I only recall it in the marketing material. I can't think that such a plastic shield would actually be needed. At least for what Toyota would charge for it. You can almost close the window on the cord. Maybe even safely close the door or hatch on it. Depends on the cord, and you can find flat ribbon ones.
It's kind of cool that the Prime has these residential outlets. Curious what's the best case use for them? In an outage it would be great, but any other ideas?
Camping. Tailgate party. Picnic electric grill. Inflatable kayak pump. Mobile office (with cell service you can work anywhere). Outdoor power tool use. Electric cooler for a long car trip – or grocery shopping in the summer when you'll be out all day running errands. Vendor power at an outdoor market or fair. Improvised drive-in movie theatre (they provide the parking lot & wall, you provide the projector & FM transmitter). Vacuum cleaner for that sunny day you're cleaning out the car. 1500W unlocks a lot of possibilities – pretty much anywhere you'd use a portable power station or generator. My favourite is having a powered cooler in the trunk that's just there all summer. Most are 12V, so will need an adapter. Curious whether the outlets are powered all the time, or do you have to turn them on?
The window gasket is a separately sold accessory as far as I know. Yes, the AC outlet can be used as a generator output either with the PHEV battery or ICE.
Well the Prius XLE AWD is on its way. : ) I’ll have to adjust the seat all the way up or get some sort of an angled pillow. Goal is to sit as high as possible without the steering wheel sitting in my lap. If I can’t make it feel comfortable, the Corolla Cross hybrid is a back up plan but I’d have to wait another couple of months. I’m not someone in the financial position to trade in a new car within two years but depending on my experience and what’s available I might have to. My 2009 is making a noise that got a bit louder after some majorly bumpy highway driving through NYC. It supposedly isn’t wheel bearing. I don’t want to put any more into this car so waiting for the Corolla Cross hybrid might be a risk I shouldn’t take. Time will tell!
Don't get too excited over a 120v outlet in a vehicle. My 2005 Tacoma had one in the bed and I was excited to be able to use power tools but quickly found out the amperage is pretty pathetic...even while the truck was running.
Nope. The Tacoma was a low power inverter, maybe 300 watts. The Prime uses the traction battery with maybe 1000 watts or more available. That's enough to power most handheld power tools, or your freezer and some light in a power outage.
In europe it has 1500 watts - that should be even enough to blow dry you hair if you have to. I guess outside of europe its the same... EDIT: Nevermind, was posted already anyway - interestingly in europe there is only one outlet in the back though.