4th generation coming 2015!

Or wait 9 months and trade 9 mpg + a few cu ft. for 39 EV miles.

 

I could see myself biting for 20, but that's my personal absolute minimum...c'mon, Toyota!

 

So Toyota did an excellent job with PIP by keeping the same 50mpg of the regular Prius! Compare Side-by-Side

Imagine 15-20 ev + 55mpg combined

Also, the 30 ev mile range is not a big deal for me, it represent about 1/2 a gallon of gas in this Prius, and until 2 months ago, paid < $2.00 a gal., now $2.39.

 

39 miles would be overkill for me.

 

Fusion Energi(20) is rated 4mpg < Fusion Hv.

Accord Phev(13) is 1mpg < HAH

 

Inversely proportional! more Kw battery onboard, less combined gas mpg

 

More than you need become a dead weight. Even worse, it reduces gas efficiency and increases self-discharge.

 

Any more updates from the Prius team

It seems Toyota is busy revamping conventional engines, wonder whether some improvements will trickle down to G4 ICE.
Meet Toyota's tiny new turbo four-cylinder

BTW if Toyota intends to use same TNGA C-platform for Auris as well as Prius G4 what will be the differentiator?

 

That tiny turbo engine delivers "only" 36% efficiency:
Green Car Congress: Toyota’s second turbocharged gasoline engine now available in Auris in Japan; 36% thermal efficiency

It looks like it's optimized for broad range efficiency (particularly low load) in hybrid drive train you don't need low load efficiency.

TNGA will probably be similar to MQB platform from VW where same platform can be used for a range of body styles, from hatchback to panel van.

 

Why no diesel hybrid option? or has this already been disscused?

wouldn't that be the best of both worlds?

 

Maybe in a perfect world where exhaust gas treatment works just as new after 5 years or if you focus only on CO2 and don't mind other pollutants.

 

Toyota may announce the G4 and some teasers what...Maybe late summer?

Anyway, Toyota's strategy with the Hybrid vehicle is interesting. I see full EV vehicles and wonder - do the drivers have a choice? Electricity prices have gone up and gas down. It's now cheaper to drive a full ICE vehicle than EV. Whereas PiP people can choose and both propulsion systems help each other tremendously.

 

Perhaps where you are.
Gas would have to reach about 50¢/gallon to reach parity for a similarly equipped gas car for me.

However, PHEVs do have the added flexibility of using gas or electricity. Which is far better than being stuck with gas as your only choice, and could, under specific circumstances, prove better than electric only.

 

What's your rate there?

Because of our state in MA - we're trying to get rid of oil and coal production and rely on natural gas or renewable sources. So in that case, our prices went up 20% ...I'm paying about 20 cents per KWh right now :O Gas at $2.50 still beats 20 cents per KWh.

My only wish for EVs and Toyota in general now, is better Miles per KWh usage. Does the new upgrade in Tesla really expand the range that much?

 

Over here, I pay 18 cents per kWh and gas is $2.09. It is cheaper to run on gas with my PiP.

 

The first thing I want to know about the next Generation Prius is whether Toyota abandons the Flying Buttress design.

Beyond that my expectations are reasonable. I expect a sexy, yet amazingly efficient product that fills the emotional void in my soul left by a traumatic and dysfunctional childhood.

I expect a built in interactive operating system akin to the operating system in the movie "Her". The voice of Scarlett Johansson would be acceptable to me.

I expect a humble unveiling. Not unlike the astronaut discovering the monolith in 2001. If I walk away from my first viewing saying "It's Full Of Stars" then I have been reached.

The next Prius should become reason for me to make moonshine AND pay taxes. I want liberals and conservatives to appear on Fox News and Democracy Today, and say "We have our differences, but on this we agree, The New Prius is Fantastic!".

I want people thought forever confined to wheelchairs to rise up in miraculous recovery for the chance to test drive.
I want people with cardboard signs on freeway exit ramps to hold up cardboard signs saying "Saving Up For A New Generation Prius".
I want the next generation Prius to come with a dash light that actually says "CHECK YOUR 12 VOLT BATTERY", so I can stop hearing and giving this advice every time somebody discovers ANYTHING wrong with their Prius.

I expect it to be as industry changing as The Model T, as unique as the original VW bug, and as fun to drive as an amusement park roller coaster.

All in all, it's only going to be a new vehicle, I think it wise to keep expectations in check and reasonable. Let your expectations get too high, and your just cruising for a let down.

 

I currently pay 5.7¢/kWh off peak. In the fall we are moving and I will be paying 4.9¢/kWh or 2¢ (if we go whole house TOU).
In the summer, our Leaf gets about 5 miles/kWh, in the winter about 3.7.

Since 2010, EVs have been improving their Miles/kWh. I expect them to continue to do so.
I also expect the low gas prices to head back up in the next year or so. Much faster than electric rates.

 

Here's a new Toyota SAE paper on one approach towards taking gas engine efficiency beyond the existing G3 engine. Maybe this will be part of G4?

There is a free preview here for the first 5 pages:

Combustion Development to Achieve Engine Thermal Efficiency of 40% for Hybrid Vehicles

 

The Electric Me's post should quell the build-up anxiety of the Prius forthcoming.