Prius II for mountain comutter?

My commute is about 50 miles and has a steep elevation gain of about 1000ft. over 13 miles. Summer temps range from 90° to 110°. With oem 15" wheels and good LRR tires you should be able to get 50mpg as long as you don't use the AC to heavily.

If you expect snow or icy conditions then you may want to stick to a good all-season tire like the Hankook 727.

 

Then I think you'll be fine. Just make sure the inverter coolant pump has been replaced under the recall or otherwise.

The Prius is a great car and although it may not match the Insight 1 in mpg, it will make up for it in utility.

 

I have taken my 2004 that route a number of times on weekends. I never thought about that route being any challenge whatsoever. So don’t worry about it. I have 140k trouble free miles on my Prius. I only had to replace the water pump ($350) at 135k and the 12V battery at 130k.

I don’t consider desert heat or steep mountains to shorten HV battery life as long as you keep the HV battery cool. If you keep your interior comfortable then your HV battery will be kept cool also since it is being cooled from the AC in your cabin. There is a vent to it from the back seat of the car. Also I would not consider your route as steep.

 

The OP should check to see that the airflow path from the passenger compartment is clean and clear. You never know what kind of critters or crap was carried in a used car.

 

just as a random thought... since you had an insight, the prius will always have more power... just to make things simple...

 

I have a similar hill that we hit from time to time, coming from Pojoaque to Santa Fe, about 1400'. The Insight battery is about empty by the top and we have to drop to 4th, but the Prius still has two bars SoC and plenty of power.

I think the biggest issue that you might have is intense heat inside the cabin when you go to leave Edwards for the day. You probably already know that a hybrid battery doesn't like that.

A better stress test of the prospective Prius is the other side of the hill, from the turnoff to Arvin to Tehachapi.

 

1000 feet in 15 miles is 1.3%. That isn't steep. Steep starts when you have twice that climb in half that distance. But never having lived near a desert, I can't address the heat issue.

I wouldn't hold your Insight's need to downshift against it. It was designed for all-out efficiency. America's strong aversion to downshifting on even the steepest high altitude Colorado mountain climbs is a major reason why the country's nonhybrid fleet needlessly guzzles so much fuel everywhere else.

Based on descriptions of the Insight over at CleanMPG, I think I'd have been downshifting it immediately at the start of the climb. Its comparatively small battery was intended for other uses, not major hill climbs. Even the larger Prius battery, when used to supplement the ICE for climbing in the Gen2, depletes quite rapidly. For best battery longevity, climb on ICE power alone.

 

The Prius battery will likely be "depleted" to 40% when you climb the hill too. But there is enough power without the battery assist to make it up the grade. I climb 8% and steeper grades all the time no problem at 80mph in my GenII. If you drive stupidly and continue to wander with the accelerator pedal, you will more than likely loose speed on 7% grades.

Showing half charges and actually being half charges are different. Heat definitely affects batteries. You cannot use them for high current when hot, and that is why the Prius cools them.

Yeah, Toyota did it on the Prius lol

The GenIII Prius has an option to come with a solar roof that runs the AC when parked to keep the cabin and batteries cool.