Good evening, Prospective Prius buyer here. I'm gathering information and researching to see if this is the right fit for me. Current vehicle is a 2007 Honda Accord with very high mileage and needs to be replaced soon. Looking at getting a 2016 Prius to save on fuel, however if I'm barking up the wrong tree I'll simply pick up another conventional ICE vehicle. I live in Ontario which means cold climate for half of the year. My commute is 100 highway miles round-trip per day at 70mph, rolling hills with maybe 5% stop and go traffic. Question surrounds how much the battery/electric motor would assist the ICE in this scenario; Would I be right in assuming ICE keeps the battery topped off and electric assists on the rolling hills at this speed? Or would it be running 100% ICE? I'm here to get educated and look forward to constructive feedback. Cheers!
Minnesota former Prius owner here... of a 2001, 2004, 2010, 2012 PHV, 2017 Prime... then got a bZ4X. My wife still has here 2017 Prime. Anywho, lots of cold temp and long trip experience. The system will basically always have the engine on at 70 mph, but you'll be surprised how much assist from that battery charge & draw that results. The gas-engine simply won't run as hard. Heck, our trips through South Dakota at 80 mph would hit 50 MPG under ideal conditions. A conventional ICE cannot deliver that.
Yes No. Sometimes the hills and slowing helps the hybrid store energy, a big factor at speed. However it is the Atkinson cycle engine with greater efficiency at speed and lower power at low speed that helps the most. Will you get 50mpg at 70? Maybe not unless you keep the speed down especially on down slopes and and try to decelerate gently when possible to maximize regen.
Based on reliability ratings and a lot of the posts on this site, you would probably be better off looking for a Prius from the last two years of the 4th Generation instead of the earlier years. They are basically the same car with fewer issues.
My wife works at a rural school about 50 miles outside of town. That's who puts on the most miles in our family. It's about like your commute - maybe 10% around town, the rest 70-80 MPH on the highway. She started with a 2009, and we got a 2019 Prime (plug in hybrid) a little over a year ago. She loves the savings and the reliability. The advantages of the Prius tend to fade the faster you go though. The best MPG is around town. That's where you get more of the advantages of the electric (regenerative braking and even a few miles on the electric). At highway speeds (the first 25 miles is electric for our Prime, but not for a standard Prius) the hybrid operation is mostly ICE. For a standard Prius, the battery is mostly charged when you slow down using the regenerative braking (first part of the brake pedal travel). Not much of that is going to be happening on the highway. Maybe a little coasting downhill. After a certain point, braking is done through the standard friction brakes. Wind resistance is also more proportional to the square of the speed. Around town, stop-and-go traffic, you really don't average that much in the speed department. On the highway, it's a different story. Especially when you're fighting a headwind or a crosswind. This is why driving around town is better, the opportunities to charge the battery with light braking and less wind resistance are where the car has all the advantages. Ground clearance isn't the best, so if you've got winter road conditions where you've gotta plow your own way, it's not the best for that. The Hybrid system handles the cold weather fine. I didn't have any traction with the Blizzaks I originally put on my 2009, so I've used studded snow tires since. Those eat at the MPG though, but I don't want to worry about hitting anybody else.
