Hi All, i've been researching and eagerly anticipating the new Prime for some time. We're interested in purchasing, but won't have access to an overnight charging option (in an apt complex) until next year when we hope to move in a SFR. Do you think it's worth it to simply drive the Prime as a hybrid and charging when we can? Any potential issues with the ev battery due to non-use? (Some friends have opted not to charge their plug ins since gas was cheaper than the EV) Our thought was that if we were going to buy a new car, to buy something more innovative that would last us longer and with newer technology. With the credits/rebates bringing the net price down to a standard 2016/17 prius, we thought why not purchase the prime instead? Thoughts would be greatly appreciated for this long time lurker.
welcome! no prob. the car never needs to be plugged in. grab one when you can, and plug in when you can. take a test drive, i think you'll like it.
It just depends. But that's pretty much how it works for me. I'm gas during the week and electric on weekends. But... there are some big incentives and tax credits. And the HOV lane stickers save me 30 minutes on my evening drive home.
Thanks so much for the info everyone! My 2005 prius is still going strong and would be great to add the Prime soon. Will keep everyone updated!
Currently I am unable to charge over night. I will likely move at some point so that I can, but for now I mostly just use HV mode. Still, I do have the option of charging on occasion. I try to bank whatever charge I have to use for short hops to the grocery store and the like.
I too had a 2005 prius until this weekend. I would say it is worth getting the prime ASAP since your HV battery could die any time now. Mine performed as well like new, but I always had to worry about HV battery which had been a stress since Toyota delayed prime for one year (12V battery just died a couple of months ago). I don't have an over-night charging equipment either. I was planning to use the prime as an EV on the way from home in Pasadena to work in downtown since it is downhill, and switch to HV on the way back (uphill) for daily commute. Since my workplace has chargepoint stations, I used it with $100 chargepoint came with the car. For round trip between work in downtown and home in Pasadena, it was fully EV and still 10 miles left! And acceleration with EV only mode is even better than my old Prius. Now, I changed my plan to try to charge everyday at work or in any free stations for daily commute, then use it as a HV for weekend drive. I feel like I got two cars at once, EV and HV! And now, I have to find a reason to run the engine with HV mode for maintenance!!
I'm in a condo with a shared garage. I don't know if I'll be able to come up with a charging option there - we have a pretty conservative board. If not, I'll have to be happy with charging once each week at a local grocery store and using the ICE for the rest. If I can manage that, given my commute to work, I'd be using the ICE for 5/7s of the week.
