Prius Plug-in Hybrid Update

I've had a dozen bags of mulch in the back of my 2005 Prius. It drives just fine with hundreds of pounds in it.

Keep in mind the 2005 had over one inch lower ground clearance than 2010 when new and my cars coils had more than 8 years of age on them so the clearance difference might be greater.

 

That depends upon purpose.

Finding out how much could be accomplished with how little was very important... which requires patience and a ton of real-world data.

 

#1 thing I want the next gen PiP to do is not allow gas engine to start if the car is in reverse, the heat is off, and the battery has more than 20% SOC.

#2 thing I want the next gen PiP to do is not allow gas engine to start if the car is in Drive, the speed is below 15 mph, heat is off, and the battery has more than 25% SOC

re: #1 and #2 I don't want the catalytic converter preheated by the ICE unless I've broken the 15mph speed limit for avoiding preheating. I have no intention to drive the car at 10 mph or faster in reverse and I do all my neighborhood driving at 0-15 mph if there is any pedestrian traffic or I'm hypermiling.

That also means I want enough kWh to do my low speed driving at the beginning of each trip without triggering the engine in my garage, driveway, or just as I pass a pedestrian.

Sure I want more range out of a higher kWh pack. But more than anything I want the darn computer to stop running the gas engine when I'm tooling around my driveway, parking lot, or otherwise traveling at low speeds with my foot trying to keep regen or gas engine from kicking in.

 

do you have a pip? because, if you do, you sure don't seem to understand it.

#1 and #2 are already accomplished. are you getting your pip info from the lying, sneaky, thieving volt owners forum?

as far as the rest of your post, it seems you got your info from the guy who said prius was more harmful to the environment than hummer.

are you trolling?, i mean, your posts are way over the top.

 

You've just described the behaviour of my 2004 Prius, and the behaviour of the 2012 Prius I test drove. However, my 2012 PiP behaves completely differently. Your post makes it sound like you've never set foot inside a PiP.

 

PiP stands for Plug-In Prius. It's the PHV model with the bigger lithium battery-pack, rather than the smaller NiMH.

Those wants described are already part of that model delivers.

 

it's almost as if he has no business experience at all. i'm afraid i'm going to have to let him go. but i don't even work here. i know, that's what makes tis so difficult.

 

great Seinfeld ref

 

Nope, I have a 2005 Prius. And the darn thing starts the ICE at the most inopportune times even with grill blocking and warm weather combined and from discussion on this forum I've heard the same complaints from others with Gen III. Maybe it doesn't apply to the PiP as much but I'm pretty sure I've seen complaints that fall under that umbrella for PiP owners dealing with range issues.

I live in Tennessee and I've never even seen a PiP here. They don't sell them in flyover states.

I've never been to a Volt forum, but I do frequent Leaf and Tesla forums.

And if you don't get off your high horse posting multiple snide replies before I even come back to read the first one I'm going to start reporting your posts to the moderators because you are way over the top.

 

nice comeback, my apologies, it just seemed like you didn't know anything about the pip, and were transposing your lift back complaints onto it.

 

I saw these two sources indicating that the next generation PiP will have double EV range: here and here. For the latter one you may need to use Google Translate to read it.

" Equipped with an increased quantity of batteries, and also thanks to weight-saving measures in other parts of the vehicle, Toyota is promising that the refreshed Prius PHV will be able to travel more than 50 kilometers in its all-electric mode, a distance roughly twice what the current model is capable of."

 

Thanks for the info and links. As someone who only gets 9 miles of EV from the current PIP, I'm wondering if that will be the real range or a made up optimal number. In either case, it's probably not enough.

 

The first article claims the current PiP gets 16 miles on EV. What?

It is quoting Tokyo Shimbun though which is a major respected newspaper. So yeah maybe they are talking about ideal hypermiling type range.

I get about 9-11 miles in good weather in the city, which is close to its rating in the US. Double that would be perfect for my usage.

Mind you I won't be upgrading any time soon even if gets double the range though, since I only just recently got this car, and for a decent price. Paying near retail for a tricked out 2016(?) PiP is gonna be pricey. Maybe I can find an off-lease certified pre-owned for a decent price in a few years. Actually maybe not, unless the updated PiP totally changes the Canadian buying preferences. Even though they're sold across Canada, they are virtually impossible to find on the used market, and when you do find them, they usually are not the tricked out versions.

 

it has been determined already that these articles are not translated accurately.

 

Whatever the case, the Japanese article does say 50 km and fall 2016.

Whether it is true or not is a big question, but it is certainly what everyone has been asking for.

I think sales of the PiP would continue to be poor if it was still limited to 20 km (or 26.4 km according to the article).

BTW, with a doubled battery size, charging on 120 V would still be viable, so people in North America wouldn't necessarily have to upgrade to 240 V chargers. But, 240 V would be preferred nonetheless, along with higher amperage support. Hopefully the new 2016 PiP supports 240 V x 30 Amp or 7.2 kW charging. The current one seems to be limited to about 2.3 kW on 240 V and 1.4 on 120 V.

 

i think sales of the pip will continue to be poor no matter what they do.

try to think of it objectively, and not from your own point of view. it doesn't matter much if you or i buy one.

 

That's a relative measure. Upon early rollout of the next-gen model, sales will indeed be on the low side. High volume shouldn't be the initial goal anyway. We know how Toyota approaches advancement. It's been a successful strategy.

The intent is to position their technology for a later upswing, to have a well-proven platform readily available. Lots of real-world data is needed for that. After all, many people don't by first-year models anyway. They wait regardless of whether or not the brand is reputable. That's just the way ordinary consumers think. They feel more comfortable with their large purchase by exercising patience.

The other factor is reliability & profitability. Refining production takes time. It's that simple. And since the non-plug model is the premiere product, of course the plug-in will have to play second fiddle. That's just the way it is. Delivering a product for the masses is a top-priority. The regular hybrid is that product.

Eventually, the PHV model will be discovered by mainstream buyers... the ones who have that "work out the bugs first" mindset before seriously considering a purchase. At that point, we can see the affordability of the design shine. It will leverage off of the success of the Gen-4 model too... which obviously have to wait a few years for.

Sadly, those not in favor of Toyota's approach will spin perception of the situation. Heck, it's pretty much inevitable that they'll label the current PHV as a flop, simply by seeing how much of an improvement the next will be. Of course, they'll avoid acknowledging the real-world data from those of us currently driving one to do that.

 

Well if it's priced right, a PiP with 40-50 km range could do decent sales. The "pricing right" is the hard part.

 

John, unfortunately you have zero credibility since you can't seem to ever find anything wrong with Toyota or it s car designs or its business decisions. If Toyota said the sky was purple with yellow polka dots you'd be up there painting smiley faces on the dots!

 

Not reading every post in every forum could give that impression. There are too many to get a clear picture. I get misquoted/vague posts on a regular basis as well.

So, which decision in particular?