hydrogen project? After all ... plugins are WAY less expensive than hydrogen ... WAY less "new infrastructure" intensive ... WAY less costly per vehicle ...
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no. when you run out of ev, you run like a regular prius. the new prius will be able to charge the battery from the engine while driving, but it will be very inefficient, and there's no way you will charge 10-20 miles over 13-23 miles.

 

it's only 7:30!

 

So whoever did this sketch.. Pretty much nailed the Prime



Did we ever find out who it was? Are they still alive?? Lol

 

akio toyoda, he's 94 and doing very well.

 

Nice comparison between the G4 and Prime.

 

If it's all downhill to work and back, you may be able to add some to the battery.

 

I thought very much the same thing when I saw the pictures posted here a week ago or so from the Asian press. I wasn't really surprised, given how close the sketches were for the Liftback. I've assumed all along that these came from leaked internal documents showing nearly final renderings, an impression reinforced when we saw the "cargo hold" pictures just before the Vegas reveal.

There are a few subtle differences in the details front and back for the Liftback , along with the rear quarter lines, which run parallel in these renderings but wound up converging/fading in the final design. The other difference is in the roofline, where the rendering from the front seems to show the roof going slightly straighter back, giving a subtly more hatch-like appearance, though that effect isn't quite as clear from the rear quarter view. I don't believe the leaked drawings included a rear view of the Prime, so that came as more of a surprise (though less so given the radically different front end).

I have to say, when the drawings first leaked I assumed they had them labeled backwards. To my eye, the Liftback has the more radical styling, and I'd assumed that would have been reserved for the plug-in to make it look more "futuristic", but the notes pretty consistently indicated that the blue car was the "PHV", and I noticed that the tag on the front left fender (couldn't make it out, of course) seemed to contain more text.

Yeah, the guys who got hold of this info definitely had the goods.

 

So, no wiper is possible, what is also good for the aerodynamics; how do you get rid of rain drops?

 

The problem for me has hardly ever been just rain, but the dust that sometimes comes along for the ride in the rain. And I got all the way through several threads and it hadn't even dawned on me that there is no rear wiper - something that I use fairly often. I will assume there is the standard defrosting wires built in to the rear glass. Scraping snow and ice off a non-flat glass panel would be a new level of frustration.

 

The most exciting part of the presentation for me was when he should you could mash the pedal without having the engine turn on, and that it would feel more like a BEV. I also wouldn't mind having a better handling and better riding car. But 22 EV miles is not enough improvement to make this an enticing upgrade. The center console in the back is a deal killer all by itself, and the hump in the back is inexplicable after having all this time to design around it. Having seen a 2016 in person now, it's not horrible looking (other than the ugly white plastic bits inside), but is still not a car you buy for its looks, even with the PP changes. Since I already have a HyCam in the family, a BEV is a better fit for me. The PP doesn't seem likely to attract many sales, even being sold nationwide, especially at the prices Toyota is likely to charge.