Prius Prime Short Test Drive Review

Yup. At two of my destinations, the pools are 0.5 miles away and food is within 3 miles. Being able to EV there & back, despite not being able to plug in, would certainly be nice.

btw, the last trip was a few weeks ago. Without using any EV, the average for the return trip was 58 MPG. I can't wait to do that same drive with Prime.

 

Once you force it into CHG mode, how long will it stay there? Until the battery is fully charged? Is there any way to quit the CHG mode manually before that?

 

It's likely as simple as switching back to another mode. My guess is pushing the HV/EV button once would get you from CHG to HV.

 

Or when the battery gets to 80%.

 

As you pointed out it is a necessity in certain cities in Europe to enter a restricted zone with enough charge to travel there EV only. Global vision!

Raised deck shows smaller section of a sphere?

 

Yes, most frustrating is when after all this strategy I do find a charging opportunity at destination...(and I must admit, I am looking for them first thing! obsession...)

 

Well, I'm living in Europe and do not know any city where this would be the case.

There are cities like Paris, for exemple, where old cars with very polluting Diesel engines are forbidden to enter. And soon, this will also be the case for newer ones, in certain German cities. It's because they do not respect the NOx rejection limits: remember the VW scandal.

It will be much cleaner in a city to drive a Prime in HV then driving a Diesel not respecting NOx limits. And a Ioniq Hybrid or Plug-in in Hybrid mode with its direct injection gas engine without a particle filter on, will also pollute more then any Prius.

But avoiding frequent warm-up phases for very short commutes may be a good idea, and will decrease local air pollution, provided one cannot charge from a public or private charging outlet.

Jan

 

London?

 

London is planning for taxis to be BEVs. To enter, one pays a congestion charge. This has helped keeping the air less polluted.

Jan

 

I believe plug-ins are exempted as long as they stay EV, otherwise - a ticket? Loosing the exemption?

 

Discounts and exemptions

 

For some people charge mode will be useful others may never use it,but it's great it's there anyway !

 

good point. useful, unnecessary.

 

Really, it's for three situations.

Entering cities where using the ICE is taxed heavily or banned (it'll probably be more efficient to just select HV at the beginning of the trip, then switch to EV when entering the zone, though)
In anticipation of many short trips without the ability to charge
Coming up on a steep, long climb, and wanting to maximize performance during that climb (however, the ICE is powerful enough that that really isn't all that necessary).

 

I suspect it is, at least for me.

In my 2004, when I run out of battery, the ICE can maintain speed, even at high altitude. However, acceleration is just about zero. If someone cuts me off and I have to slow down, it can take more than a minute to get from 30 back to 60. With battery available, that takes less than 10 seconds even on a 7% grade at 11,000 feet.

I don't know if it'll be the same in the Prime or not, but the engine is only slightly more powerful and the car is a little heavier so I suspect it will be close. Even if the ICE could accelerate it better, it would still be far better with electric assist.

I'd still want most of the battery gone at the top, however. A 6,000 foot decent can create a lot of regenerative energy.

 

How would the authorities police/verify a plug-in hybrid is running electric-only, where EV-only regs are in place? Is this factor gaining momentum solely on speculation in this thread? Or do cops only allow recognized electric vehicles in? That seems more plausible.

 

Discounts & exemptions

You'll not need to drive in EV mode. The low CO2 emission will suffice.

Jan

 

well, i guess we're back to two reasons.

 

thanks! that's an interesting take on it.