Some Prime Questions

welcome! the prime has a heat pump for heat, down to 14f, and a/c. so, no engine required for heat in most situations.
it does have pre conditioning, but will pause charging until set temp is reached, then resume.

i'll let the owners talk about regen and ev power. all the best!

 

Letting off the gas pedal is supposedly 60% stronger than the regular Prius. However, due to the larger battery almost any B-mode or brake pedal riding in Ev mode will just regenerate.

It has enough power to go up virtually any hill in Ev mode. The math says it should get maximum Ev speed (84MPH) up a 7% grade.

Gas-injected heat pump for both. Unless the battery is dead, the temperature is below 14F or you need the front defroster, it shouldn't start the ICE.

Yes. Uses more power than 120V charging can provide (so it will slightly drain the battery), 240V can provide sufficient power for pre-heat or pre-cool.

 

I live in a hilly area in upstate South Carolina. I have a 2nd generation 2005 Prius and a 2017 Prius Prime Advanced. I bought my Prime on December 3rd. I have a 21 mile commute to work. Mostly uphill there. I fully charge the car during the night and on mornings where it is cold, I use my app for the Advance and turn on the heat as well as front and rear defrost as needed. As long as the car is plugged in, the defrosts and heat use electricity from the house and not the battery, so I have a full battery and comfortable ride before I leave. The car is rated with a 25 mile range on a battery charge. As time goes on the range has slowly been getting longer. It currently is at 30 miles of range per charge. I found out to that just because it says that is the miles of range you have, doesn't mean that is all that you will get. By driving habits, you can go further than the rated range. I get to work after 21 miles and still have 10 miles left of charge to go home on without charging at work. I have the same tank of gas that I bought the car with so far with 160 miles left on the tank of gas. I have driven 1375 miles so far since new. The car is saying I am averaging 173 mpg right now. The tank of gas will last me 2 months so far. The regenerative braking is the same as my 2005 Prius other than I have noticed that the car learns my driving routes and it is more aggressive with its regenerative braking when it knows I am getting close to an intersection that is has seen I have stopped before. I love the Prime!! Don't regret getting it at all!! Hope you have good luck in getting one.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

gas injected as in gasoline?

 

No - coolant fluid. It's a heat pump that injects some of its own working fluid into a strategic location in the heat pump to make it more efficient when the temperature differential is high (like when the temperature is cold outside).

 

It takes a while to get your head around the idea that you don't have to drive it like an all-electric car with a 25-26 mile hard limit (but you can). I'm amazed how much traveling I can get on a charge and even with occasional segments of our trip being more HV than EV you still end up going a long long long long way between gas fill-ups. We got back from a longer road trip last week and have about 10% of a tank of gas left and that tiny bit has lasted (and will last) a surprisingly long while.

Oh, and about heat. On cold days (in the southeast I understand that's relative, but we've driven this across the rockies and cascades as well) the combination of the steering wheel and seat warmers do a great job of getting you comfortable fast without having to fill the cabin with temperate air right away.

 

The regenerative braking works well, coming about 1000 feet down a mountain I was able to charge for at least 4 miles (might have been 7, I'm getting too old to remember). I would have gone up the mountain all EV but my battery was drained at the time. EV driving fine for all situations, it is only slightly slower 0-60 than HV mode.

On a separate note, dalcon, you are in SC? I haven't seen your posts before. I live in the Upstate, which sounds like where you are (but I'm in Florida for school right now). Here I thought I was the only one in the Upstate with a Prime..

 

I have a similar commute - 19 miles one way - with a mix of hills and freeway driving. Today was my first commute and I made it to work with a reported 5.8 miles remaining. On the return home, a reported 4.2 miles remaining. Temperature was about 32-35F. The Prius Prime has an 8.8 kWh battery vs the Volt's 18 kWh battery.

 

I live in Easley SC. Bought my Prime from Toyota of Easley. They got the car on December 2nd and I bought it on the 3rd. They were disappointed that I got it so quickly from them. I knew I wanted one and wanted to see it in person. When I did, I was sold on it being sold to me. Lol. I have also lived in Florida before living up here. I been up here since 93. I lived in Titusville FL from 1983 to 1993. I had enough heat and moved to the mountains up here. Love it up here. Of course if I want to see the beach, I can take about a 2 1/2 hour drive to Charleston.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

If something happens to your job or something else comes up and you have trouble making a $600 payment, you should consider keeping your current car. Even if the monthly payments are the same as you currently pay, you will be extending it many more months. A 2014 Prius will very reliable for many more years for you save up an emergency fund.

 

I can remember back in 2005 when we'd gotten our first Prius how many times there were discussions about how to maximize Prius mileage by playing various 'driving tricks' to exploit the traction battery. The only thing I found was a 'forbidden band', ~39-45 mph, that marked the transition between 'hybrid mode' and 'engine must run' mode, 41-42 mph. You needed some head room on each side to avoid accidental excursions that could needlessly spin up or down the engine. Slightly oversized tires allowed moving the true speed high enough that the car stayed in hybrid mode while keeping up with 40 mph posted, cross-town traffic. But the Prime has erased that distinction (the PiP might have done it first.)

The Prime control laws have wiped out any transition speed up to ~84 mph. This wide speed range allows the engine to always operate at peak efficiency and bank/draw EV power as needed. In effect, the Prime has right-sized the traction battery and optimally integrated the control laws. It is the Prius some have wanted since the first Prius.

Bob Wilson

 

Nice! I'm not far in Anderson when I'm up there. I do miss the mountains and the temperate climate. Down here the beach isn't so special anymore. I've lived up there a little over half my life, but I'm just 21.

 

maybe look for a used pip?

 

Question: Once you use up the Prime traction battery in EV mode and switch to HV mode and recharge the battery like a regular Prius can you switch back to EV mode? I have a 2013 Prius 5 with tech package and I can recharge the traction battery quite rapidly. I am dying to find out the answer on my own Prime but I have to wait until the end of February to pick it up.

 

Thank You

 

I'm thinking really hard of something constructive to say. I've always paid cash, and hold onto cars for a while. How about:

When you bought the 2014, got into debt on it, was it your plan to walk away from it in 2~3 years, get the latest?