Featured Open Letter To Toyota USA: Go All In On The Prius Prime, Kill The Regular Prius Hybrid

Bob may have said it better.

Toyota has a reputation for above average reliability. Without the circle T badge, buyers may not have given the Prius the chance to prove itself and the technology.

 

Change the structure around the spare well to accommodate a battery and see if a rear end crash is the same? Yea, I think they gotta do that or lawyer up.

 

Of course it has to be recertified. The CH-R and Corolla hatchback underwent seprate crash testing, and the 'bones' of the platform they share hadn't changed. Just having the large battery changes the crash dynamics, and there is no structural difference between the Prius and Prime.

 

Use 2710 cells in modular arcs. Heck, just spiro the cells in two layers.

Bob Wilson

 

I'm lost.

 

With 2710 or 18650 cells there is no reason for rectangular cell assemblies. They can be fabricated like a layer cake and fit in the spare tire well.

Bob Wilson

 

mount the spare on the hatch door

 

Or a spare carrier that fits on the built-in, 2" (5 cm) receiver hitch. Be sure and include a license plate holder and trailer lighting.

Bob Wilson

 

Statistically there is nothing wrong with Gen 3 power-train reliability according to dashboard-light statistics on 12950 US trade-ins. All cars now are quite reliable. All cars do develop problems as they age. When it comes to vehicle reliability, I don't accept anecdotal evidence.

 

I haven't needed a spare tire in over 32 years. I have never carried 5 people in my 2004 Prius. Give me a physically smaller battery with the same capacity as the current Prime. The reduced cargo space is my main complaint with the current Prime.

 

Not a great idea. How do you manage the hatch lift assist when the weight of the spare isn't on there due to being used in place of a regular wheel etc. It'll go off like a trebuchet.

Door mounted spare tires only work right when the door hinges are on the sides and there is no lift/drop in the operating action.

 

I'm pretty sure these cells need to be liquid cooled. That would further help with the space, but add cost.

 

fill the spare with helium

 

Ridiculous.

Why would I want to choose to go through the inconvenience of having to charge a battery for FIVE HOURS when my Gen 4 Prius does it automatically.

Yes, it recharges itself! And unless it's winter I can go more than 600 miles before stopping for about FIVE MINUTES at a gas station.

And get this, every generation of the Prius has improved gas milage and convenience. Now we can even choose a modified 4-wheel drive which I will get with my next purchase.

Toyota, please continue to develop the Prius and its battery that recharges itself. I hope in my lifetime I will enjoy one thousand miles on my Prius in-between fill-ups.

 

I think you are missing the point of a PHEV like the Prime. You don’t *have* to charge the car ever, that is why the hybrid drive train is there. Anytime you do have the opportunity to charge, you can save some fuel, emissions, and for most, money (unless your hydro rates are ridiculous).

The point of that letter is that the purpose of the regular Prius has diminished, since there are so many other vehicles now available as Hybrids. Rather, focusing instead on exclusively PHEV might make more business sense for the Prius platform.

 

Aka electricity rates.

 

LOL, thanks for the translation, Mendel.

 

Self-charging is just another term for burns fossil fuels.

 

Well in most cases PHEV & BEV also stand for burning fossil fuels .. its just that they are being burnt to generate the electricity. In my view the main advantages of main of BEV and PHEV driven in EV mode;

1. Reduce the pollution in urban environment
2. Reduce operating costs .. assuming electricity costs is cheaper than gasoline
3. Reduce CO2 emissions .. assuming the electricity generation is clean.
4. Tax credits or privileged road access

The above benefits are offset by increased upfront cost, higher maintenance costs (i.e replacing a larger battery) and the inconvenience of having to charge the vehicle.

In Australia we don't have 4 and in terms of CO2 emission the Prius is actually the cleanest car available in Australia because we have relatively dirty power generation where on average 80% comes from coal & gas and our national average emission intensity of our grid electricity is 910 kg CO2/MWh. So it no surprise that Toyota does not sell the Prime in Australia.

Also the Prius has far less urban pollution than the vast majority new cars sold today and I believe in terms of fuel costs its not that much more expensive than a BEV.

So in my view the real issue is CO2 emissions and until Australia has cleaner electricity … PHEV & BEV's do not make a lot of sense in my view.

Does anyone know the emissions intensity for electricity in different parts of the US/Canada ? .. as it would be interesting to see how it compares.

 

Yes, the areas with high levels of coal generation in the US, the Prius is better in terms of carbon emissions. For the areas where most of our populations are centered, plug-ins match or handily beat the Prius.


Looking at just the Ioniq Electric, Model 3, and Prime's EV mode, they match the Prius in coal states.


New Data Show Electric Vehicles Continue to Get Cleaner - Union of Concerned Scientists


Also found this calculator CO2 emissions by US zip code and model.
EV Emissions Tool | Union of Concerned Scientists

While plug ins can be fueled by sources burning fossil fuels, those cars aren't tied to those sources. Many places have options for owners to use renewable electricity for their homes and cars. Then plug ins will become cleaner as the grid mix gets better. As we use more energy to extract oil, the opposite is the case for non plug in cars.