First time Prius owner (2013 Prius plug-in)

Wow! I can't believe we haven't welcomed you yet. Sorry about that!

It sounds like the PiP is perfect for you. I'd say that the first thing is some time perusing the owner's manual. There are lots of cool features and tips there. And check out the FAQ at the top of the PiP forum.

 

congrats and welcome! ^^^what jerry said^^^

 

Cool! Keep on grinnin'.

BTW, your profile calls the model a Three. There is no such model in the PiP. It's either Base or Advanced. I think the Advanced has fog lights, so that would make your a Base like what I had. That info could be relevant when dealing with certain questions you might have down the road.

I'm looking forward to reading your impressions on the car.

 

It is probably not far from the mark to say it is a Three since in the common features that is the equivalent to the Base PiP.

Thinking back to having to find a notary (which Carson in California did not require but Tennessee does) to satisfy the Dept. of Revenue, I tried a local dealership. I was soon surrounded by sales people wondering what trim level is that! (I told them to look at the badge.) When I came out they concluded that it was like a Three.

 

Congratulations!

I was in the same boat with a 3.5-mile commute. I found that when there was just local driving, I could go 3 months between visits to a gas station. One time I went about 1,900 miles on one tank! Even though it is more expensive look at using 100% gas and not an ethanol blend because of the long time between fill-ups.

Unfortunately, I was moved to another office last year and now enter gas-guzzling mode every day.

 

If your commute is only three miles, the trick is to keep the ICE (gas engine) from starting. Keep the heater at it’s lowest temperature and use the seat heaters if you’re cold. (Unless it’s really cold of course... by using the heater will start the engine).

Once the engine starts, it runs until fully warmed up, so your mileage on a 3 mile trip will drop from 999 MPG to about 45.

 

I'm about to buy a Prius PHV, 2013, 104,000 kms. Doing it as much for the environment as anything else. We are 80% renewable in NZ, electricity comes from hydro, not coal. I have a 22 km each way commute, with charging facilities at work. Does anyone have a clue of the real-world range on a car that old, or is it too variable? I was hoping to do most of my commute on the battery. It doesnt get real cold here.
Cheers
Jeff

 

Welcome, Jeff!
Your range will be greatly affected by traffic conditions. I traded in my '13 PiP with almost 90,000 miles (144,800 km). I got 10-14 miles (16-22.5 km) from a full charge. Most of my commute was stop and go (often hard stops) with 80 kph speeds. Those were the 10 mile range drives. If I was on surface streets at 45-70 kph, it might be closer to 22 km.

And all of that is influenced by the air conditioner. If I started the car with 12 miles of range showing, turning on the A/C would drop it to about 10.5 miles. And I almost always need the A/C here in Florida.

My work commute was 15.8 km and, along with other drives that were usually longer, I averaged around 100 mpg or 2.35 L/100km.

 

Jeff,
22 km is close to the battery’s peak range, so the gasoline engine might run a bit. Once the gasoline engine starts, it will not switch off until it’s fully warmed up. One strategy is keep it off as long as possible, the other is let it run when the car starts and then the car will switch to battery.

I suggest you test drive the car on your drive, if possible. It takes a light foot on the pedal to keep the engine from starting; there’s a gauge you can display on the dashboard to help you. You tap the DISPLAY button on the steering wheel to switch displays until you see the one which looks like a sideways thermometer. That’s the best display for maximizing economy. It will also help you brake lightly enough to always generate electricity when you brake. This aids fuel economy and helps your brake pads last longer.

We have a very active maintenance section here on PriusChat ( Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting | PriusChat note that this isn’t in the Plug-in but in the standard Gen III Prius area)and outstanding videos of all maintenance tasks you should perform to keep the car running happily ( Nutz About Bolts Prius Maintenance Videos | PriusChat )... because being green is also about not buying new cars every few years, and keeping good cars on the road.

Last, I want to say that on longer drives, fuel economy with this car is outstanding, mine has had outstanding durability, and with the seats down, it carries a remarkable amount of cargo. I hope you join us as Prius Plug-in owners.

 

Thanks guys for the initial feedback ! I am about to do my first test drive in 40 mins time ! My commute is mosty motorway speed from door to door ! OK. Thanks for the hints on how to drive it to test the battery. I'm getting excited ! ( I have already paid to have the vehicle shipped down here so am 99% sure I am getting it.)
Cheers
Jeff

 

great car, i think the best ever made

 

Something to consider is the EV mode speed limit is 100 km/h if it's a Japanese import, or 85 km/h if it's a domestic model. Once you go over that the ICE will kick in. And these limits are real speed, not indicated - on mine that corresponds to 108 and 91 km/h respectively.

 

That's a factor, but while the ICE will kick in if you go too fast, if you stay in EV mode, so you're getting crazy high MPG while the engine runs and the battery helps.

 

I don’t find that.
For example, if I drive a fully charged, cold car a few miles and the engine starts, mileage will be poor; the engine runs the entire time, just to warm itself.

It’s the design; it assumes you’ll continue to drive a longer distance and warming the engine reduces emissions. Of course, shutting the engine off completely reduces emissions more, but the car can’t know how far you intend to drive.

 

I don't mean a few miles or a cold ICE. I'm talking about driving along in HV for miles and miles and realizing you have a bunch of EV range left that you won't get a chance to use before recharging. If you have EV range, you can use EV for quite a surprising distance at 70 mph and it will give you amazing instantaneous mileage as long as you continue to have battery range. It may reduce your mileage in the long run, but not like leaving range in the battery when you have reached a place where you can plug in or go down a big mountain to regenerate.

In other words, if you have EV range and you won't get to use it up at speeds below 62 or whatever the threshold is in your country, you don't have to throw away that range just because of your speed.

 

Yes, it was very windy, but on my 2nd run, on a fully charged battery, I got 16.3 kms before it jumped into ICE mode. Speedometer is rediculously optimistic. I took a GPS app and I reckon it was 5+ kmh fast at least. What is that about? Will pick it up on wedensday. I need to look into the maintenanced area of this site and see if these things have cam-chains !

 

I can get maybe 15 km. Not 22. The car in the picture is a base model.

 

15-16 km is about what I get with my 2012, so that sounds about right. Lots of hills here though.

Over-reading by at least 5 km/h is quite normal, at least in Europe. I think standards might be a bit different in the US and elsewhere.

The engines do have a timing chain, and I don't think there are any common issues with the chains.