Did you remove the styrofoam in the trunk?

keeping the styrofoam both as structural support for the floor and insulator for the batteries. I have put some stuff into the spaces carved in like tire slime repair kit, pump, the charger, a snow brush and some other little things.

 

With the Prime, you really almost have to keep the foam in as it protects the battery charger and the controller for the solar roof(if equipped).

I'm doing the spare tire conversion, so I'll be replacing the stock foam boxes with the new ones. If I wasn't doing that, I'd leave them in place and store things in them like I'm currently doing. Right now, I've got a Ryobi battery-powered inflator and an impact wrench, a 21mm socket, a first aid kit, and an emergency kit. A few of the other openings would also get filled with winter survival supplies if I weren't doing the spare conversion.

Regardless, I wouldn't be interested in removing the foam to get more general cargo room as I like the flat floor with the rear seats down(it's a significant selling point for me after 13 years in a gen3). Plus I want a solid floor which you can't get without the foam because the deck board is so flimsy.

 

I'm thinking of carving it out to fit a spare. My next mod

 

I'm thinking of carving it out to fit a spare.

 

Would be cool if there was some kind of acessory to have a better/nicer compartment area. The white one is not just ugly but seems like some last minute hack.

EDIT: I had a first look on the Japanese market but even there I could not find something (yet).

 

Toyota is pinching pennies by not using carbon black.

 

Carbon black is added to plastic to protect it from UV degradation. Toyota is banking on the glass and floor deck protecting it, but time will take its toll.

The aesthetic argument is that white really stands out against the dark colors of the rest of the interior. The contrast just highlights the choice of cheapness. Past Prius models, and others, use a sturdier plastic for such trays.

 

I'm just using it to store my tire pump and other emergency supplies. It keeps the trunk bed level with the back seats when they are down, so I like that.

 

Surprised that people are actually concerned about the aesthetics and color of styrofoam that is hidden under a mat in the back of the car. It's a big world I guess, different people have different priorities.

 

I believe its more that fact that it's styrofoam. Such pieces were usually made of something like ABS. It's the difference between a hard shell cooler and a disposable foam one.

 

It is not styrofoam. It is EPP, the same recyclable material used to make helmets, car seats and probably some other energy absorbing safety equipments.
I’d not mess with it.

 

It is also underneath the car's bumper cover.

The issue here is the appearance. While it isn't by the part price, it looks cheap. Specially when compared to what past models and competitors use. Using black, which most applications where it is visible do, would have mitigated that.

Styrofoam can be recycled. Without special compactors to reduce the volume, the fuel costs ship it back to a recycling plant are too high. It is probably the same with EPP if it is the majority of the polypropylene collected.

It's sturdier than it looks, and is more chemically resistant than styrofoam. If Toyota didn't want you to store other stuff there, they wouldn't have included the bin spaces. As they did with the gen4.

 

I figured it must be a cost cutting move. Why would anyone put white foam in a car where tools are stored?Nonsense.

 

Of which I for one am very thankful of, considering the G5 drives and looks much more expensive than it is.

 

Ok. (don't have my car yet, it is still in transit) This block of EPP is between the floor of the trunk and the battery area, right? Why is the color such a problem? The gen3 spare space was pretty unsightly, too. No experience with gen4.

edit: I was more concerned about having no spare until I realized that in a total of 21 years of driving Prii, I had never needed a spare.

 

I was thinking about this the other day too. I used to commute as much as 100 miles a day for ten years. I'm 61 and I've been driving since 16. I honestly cannot remember the last time I had a flat tire. My wife's Civic had one a number of years back - in our garage, fortunately enough.

Still, the lack of a spare tire isn't a big problem....until it is

 

We are talking pennies saved from the price, if they even discounted it, by not using carbon black.

It will be covered up most of the time. It just stands out against the black and grey when it is the seen. While it isn't styrofoam, it looks like it, and being white means it looks even more like disposable packing material and coolers. Thus it looks cheap, and the Prius isn't in the cheap car class.

I was involved in one tire blow out. When I was a kid. In thirty years of driving, all those flats was ones that could be fixed by a plug or goo.

Blow out and no spare sucks, but then so does two flats and a spare. I've yet to purchase a car without a spare, but it isn't a feature I give consideration too when purchasing.

 

Because it’s common sense to not use a white textured material for a storage area that’s going to be storing tools and other equipment that will be exposed to grease and dirt. I thought it was just an inexpensive temporary solution until they started production but I guess not.