Prius plugin test drive

Whereabouts are you? Perhaps a PiP owner here will let you take an informed ride.

 

The cars here in the US seem to ship with no charge in the battery. It just needed to be plugged in to allow EV.

 

Essentially there are two battery indicators that exist in the same dashboard real estate, but one battery (well, two if you count the 12 volt) One of the battery indicators has a solid appearance and is an indication of how many EV miles you have available. When the EV miles are depleted, the indicator goes to a striped appearance. This is just like the battery indicator in a standard hybrid Prius. That must be what you were seeing, if you try to go to EV at that point, the car will tell you cannot go into EV mode. Have the dealer put the charger in for 30 minutes or so and you should be able to give EV a try! Good luck!

 

I just think the car needs to be plugged in or descend a very long and steep hill. And usually the official salesmen know far less than the members here but that's for another discussion Once you're able to plug in, the battery indicator will turn solid green instead of the bars and you'll have a text indicator of EV miles left.

 

Salesman giving a test drive to PIP with no EV kms available! How more ignorant can they go?

 

i had the same experience when i went to test drive mine. i called the salesman and asked that it be plugged in so it would be charged when i got there. when we left for the test drive and it wouldn't allow ev, he said they saw the full battery indicator and didn't think it needed to be charged.

 

If I didn't know better, I'd say we had the same salesman.

 

you do, they're all the same!

 

This happened to me as well in MN. It is unfortunately an easy mistake to make.

 

As others have indicated, you need to ask for the car to be plugged in and charged before you drive it. If the car is charged it will show the "battery only" range (in miles) that is available. If that figure is not showing, the car will not go into the PiP EV mode.

It's sad that dealer staff do not know how to organise an effective demonstration.

Good luck.

 

If the screen is on Hybrid System Indicator and the Ready light is on, the graph in the center won't have a split in the center if there's enough EV power in the battery. If there is a line splitting the graph, it won't be in EV mode.

 

Most Toyota dealers have L2 chargers right now. Plug a PiP in and sit down and have some coffee for 30 minutes. That will get you about 5 miles. Then go for an EV drive. The salesmen are all buffoons. When haven't you met a buffoon of a salesman?

 

I explained to my salesman that the car costs extra for a special feature, so they really ought to keep that special feature ready for people to try. He said to call ahead next time and make an appointment, and they'd have someone charge up one of the Pips.

 

Dealers should have the batteries charged up for spot sales.

 

I was told by, of all people, the salesman that they don't charge them up per Toyota. The manual does state that you should leave no charge in the battery when storing it for extended periods.

I just think the salesmen don't know enough about them to be informed. Or just enough to be dangerous.

 

Had exactly the same experience, and exactly the same comment, when I bought mine. Doubt it was the same salesman, as I bought in the Midlands even though I live in the South (so can't really help with offering you a test drive). Maybe the knowledgeable dealers on this forum could pass back to Toyota that this is a mistake their salespeople are making on what appears to be a global scale...

In the UK, they seem for some reason to be fitting 7kw Mennekes chargers in the dealerships, when the standard Plug-in comes with a 3 pin plug EVSE. So far as I can see from using other such chargers, it doesn't help charge any faster because the car is limited to a 2-3kw draw, which you can get off a standard UK 13 amp 240v plug anyway. I think it's part of the European standard for electric car charging. The result is that the salespeople are stumped when they try to plug it in, and have to go searching for the one Mennekes lead given to them at the time, which is probably in the boot (trunk) of another car which is currently out on the road...