A 5-seat Toyota Prius Prime is on the way

Well good...at least they're taking it seriously versus that excuse of efficiency lol. And where to put the charger? huh? I like where the charger is in the 1st gen PiP, why would it be in the back seat center console, how inconvenient to lug it back and forth!

 

The charger isn't the cord. It's a device that controls the electric flow to the battery coming in through the cord. It doesn't get taken out, unless it is broken.
The cord stores in the back.

As to the fifth seat, I would think the model refresh is the earliest we will see it; 2 to 3 years after the Prime's release.

 

And fix this too...How is the volt able to pull this off with longer range? Does the gas tank take up that much space?

 

• But the Volt2 can have a child seat in the middle...
• "Me-too" looks obvious with a Tesla-esque middle screen.
• Did they release the pricing yet? Volts are like what...$30k-$34k after a hefty rebate? Is Toyota counting on that or are they setting the base price much lower...In which case, if a Volt is $40k and the Prime goes for $36, could you call that significantly less when after incentives the Volt would be $33k (counting federal only) and the Prime $32k?
• The Prime's battery is also underneath the backseat too, isn't it?

Interesting to look at the ioniq as well and its trunk space (only Hybrid shown at the moment).
The New Ioniq - One Car Three Options | HyundaiUSA

But what, they're doing a wireless charger also? lol

 

This comparison is somewhat unfair because the Prime's rear hatch opens to the bumper and the Volt's is several inches higher. It makes the floor rise more obvious in the Prime. It would be easier to load the Prime, that is probably what Toyota was thinking when they made it open that low. But for people familiar with the Prius, all they see is the lost inch or two of cargo space.

What are the respective cargo volumes?

 

It almost feels like the Prius 2 Eco versus the other gen 4 Prius's. How's that Eco selling? Pretty poorly compared to the rest right? I see the same happening to a 4-seater Prius Prime. If they are going to offer two versions of the Prime, they need to do it right off the bat, otherwise they risk losing potential sales to those who decide that the Prime won't work for them and buy something else.

Volt starts at $34k, minus $7500 federal tax credit (and $1500 tax rebate in California). That's $25k in CA ($26.5k in states with no state rebate). The Prius Prime is going to receive about $4200 federal tax credit. To be equal in post tax price, the Prime would need to start at roughly $30.7k (but we know it won't include that huge Tesla-like screen in the base price).

The picture makes it look a lot smaller (at least compared to what I'm used to with the PiP). Maybe in person it's actually not so bad, but if it really was only an inch or two you would think they would find a way get rid of the extra inch or two.

 

So one has a higher bumper and the other doesn't. But the hatch will go down and meet with the frame...it looks like the Volt offers more space for sure...

 

The Volt starts a little over $34k with delivery and before federal incentives. With the full $7500 federal credit, it is around $26k.

If the Prime is priced around the PiP's, the two cars will be around the same price with the federal incentive. The Prime's battery is all in the back; the charger sits under the rear center armrest.

No official numbers form Toyota yet. Eyeballs are guessing they have about the same space measuring up to the rear seat backs. Then it can get funky depending on how they measure past that.

The Prime's rear hatch opens lower because that is where it opens on the gen4. The two cars' share the same "bones". The surface sheet metal can have more variances, but keeping the under layers similar, if not the same, keeps development costs down. For example, moving the hatch lip up so it was level with the cargo floor would involve changes to the rear end and bumper, which means more work in rear impact studies and modeling.

 

ah, next ten prius a few years? aren't we talking 6 years?

give me 16 miles and a full hatch, and they'll have their first sale. i'm already over the 5th seat.

 

The EPA value for the Volt cargo is 19 cu.ft., which is presumably to the ceiling.

 

I'll take the Prime opening before the Volt's anyday. In the Prime, heavy objects can be slid out to where you can better handle them. In the Volt, you'd have to reach in and lift. That's okay for a youngin', but my old back wouldn't be able to lift a grocery bag out of that thing. Although maybe the Volt could be wired to double as a TENS unit and treat those spasms????

 

Keep in mind that the EPA does not believe in decimals; the Volt could be 19.49 cu.ft.

Fueleconomy.gov lists 27 cu.ft. for the 2016 Prius, which is the same for both the regular one and the Eco trim. So this is the volume of the car with the sunken floor cargo area. Which means the Prime loses 7 cu.ft. compared to the Eco. What is it compared to the others, 4 or 5 cubic feet then?

In my experience, hatchbacks and wagons have floors near level to the hatch lip. Trunks could too with a false floor, but there is less space to divide up that way. I'm guessing the Volt skipped the false floor in light of its hatch being near sedanish in profile.

 

Anyone see this? Wow, does Toyota really read these forums!? 2018 Toyota Prius Prime Will Have One Extra Spot – Motoringcrunch

So now I can save up for my 2018 Prime haha...with Solar maybe? Boy would that be perfect.

By then I would have test driven the Tesla Model 3, Bolt, Ioniq (all 3 maybe) - hear about the next Energi line and see the next Leaf.

Exciting times!

But of course the article is also misleading with the headline...Because it says at the end that there's no known date when a 5-seater would be released lol.