I found the missing 4" (vertical) in the trunk. It is below the battery.

What do you hook it to now that they removed the D-rings?

 

The flat floor in my Liftback (with spare tire) makes camping in it quite feasible, which is not the case in the Prime, FWIW.

 

I haven't had anything in that far back needing to be secure. (Of course, I have a Rubbermaid bin made specifically for back there... which is really handy.) By the seats, we have the rings for the seats. There are also the 2 rings underneath them. There's the baby-seat tethers too.

 

There's a post, somewhere, where a Prime owner very easily added D-rings. It had photos and a how-to. If I can remember where it is, I'll try to link to it. This was 6 mos. ago or longer.

EDIT:
Post #149
2017 Prius Prime Photos | Page 8 | PriusChat

 

Thanks, but that's not the same thing at all. The D-rings were in the floor so you could strap stuff down against the floor.

 

Continuous improvement is always the plan... as is cost containment.

 

How would starting with a PHEV and modifying it for a hybrid cost more than starting with the hybrid and modifying it for a PHEV?

Of course, Toyota was probably hoping plug ins would stop selling, and people switch to their hydrogen FCEV.

Not naming names because of NDAs, but someone that was at an early release event hinted that the Prime was originally designed along the lines of the PiP; uncompromised cargo area with smaller battery and shorter range. Japan's electric grid for residences is not as powerful as it is in other markets. The 8.8kWh pack of the Prime takes over 10 hours to charge in about half the homes, with installation of a level 2 charger not possible. The grid situation also makes the $3000 PV roof option reasonable there.

So Toyota designed the Prime for their home market without considering others. Even though they expected to sell about half of the Primes made in North America. When Toyota USA saw the Japanese Prime, they told headquarters this won't sell here, and you have to fix it.

The seating for four saves weight, and families are smaller in Japan.

There is also the HOV stickers for the biggest plug in market, and the combined incentives there and else where bring the Prime's cost below that of the Prius. Lower cost can and does make up for other faults in a car. I got a Sonic over a Prius c because I could get at least $3000 more off the Sonic's price.

The PiP has a slightly better MPG rating than the Gen3, so a smaller battery in the Prime shouldn't result in lower MPG than the gen4. The only PHEVs with EV ranges under 20 miles are power hybrids. Shorter EV range would hurt sales more than cargo space, but Toyota could have had both with different choices.

Recycling bins come in different sizes, and might be supplied by the township or waste hauler. The Prime's cargo space simply doesn't work for @bisco, and I believe he's tried it in person.

 

You need to get a Liftback to get the D-rings. My Trim Two has them. Perhaps they removed them from the Eco for better MPG.
I know for 2017 they removed the tonneau cover from Eco due to adding the safety features.

 

Hey everyone! Sorry it took us a while to get to this - I'm afraid in recent months (as you may have guessed) other projects have pulled me away and I haven't had the chance to keep up on the Prius Chat forums very much.

As a number of people suspected, the reason for the gap is because the Prius Prime uses the same underfloor assembly as the Prius, and the larger traction battery doesn't fit perfectly. The two main options to reduce the gap - either redesigning the traction battery to fit in a different space, or using a separate underfloor assembly unique to the Prime - would both drive up the cost of the vehicle pretty significantly. It was a difficult tradeoff, but we stand behind the decision that we ultimately made on this version of the vehicle.

 

Welcome back!
Don't be a stranger. We do not bite -- much.

 

Toyota stayed true to priorities... cost containment.

 

Hmmmmm

 

Well it's definitely nice to hear the explanation from the source, and yeah, that car was really pushing my budget as it was. Too many more grand and I would have walked back to my Prius c. The bump is no big deal to me, just a nosy curiosity kind of like "Why is that there," it's not like I'm carrying any tall equipment or have problems seeing out the back. At least for the battery it's nice to have the foam to keep it quiet and that extra space for air cooling (probably didn't need 4 inches, maybe half that, but again, keeping the chassis similar to save costs).

 

At least, in my case, not very hard.... but watch out for my gums!!! It's cool to hear it straight from the Prime Horse's Mouth!!




.

 

why would you have to resign a battery you never designed before?

 

The Prime's battery design is the same basic design as the Li-Ion battery design in the G4 hatchback, which itself is the same basic design as the NiMH battery in the G4 hatchback. It just uses larger cells and 5 stacks instead of 2.

A new design would have to have been segmented, which none of the others are.

 

i see, thank you.

 

in that case, i will definitely keep my pip until the next 'next version'.

 

Continuous improvement

 

like every other manufacturer.