Why a Prius over an EV?

Recent tests here with a PHEV Mitsubishi said that, as a car, it wasn't as good to drive in most respects as a RAV4 Hybrid. And the test I read recently, a full day's running around - kids to soccer et al, beach etc (they didn't tell us full distance for the day though) starting with a full battery, the final fuel use was 5l/100km - which isn't much better than a RAV4 Hybrid would have used. And the PHEV is about $60,000, the RAV4 $45,000 for equivalent specs (the RAV4 is actually a bit better specified).

 

We have a 2006 Prius which needs replacing someday soon, and I would strongly consider another either Prius hybrid or RAV4 hybrid or Camry hybrid or a used Prius v wagon hybrid. We need space for family and decent cargo space. So I would not get Prius Prime PHEV due to losing quite a bit of cargo space. In theory if it had similar space I would consider Prime. Full BEV not an interest. I would not rule out a used PiP orig Plug-In Prius which retained most of the Gen3 space via smaller battery. The older PiP was more up my alley but the plug-in advocates do not share my preference. They tend to want a lot more EV miles at whatever space compromise that requires. I live in an area (Northern Virginia) that has a very high annual car tax, so that's a reason to keep purchase price down and consider used..

 

Well my primary reason is range and absence of Charging stations where i live and work. Another reason is range most EV cars at prius price range have short range.
For me Plug in Prius would be ideal but they are more rare than normal Prius

 

I came from an EV and bought my first Prius over two years ago and I haven't looked back. All the quiet smoothness of an EV around town paired with all the advantages of an ICE car for all other situations.

Not having to think about plugging the car in is one of the things I love about the Prius and the other main one is knowing that at a moment's notice I can get in the car and drive for hundreds of miles without any planning around the current poor charging infrastructure.

This will certainly not be my last Prius!

 

I shall do that.

My first attempt at camping was with my 2008 Prius for the 2017 solar eclipse. Got most of the equipment necessary but ran out of time and end up camping outside instead. One critical item that I was missing was a CO monitor. It probably would have been safe, but I wasn't willing to risk running the AC at night and not waking up, so I slept outdoors in my pup tent.

Now that I have a new 2018 Prius I am spending the time to do it properly. I just got it this May, so I am still in the process of outfitting it. Installing a class I trailer hitch for a cargo carrier this week and possibly a bicycle and/or spare tire rack later. Once I complete this and do a dry run I will document it here on PriusChat.

 

Another thing to point out, US Congress and state policy is "pushing" cars with large EV batteries, either PHEV or BEV. They are heavily subsidiized and incentivized. On the other hand, Hybrids and PHEV with less than 8kWhr battery are not helped, even though they cost more than non-electrics, and even though it could be argued overall greenness is best for say Prius vs. almost any car.

If one is doing an article about BEV, you gotta know ~50% are sold in Ca. due in large part to HOV policy allowing BEV free in HOV lanes with single occupancy. I do not have recent figures but used to be 80%+ of CA plug-in owners had the stickers.. In so many words, Ca. HOV lanes have instead become free plug-in lanes ("BEV" Lanes). Not too mention Ca. $$ rebates for plug-ins, on top of Fed rebates, and not to mention Ca,. policy to tax the heck out of gasoline.

It is interesting to contrast Va. and Ca. Virginia was first with free HOV for hybrids and quickly became a top hybrid state back in 2004-2006 booming sales as a fast way to get to work. But car pools are big in Va., and allowing hybrids in HOV soon slowed down the car pools and quickly spurned resentment of allowing hybrids with free HOV. So starting 2006 Va. starting scaling back the free HOV. Now Va. is going to HOT "Lexus" lanes with dynamic tolling and no exclusion for hybrids or plug-ins. So the commuting need for owning plug-in or hybrid is not there anymore (although there is still some fun for "grandfathered" hybrids/plug-ins in Va. until about 2021 when the HOT lanes are all done, then the free HOV for some hybrids will be mostly gone, but still a few highways will not be HOT so a few early adopters will be grandfathered for free HOV access on a few roads).

 

I have a 1st gen Honda Insight 2003 still around running strong except degraded hybrid battery

 

One word: CONVENIENCE.

Start it and it goes......pretty much anywhere you want without any hassle.
In this day and age, people will pay a LOT to avoid inconvenience.

A pure EV is still a niche market.
Even if most of your usage matches the range capacity, it is still inconvenient.
Then there is "range anxiety".

 

Even when the charging infrastructure is better, if you're on the road and need to charge an Electric Vehicle, to get a decent amount of charge it takes hours?

My reasons:

1. We only drive maybe 500 kms monthly, the cost of gas is trivial, doubly so with a fuel efficient Prius.
2. We have a low miles, paid-in-cash car, with great cargo capacity, and we're retired, on fixed income (my wife would debate that...).

 

TL ; DR
Cost.
Range.
Infrastructure.
Inertia.
Hype and FUD.

1.) Cost.
Prius: $24,000
Brand new....and if you pay any passing attention to maintenance it's guaranteed to last 10y/150,000 miles.

Tesla 3: ???
Who knows?
$35,000 was the promise but in the Byzantine world of tweets, Federal and state kickbacks and EVangelically influenced "articles" who really knows what people pay for Teslas.
EV's tend to break out into three types. "trial-size" (Fiat 500e, Nissan Leaf) which are generally < $30,000 and very range limited, "Regular" which are the Bolts/Teslas that go for $40,000 and up and have about a 200-300 mile real-world range......and the "Super Size"...meaning super priced. There would be a fourth category consisting of 'napkin drawings' that are the new models that are just over the horizon which promise 500-mile range and affordable prices.....but that category, like those models, really does not exist..............yet.

2.) Range Anxiety.
It's like all of the 'memory loss' and 'testosterone' ads you see.
Everyone says it's not really that big a deal.

Spoiler Alert:
It's that big a deal.

3.) Infrastructure:
See also: Range Anxiety
If you're not charging at home overnight, you're charging somewhere else during the day, and it's not quite the same thing as dashing into a gas-and-go for a 10-minute fill up.
Some people do not have chargers in their garages because........some people do not have garages.
...or houses.

4.) Inertia.
My 3 year old granddaughter can probably tell me exactly how to refuel a car.
I know this to be a truism because my 3 year old granddaughter often informs me that I'm doing many more complicated things incorrectly.
Over the last 120 years America has pretty much standardized the delivery of a highly volatile explosive, and toxic liquid into many types of cars and trucks in literally hundreds of thousands of gas stations in mere minutes....JUST in America.
I've witnessed confusion and debates among highly educated adults over plug and charging standards in America.
What's a J-1772 plug? Can you charge a Bolt at a Tesla Supercharging station? Do Teslas require an adapter? L1 versus L2 charging?

5.) Hype and FUD.
If the on-ramp to the EV highway were not already steep and rocky enough there is enough Hype and FUD out there to be off-putting to all but the most (fool?) hearty EV buyer.

Is it ethical to yell "Fire!" at a crowded Tesla dealership?
Does Tesla even HAVE dealerships?
Why did GM kill the electric car?
Are electric cars really COAL powered?
Can you get a DUI in an L5 auto-piloted car?
Electric cars are the safest vehicles on the planet.
Electric cars are death traps.


...Me?
I've worked in Electronics since....LITERALLY....Vacuum Tubes roamed the earth.
I'll stick with wireless cars for now....and maybe get a good deal on a PHEV for my next car!!


Good Luck with the article.
Hope you get to read this

 

Considered a Prolong system from Hybrid Automotive to rejuvenate it?

 

Pics or it didn't happen.

 

Navy Chiefs do not bluff

 

I meant vacuum tubes ROAMING

 

How do you think that 6AK6 got out of it's box and on top of my desk?

 

I started with Pixie tubes.



and core memory.


but I never used tubes as logic, and I moved on, honest! (my computer with core memory ran at 60 Hz, for those of you used to Ghz)

 

I went from a Prius to a plug-in because I learned the hard, expensive way that hybrids don't get very good fuel economy on very short trips around town (which is vast majority of my daily drives) due to the warmup penalty of the gasoline engine happening during most of the trip.

 

That is a good use case for a PHEV to get the best of both worlds.

 

To put it simply, a hybrid ( most notably, the Prius ), is good enough for now...at least until fuel prices spike at some point down the road. That probably won't happen for quite some time.

The Prius is also an established brand that is mechanically very robust. The Hybrid Synergy Drive is the most trusted hybrid drivetrain out there. I think people underestimate how successful it has been and take the reliability for granted. Frankly, it is a a marvel of engineering...mechanically simple but with complex control software ( watch the WeberAuto Prius transaxle teardown videos on Youtube for proof ).

Because of this, most Prius owners think nothing of putting many, many miles on them and expect maintenance costs to be very low. It is pretty fascinating that I still see a ton of older Gen2's on the road...that is a testament to the reliability right there.

A used Prius can also be found for a reasonable price. I'm not sure I can say that about a used Testa, etc...and I'm not sure I trust the other BEVs out there on the used market.

 

I bought a cheap grid charger for $180 from eBay and it didn’t help it made it worse. How would Prolong system be different? Also I haven’t taken the battery out to see if any of the cells are leaking but they are factory so I expect that mostly imbalance