Consumer Reports Pegs Prime EV Range at 28 Miles

Absolutely, I have heard nothing but good things about her dealership.
Don't get me wrong, there are good sales reps, and dealers.

It is just that they are rare, and even the good ones are a pain to deal with by jumping through all the hoops and making sure you are dealing with one of the "good" sales reps.
Not sure about now, but for years, the only group "liked" less than car dealers were congress.

 

toyota's secret is the 22 mile range. the money they save on the battery allows them to kick back enough to the sales associates to make them WANT to sell you a prime.

why not have large central locations for car storage, that all dealers can draw on, and small amounts of inventory at each dealership?

 

Making a plug-in cost-effective enough to be appealing on the showroom floor is no secret. That's where sales discoveries & decisions happen. I've been pointing out that importance, to both consumer & salesperson, for years. It's about time others are recognizing the problem.

 

So one thing that I have been looking for in the Prime. Can you use regen braking to charge the plug in battery like in the Volt?

 

Yes. It's done that way on the Gen 1 PiP now. And using the B drive in EV mode will enhance the regen. A couple of things we don't know is:
Does B drive enhance regen while in EV Auto?
Or does it spin the ICE without fuel as an engine brake like in HV mode?
Also, does B drive enhance regen while Force Charge mode is on?

Unsupervised!

 

Do you have data confirming that? All I've ever come across is anecdotal claims without any type of numeric information.

Stacking is quite effective in Prius PHV. Prior to coming to a stop, simply switch from HV to EV mode. Then before starting back up, switch back to HV. That will reserve the recharge just captured for use as EV miles. Otherwise, they are just consumed immediately as HV. Doing this repeatedly is how the "stacking" term came about. You just keep adding more and more as you drive.

Prius Prius will have a driving-recharge mode. That will give it the ability to recharge (in a very efficient manner) the battery as you drive... which is great for when you're on a trip and have no where to plug in at your destination.

 

Yes I have OBD II data that I've shown in other threads that shows the Gen 1 PiP does this as well. The engineering behind it is logical and elegant. Particularly for the Prime this is even more logical since in EV mode on the Prime they would lock out the ICE via the one-way clutch. How would you use the B drive if you are in EV mode on the Prime? The extra slow down has to come from the drive train to simulate a down shift so what is the best way to do that if there is no connection to the ICE? Use MG1 as well for regen. It's quite ingenious and logical.
On the Gen 1 PiP, the ECU that limits the battery current does this as well.


Unsupervised!

 

B tells the system to include the engine for deceleration. That's exactly what you don't want. It should be excluded, which is what Prime will do more often than PHV.

 

there's only one battery in the pip, it gets all the regen you can supply. prime will be similar.

 

MG1 gets used while driving (foot not on the brake pedal) for regen.

MG2 takes over when the braking is engaged by pushing the brake pedal.

Since Prime will introduce a clutch, both could potentially be used at the same time. No switch necessary.

More regen would be great!

 

Yeah since MG2 always spins the opposite way of MG1 they'd have to lock out one of the MG as well. I'll look at the data I have a little closer to see if I can pick up the variations in either the RPMs or the torque output on the Gen 1 PiP.


Unsupervised!

 

The last time I bought something off the lot was in Germany 1986. It was a used car. Never bought anything off the lot in the US.

 

My TSX had very few options, but was still extremely difficult to find the exact one I wanted. The options were; Navigation, 6-speed manual tranny, and a few color choices.

When I was looking for a 2006-2007, I demanded the most excellent 6-speed, preferred Nav, and would take any color but red. It took me a year of looking (for used ones), and I had considered traveling to the east coast to pick up the car I wanted. Finally I broke down and bought one from the Stealer, despite the douchey guy opening his price at $23k and finally accepting my $17k offer, 2 weeks later.

Tesla needs to upset the applecart of all Stealerships. Why people fund the fancy showrooms and nice suits, I'll never understand. Further, manufactures of most goods should sell direct to the customer. I don't need a store to sell me a TV, just ship it straight from the Visio factory to my living room.

 

I've found that the AAA buying service does a pretty good job of searching the inventory across the country to find the car with the specs given to them. They will divert shipments to dealer lots in another state if they find the car you are looking for. If I ever buy a car from Toyota again, I'll certainly use the buying service again.
I bought my first Prius because the hybrid drive offered something light years ahead of the other cars (reliability + unheard of gas mileage).
Now, thankfully, hybrids are becoming ho-hum (not there yet, but well on their way). I had to have the Model S because it too was light years ahead of other cars in the fact that I didn't have to buy gas anymore. The fancy features and crazy acceleration were icing on the cake for me. I'd never buy an ICE car with identical Model S features. For me, the Prime is interesting and I hope a lot of people buy it, but I'm viewing it in the rear view mirror now.

 

i think when tesla is selling millions of cars a year, they may find their dealership model top heavy.

 

I've seen top heavy models at auto shows but never at a dealership

 

yep, they perfected those a long time ago.

 

Not in the San Francisco Bay Area, where Tesla is based. Ordinary suburban 3-bedroom tract homes: $1million+

 

next big quake, you'll be able to scoop them up for a song.