2020 Prime Tidbits (North America)

The US is getting it too....

 

Another thought, the 2020 Corolla Hybrid also has CarPlay and Lane Tracing Assist. Let's hope Lane Tracing will also come to the Prius Prime in 2020.

 

This is great news for me, as the first two points were my main drawbacks with the current model. May I ask where this information has been “confirmed”?

I really wish there was a better “roof” option (either solar roof available in Europe, or at least a moonroof, which I really miss having from my previous car ), but now I’m being greedy.... lol.

 

Perhaps if @Tideland Prius tells you he would have to shoot you to keep the secret.

 

That’s one more "feature" I would turn off.

 

Lol, fair enough. I know Tideland is well-connected and I respect his opinion/sources, was just wondering if there is anything official or if this is “off the record” kinda stuff...

I know it is encouraging that it sounds like Europe is getting the 5th seat and a 360 camera, and hopefully these same features make it across the pond, however we all know that is not always the case (like the 7-seater V...).

Anyway, looking more and more like 2020 Prime will be my next car.

 

Since this is a step forward, but doesn't fully address my load and cargo issues, I'll step back and ask slightly different questions for hints.

(*) Comparing 2019 European versions with this 5th seat to the earlier versions with just 4 seats, did the vehicle load rating change?

(*) Similarly, did the cargo volume, or battery shape and position, change?

 

Dang, I thought their 5-seat was supposed to be out now. Will have to wait longer to grasp at these straws ...

 

Did they say what year? May 2020?

 

Sadly i think the rumor said Europe would get it in August. see #45 here
5 Seat Prime finally arrives | PriusChat

 

No word in any the threads for the fifth seat.

Different countries will likely get it at different times.

 

I’ve been thinking (and this may be a bit OT), but is there any chance Toyota may support wireless CarPlay? I don’t believe any of the Toyota models support the wireless implementation, and I think there are only a couple cars that do (BMW?).

Was just thinking that since they have Qi charging, it seems rather redundant if you have to plug in your iPhone for CarPlay.

What happens if you plug in your phone and put it on the Qi charger? I presume it ignores the wireless? (Would be cool if it accelerated the charge rate, lol, but I am sure that’s not the case...).

Yeah, I’m just bored waiting for some news...

 

As cool as wireless car play would be, it is a long shot imo

If we get CarPlay, it will probably be the same entune 3.0 used on the new RAV4 Corolla etc. Can’t see them investing in more software development but only using it on the Prius.

The reviews seem to say BMW’s wireless implementation is unreliable, so I don’t think we are missing out on much. Maybe in a few years the situation will be different.

 

My PiP and my Prime play tunes from my iPhone wirelessly already. Not that I ever use that feature myself.

The Qi charger on the Prime is totally useless for an iPhone 8 Plus with a case that's heavy enough to actually protect the phone. In fact, I've never found any Qi charger that would work with either my Speck case or the Pelican. Plus, with either of those cases, the phone won't lay flat on the charger in the car, making it even worse. Plus plus, with those sloped edges, I'd be concerned about the phone or anything else laying there wandering about the cabin in response to emergency maneuvers. So, it's just wasted space in my car. I'm thinking about fabbing something from a sheet of plastic to make a low profile barrier for the Qi charger so I can actually put stuff there and not be concerned about it ending up under the brake or gas pedals.

 

Current Qi charger on PRIME is most likely inadequate for any newer power hungry phones. Even plugging into USB is probably not fast enough. I use 63W PD, QC3 compatible 12V car charger. It is so much faster than anything else I have used. As for the car play, I don't have iPhone. So there.

 

Here's a video of the 2020 Prime at the NY Auto Show. It does have a 3-person rear bench seat. They relocated the seat heater positions, got rid of the white trim pieces (on black interior vehicles). Most of these changes are already on the 2019 Prius. No mention of Apple Car Play, but supposedly they are adding Alexa integration. Also the trim levels have changed to LE, XLE, and Limited.