I thought of starting this question as a way to put out some points, questions, feedback, criticism, and anything else that comes to mind about your Prius Prime, as a way to send a message to Mr. Toyota. If you have more than one point, kindly list them using a numerical list. 1. I would have liked to have had less road noise 2. Climate control screen push buttons on my XLE could have been much more visible when activated, a tiny blue line indicating being on, is not adequate. 3. Passenger seat could have been made automatic, for a more satisfactory experience. Even the Limited edition doesn't get that.
1. Bring back spares. 2. Knock off the bling rims, get back to 15". 3. Design a dash with vent controls that can be adjusted without driving off the road, and gauges visible in bright sun. 4. Supply basic maintenance instructions in the Owner's Manual, things like engine oil and transmission fluid change. 5. Drop the Toyota Tech Info paywall, for Toyota car owners. 6. Police the slimy dealership service departments. 7. Put your customers first, for a change.
it wasn't Congress or States that came up with idea of Govt Gibs Back for PHEV and E-cars, yet with one exception way up in N California, not a single salesman has slightest clue of amounts or WHEN THE OFFER ENDS. We are talking several thousand of hard cash refund from Govt, not just some 'tax deduction'. Toyota Corp spend big money "lobbying" Congress to help salesmen sell Toyotas. SMH. Also, not just the dumb salesmen, but Service Depts didn't know about CRG feature that allows main batt to charge off engine when driving, and IMO that is best feature and whole point of PHEV. The Part Dept tried to sell me those paper oil filter inserts for my 2020 which were famously only used on IIRC 2017 Primes. Maybe its just me but the paint on driver's door threshold wore off real fast and I had to DIY some tape. Get rid of those underbody plastic push plugs. Just give me 10 or 8mm head bolts into welded to frame nuts. Make adding a tow-hitch and trailer lights not such a PIA. I don't see too many hitches but with a small car its really nice to have a cargo tray or bike racks on the rear. Would only cost about $10 max if trailer lights were factory installed. While you're at it, give me a factory interior light on inside of rear hatch. That side light is basically useless. I've taped mini-head lamps up there and it really helps, and you've already got power running for lic-plate light. Make an extra Traction Batt an add-in option that is Plug & Play and could be used outside the car as powerbank, and can run 110/220 AC. Make something with Prius Prime drive train, but with body, steering and suspension of 1992 Saab 900 2 door wagonback. What to keep same? General passenger space layout. I'm pretty big and tall and not problems and I've taken Uber in back seat and seemed fine and I forgot I was in the back seat. I've got a 1999 Ford Taurus "full size" wagon with "aero" styling and its a struggle to get my head in and out.
4. Provide a truly electronic Owner Manual with hyperlinked topics, definitions, and illustrations. 5. Clearly distinguish between "Heat Pump" and "Fan". 6. Make the climate controls possible to use with real knobs and buttons so I can make adjustments while driving. 7. Improve navigation within the Toyota smartphone app: e.g. it is easy to find the tire pressure, but what is the traction battery charge?
Double the power of the AC, the engine, elec motors, and battery pack. Go 1200volt, and triple elec range
They do not make enough of these cars to fill demand, the price is too high, and you can't even test drive one because there are none available on the dealer lots.
A Prius BEV version - with 300+ miles range. 15, or 17" wheel trim options. Stop forcing customers to have to replace tires when we hit a pothole. Just a little more headroom - especially in the Gen 5 models, and make the front door open further forward. We're not all miniature people. Don't try to make that much money on EVERY map upgrade. If you dropped the price to something reasonable, you'd sell that many more map upgrades and you'd make the same amount of money - or more. Decent interior trim choices. I like having the large panels, but not $$$$ that much. I'd rather keep the money and have a smaller display (that I don't use that much). More interior color choices - black don't cut it in the summer.
I would like something like an "arrived" button to force the car to stay in EV mode for a very short distance at low speeds. I hate it when I think I can make it home without any gas only for the engine turn on within feet of my garage.
I usually buy the top end to get all of the safety enhancements. However, in the latest model, if I buy the top end model I get wheels that give me the least mileage on EV. I would really like to get the most miles on EV. Do I really have to buy the cheap model to do this? Ray
Its nuts that today with the whole car already in CAD, and AI and AI animation there aren't "forwards and backwards" complete manuals that would fully empower a first timer non-mechanic to at least fully understand what is needed to be done, will full "Force vectors" etc for how hard to push and pull, ways to change the view, ways to see past blocking items by making other stuff semi-transparent. Also, what is going on when they design, or don't design, all these new car "interfaces". Feels like a bunch of diff Depts just tack their stuff on and no one is in charge. Seems it SHOULD be converging to a standard, sort of like how all Word Processors use same combo for Copy, Search, etc.
More flexible battery charging programming. Like.. Let the battery start charging to preferred level like 50 or 60% as soon as plugged, then only top up to 100% near departure time. So in case i need to use the car before departure time, i don't leave with 0% charge. Oh and please get rid of that curved rear glass and bring back the rear window wiper.
But did they discontinue the wiper (in Gen 5), forget. No great loss, and its swept area was very mediocre.