Is 25 to 40 mile range enough for everyday?

Absolutely.

 

I don't know that I would say 25 - 40 miles range should be good enough for everyone, specially these days when that is pretty much all anyone thinks about concerning EV PHEV cars. Another related question is 'What EV range are you hoping Gem5 will have?' That is if Prius Prime still is a PHEV at that time. I know when we were discussing the next Gem PiP 5 or 6 years ago, almost all of us were hoping for at least double what the PiP was getting. And no body seemed to be wishing / hoping for less EV range. Still at Primes 25 EPA charging the pack from empty is typically somewhere around $1 off peek and $3 peek. No body says we have to do a full charge every time we plugin either. So half an hour plugged in at a cost of around $ 0.50 peek rate might have prevented the dreaded ICE warmup. Still it's pretty nit picky of me to go there and pinch some pennies out of the budget and the cars cost of ownership.
And, not fer nothing, but the Prime kinda offers a lot of options per drive if the driver wants to explore all of them. It might take a few years to find some of them though.

 

Yeah they're not.

They're aimed squarely at a true average distance driver, and essentially everyone commuting to work near silicon valley is driving above-average miles.

This doesn't mean you can't enjoy one or save some fuel, it just means that it isn't scaled to give you a fully optimized experience.

 

The PP is perfect for our everyday usage.

Would it be nice to have double? sure. would I be happy to pay the extra cost? probably not.
To pay an extra ~$5k for another ~25miles EV...doesnt sound exciting.
Could it be for someone else, absolutely.
Lets face the true "cost"

I think with Primes MSRP is baby bears "just right" vehicle....for my family/usage.

Overall as I mentioned, perfect.
We shuttle the kids a few miles to and from school. (horrible life for a standard prius and the warmup routine)
I also use it to commute to and from work a 2+ days a week, which is also 6 miles a day.

BUT, when we go out of the PP EV range, we have the BEST hybrid vehicle with the BEST fuel efficiency to drive.

So best of both worlds. Very happy for the purchase I decided upon, at the best time with all rebates etc.
Better than a prius, and better than a full EV
Sitting around 500mpg for the month of November!

Everyones scenario is different tho aka YMMV

 

It really depends on what one expects out of a PHEV. My daily commuting is ~40miles/day. When I first bought my 2017 PP, I was driving daily this distance. For sure, it was a frustrating experience to have the engine come on just a few miles before I get home every day during summertime when the EV range was ~32-35miles. And during wintertime, the EV range was more like 18-22miles. It was just enough to get one way all EV. If my expectation was to have 100% EV mode for everyday commuting, then the PP's range was not enough. I would much rather have PHEV or BEV with over 50miles range.

But, for me, PP's short EV range was not a problem. For our area, at least until recently, the gas was chea[er than the electricity rate. So, driving more on EV mode meant it would be costing more than driving on a gas engine. It was a good balance between reducing dependence on gasoline and still being able to drive economically. In the end, I have not owned any other car that beat PP's true cost of operation including the purchase price. It has been by far the least expensive car to own and operate. For the 2017PP, after trading in ~3 years later, the price of the car was ~$500 and was getting ~85mpg. It was cheaper even when compared to purchase and use of used gas-only Civic (was ~$12K to purchase and got ~30mpg) or a hybrid Civic (was about ~$15K to purchase and got ~40mpg) or new Gen3 Prius (~$10 after trading-in and got ~45mpg).

BTW, the situation is now better with a short range of PP. My commuting distance is still ~40miles, but I don't drive every day. I am only going to the office once or twice a week. And, my workplace installed free EV charging stations for employees to use. With the increased gas price now, it is much cheaper to drive exclusively on EV mode, even though the engine still comes on now and then.

 

There's no law against charging your Prime more than once per day.

 

12 miles works for me, it's so personal. otoh, phev's were not designed to be bev's.

 

My one way commute is 25 miles, so it just meets it.

At work they have ChargePoint stations that offer a discounted rate, so I get a full charge there in 2 hours at less than what I pay at home.

Several years from now when my son is of driving age and he inherits our 2019 Prime, an Atlis or Rivian will be in my future, so charging up the battery purely at work will save money.

But the Prime is good enough for now.

 

A full BEV just isn't practical where I live with few charging options and a 120 mile daily commute carpooling with my wife. My work is 40 miles, hers is another 20. I had a gen4 Prius and it was fine for my needs but when I had to replace it this year the Prius Prime made the most sense as far as price and gas mileage. I get about 20 miles on electric even when the temperature is in the teens before the gas engine fires up. Even though I spend most of my time in HV the Prime beats the Prius by 10mpg. I only have to stop for gas once a week instead of twice. That's nice because the nearest gas station from home is 8 miles away. A Rav4 Prime would have been great too but it was at least $10k more than the Prius before dealer markups and the mpg after the ev range was used up wasn't as good. So Prius Prime meets my needs fine.

 

I get an average of 33 miles on a charge and it is sufficient for most of my local trips. The only time I need the ICE is on trips to Sacramento or San Francisco. On those trips I use the Charge Mode on the down grade from Donner Summit on I-80 and have sufficient charge to run in EV at my destination. Gas in Reno is $4.29 a gallon and my off peak electricity costs $.05 per KWh.

I have had my PP for just over a year and am completely satisfied with it

 

Yes it is

the vast majority of commutes are actually quite short

it’s the minority of drivers that drive the majority of the annual miles in the us

 

Mine is good for about 90% of my local driving. I wouldn't want to never run the ICE, so that's just about perfect.

 

I drive 1000 miles a week for work (5x200 miles round trip). I can charge for free at work most days (odd day where all the slots with plugs are full notwithstanding). I’ve never considered my Prime as a mostly BEV usage car, so I’m quite happy I’m no longer making that commute with my X-Terra (I consume, on average, 20% of the fuel I used to—pays for the car in gas savings alone). Just depends on expectations, I guess. The price and fuel economy are more important than having a bigger battery (though I wouldn’t say no to a modest increase in range at same price).

 

more is often better, but it comes at a cost

 

Years ago, it was a common saying that most accidents happen within 25 miles of home. This was to encourage people to buckle up always and not just on long trips. They could make that claim about most accidents being close to home because most driving is close to home.

PS. I've put about 35,000 miles on my Prime so far. 11,000 of those miles we're on two trips of over 6,000 and over 4,000 miles. Is, in total, almost a third of my miles are long trips but in normal driving, it's right about 90% in battery range.