Featured Live Video 2017 Prius Plug-in Walkthrough - Periscope

We have to wait and see how Hyundai solution to that looks like .
To what I have heard up to now,they have seemed to have done a better job placing the battery .

 

yes, but it won't go up a small hill.







mergie-merge-de-merge





i'm beginning to think toyota made a half hearted attempt here. they put everything they had into gen4, then looked at it and said, 'what's it gonna take to make this a phev'? instead of planning them both from the beginning.
i wonder if it's any fun over at boltchat.

 

IMO, looks much more appealing and what the Gen 4 should have looked like. I would purchase this over the Gen 4 and probably would never even plug it in.

 

What do you think of the Ford Energi offerings? C-Max has that very obtrusive lump in the middle and Fusion sacrifices most of the trunk. With Prius Prime, you still get a large cargo area. It's not as deep, but all the large objects I've carried required length instead... which hasn't been changed. It should be interesting to see what Hyundai does with their large PHEV pack.

There are always tradeoffs. So, being "full hearted" really isn't possible. Room for a lot of battery would require something else to be given up.

 

i'm not impressed with them. but since toyota developed a whole new prius from the ground up, don't you think they could have found a place for the battery, and used that space on the lift back for spare tyre and storage?

they stuffed 4 kWh in an 8 year old design, and they couldn't find a place for 4 more in a completely new vehicle?

 

It's not really different than asking for an extra inch or two of legroom. The tradeoffs can be big. So, the answer is no.

I see things like cost, weight, handling, efficiency being carefully balanced with size & capacity. Let's not forget the hidden aspects of operation too, like cooling and accident resistance.

 

well, it's obvious that the answer is no, but i don't have to like it. i would have preferred the fixed axle or other compromises, but that's just me. sales will tell the story. i was excited, but now i'm questioning my next purchase.
i guess it's how some people felt about gen 4 looks. i'm more concerned with practicality and usefulness, and the battery is taking up useful space.

 

Remember the prototype plug-in? That had a 5.2 kWh battery. It raised the floor half of an iPhone width. That made the space tradeoff rather subtle. Toyota chose not to offer than particular configuration though. The extra electricity would have been nice. But it just didn't work out with the market at the time. Cost was way too high.

Now, we see an effort to deliver that extra capacity, in big part due to the cost being so much less. That half iPhone width more gives us way more than it would have a few years ago. Toyota thinks that strikes the right balance for this market. So do I.

I put a large 3-inch tall box in my cargo area to represent the new battery-pack. It still provided 10.5 inches of room for stowing stuff. My usual backpack fit fine. The duffle bag I carry around fit too. There's +6 inches above the rollout cover for taller items. Our 1,500-mile round-trip back in January was to deliver a baby crib and a variety of other items. That would have easily fit with 3 less inches of height available.

How much room under the rollout cover and overall do you think people will really be looking for?

 

I like the style of Prius Prime over the hatchback, I don't mind the oversize battery pack but I don't like the rear center cup holder. I hope they change it for the 2017 model.
Is the blue color the same as the RAV 4 Hybrid?

 

I don't know in what of the many threads up now to place my questions about the new PiPP - a moderator can move this post if there is a better spot for it.

* Was there any evidence of heated seats or power seats in the model you previewed?

* The walk-around video seemed to have a black front area console cover or was it black plastic? (you might guess I'm not a fan of the porcelain stuff) Might there be a trim level that avoids the white, or is it way too early to even ask this?

* I know the back interior deck looked pretty tall in the pics and video. But when the rear seats were folded down, were those folded seats any lower than a GenIII's when folded? In other words, might we gain an inch or two of room above the folded seats compared to the previous model?

* Did you get to see the 11" touch screen in action? If so, what were your impressions of it? Worth the up-price?

* On either side of the grille logo, looks to be semi-transparent plastic (brownish in the pics and video). If it is really semi-transparent, then why? Is there some tech behind that?

Thanks for all the effort you guys put into this reveal and all the info thus far you have been able to push up to the forum in such little time.

 

I wonder how the vital stats compare to the Volt (cabin space, performance, range, features, price, etc.)

 

You could always back up into your garage.

 

That's what I've been doing for years. It provides the maximum amount of room for my wife and I between the cars. Coincidently, she'd have to continue parking forward if her car had a plug. That's simply the best way to fit into a garage.

All I can say is thank goodness the port isn't in the middle close to the driver's door. That would mean cords hanging out where we walk rather than tucked away in the corner against the wall.

 

I don't have much issue with the raised cargo floor. Neither did I with the C-max Energi's; the battery hump goes higher, and there isn't a slope down to the folded seat backs, but they give you a semi covered storage space behind the battery.

The 4 seats is strange. It's like Toyota looked at the Volt and i3, saw that they had 4 seats, missed the part where people weren't happy about that, and decided a popular plug in needed four seats. Considering those cars are in smaller size classes, people can accept 4 seats since 5 would be tight even without the batteries. As a midsize, most of the potential customers for the Prime would rather a dependent rear suspension and 5 seats.

Or maybe the thinking is that Mirai has 4 seats, and it is awesome.

Looks like we will have too wait a little longer before answering that. The 4 seats could be due to going with a cheaper battery chemistry, and if it is reflected in the price, then people could be happy.

That center arm rest looks low. I wonder if you could mount a carseat there. Another question for later.

 

So when and where will we see the video about the 11.6 inch screen the guy is talking about ?

 

Great !
Thanks !

 

You mean like the cable that already runs from the battery to the PCU that's under the hood?

Use the same one.