How does plug-in work compared to the regular hybrid? I heard plug-ins do 95-mpg but is that only for 11-12 mile range or does 95-mpg include the whole tank of gas as well? Is it, in order to use the 95-mpg we have to be on EV mode? Or does it take effect even on regular or eco mode? Does the ICE kick in later due to stronger battery which gives it better mpg than the regular hybrids?
You get the 12 miles range and then the car goes into hybrid mode after. The super mpg is only when you're using EV, once depleted, it's a regular hybrid and gas mileage is similar to regular hybrids
PHEV - Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle. Basically, any hybrid with a plug-in port. If you're talking about the G1 PIP (Plug-in-Prius) built between 2012-2015 there's a specific forum for that car and they will be happy to get you up to speed about the nitty-gritty specifics. That particular car was based on the G3 (like yours) but good examples are kinda hard to come by - especially in today's economy. I've never driven one - and I do not claim to know much about them, but they had a larger battery, an even smaller gas tank, and they could go faster than 25mph on battery alone - for roughly 10 miles - then it's basically a garden variety "wireless' Prius until you recharge the battery with.....either a regular old 120v (L1) plug, or L2 (240v) charging if you don't have all night and you have an L2 charger or the right kinda cord and plug. Plug-in-Prius. The advantage of the Pip is that some people can charge at home, and also charge at work, and with those amps in the can you're not burning gasoline for the first 10 miles of either journey. Since the car is as efficient as a non-plug-in G3 for the rest of the time the tank MPG averages are either a little higher or MUCH higher than a non-plug-in depending on your driving patterns. The Prius Prime (2017- ) is the follow-on Toyota plug-in Prius, and is based on the G4 and they're in current production, although you'd never know it driving by Toyota dealers today. They're the plug-in version of the G4 only they have something like a 25 mile battery-only range - nearly real-world useable but math is math. If you have a 25 mile commute to work, they will dramatically increase your tank MPG (MPGe) since you'd only be on fossil for the return trip. They're the gateway drug for BEV or Battery Electric Vehicle Think: Tesla Primes are less expensive than Teslas and probably a little easier to get in the real-world without mortgaging a house or selling a kidney on the black market. Since you live behind the tinsel curtain, you may expect to pay a little more for either plug-in Toyota - for the same reason that you're paying more at the pump for gas. Good Luck!
I'll stay between my Gen 3 Prius and my 70 mile per gallon 500cc sleek motor scooter until EV is reasonably correct I can buy EV now but it's just not worth it yet not for me and I'm going less and less places as things progress so.
What does that mean, California? And how did you glean that; OP doesn't disclose location in his avatar or post. He sounds Cali?
Yes. Accent. My brother is doing 20-to-life behind the curtain, and I can pick up on a Golden State accent from a mile away. No. He's not in prison. I cannot imagine what someone could possibly do to go to prison in the California besides use the wrong recycle bin, or get dimed out for watering their lawn on the wrong day. My brother had the misfortune of marrying and procreating on the left coast, and now he's trapped there..... Oh...and the OP has a front license plate. Thirty-one of the US states require their motorists to display front license plates on their vehicles. They are the 31 that one would expect. The “free-soil” states that require only one plate include Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, New Mexico, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, and...my beloved home state of Indiana. California has a distinctive number plate, and they are one of the relatively few states in the union where you have to file a loan application to fill your gas tank - which would make them one of those same few states where PiPs and Primes start to make real-world sense for economic reasons....IF you squint your eyes in just the right way and maybe use the same kinda math that the WHO uses. Mind you, there are people who have closely held beliefs that saving gasoline is a good thing to do for non-economic reasons, and that's admirable - but these are REALLY, REALLY tough times to be that kinda 'green.' Maybe if the 'change leadership' lamp gets illuminated on the otha coast.....
ignore the 95mpg, that's ev gobbledegook. you get 8-16 miles of ev range with the pip, depending on climate and driving style. what you pay to plug in for electrons determines the cost per mile. after that, the car is mostly the same as your 2010. minus a spare tire and etc. or you can mix in the ev with the gas engine, which will display a much higher mpg, but it is all nonsense. there is no such thing as gallons of electrons.
Every time we jump in our plug-in our first 20 miles is EV. After that its ICE runs and recharges the HV battery. With over 80k miles on it, the total MPG [combining both EV and ICE] is 68mpg. But that depends a lot on what percentage of driving is EV.
Good guess! I did live in North and South California for 6 years (got stationed there). But I'm from Michigan and live here now!
Yes, ignore the EPA 95 mpg. It's a quirk of the EPA test that it couldn't be completed on EV only so it is a blend of gas and EV. My own testing shows mpge (using EPA's 33.7 kWh per gallon) is 126 mpge when running entirely on EV. In hybrid mode, it is the same as a regular Prius. Therefore, you can expect somewhere in between 50 and 126 mpg depending on how much you plug in. Power and Normal mode gives you the same fuel economy. ECO may increase fuel economy slightly by making you sweat by strategic use of AC. I don't notice the difference under 100 degrees but over that, screw fuel economy, it's too hot. p.s. To make it more complicated. The PiP considers EV free so going off the car, could display infinite mpg if you never use gas.
You're right. It should be. But the PiP doesn't do that. Say you drive 10 miles on gas and get 50 mpg. You then drive another 10 miles on EV only. The car will say you got 100 mpg. It acts as if those EV miles are free. P.s. To complicate matters, sometimes the engine is on in EV mode so you are using gas in EV mode, it's not totally electric. That's why the EPA got 95 mpge when it should be closer to 126 because the engine turned on during the test.
iirc, you can go up to 84mph in the pip before the engine starts spinning? there are two modes in most prius, maybe not prime? at one speed, it spins the engine without gas, then at a higher speed, the engine fires. maybe gen 4 has fixed this, idk
