Still No Sightings in the Wild

I truly think that I'm the ONLY one here in San Antonio with one. But then again had to go to Connecticut to get mine. Not sure many others around here would do that.

 

Here in So Calif over the last few months I've seen them here and there.. but lately, I'm seeing a lot more of them. Within just the last 4-5 days, I've seen two Primes the same color as mine in my own neighborhood, driven by different people (one with a bumper sticker) -- though there are still many more normal recent generation Priuses than the Primes, which always makes me wonder, since the Prime is actually cheaper if you qualify for all the rebates. But Primes are getting to be a much more common sight here. Still, just the other night I had a colleague (who owns a normal Prius) wonder what the Prius Prime was when she saw me get out of it....

 

Around here, still, you can replace the word "Prime" with "fourth gen".

I'll see a 4th gen maybe once a month, at most. Not on the roads that much though.

 

I see more and more Gen 4, but just that one white Prime now and then.

 

I've seen a handful of Gen 4s now. Still pretty rare in these parts. Lots of 2s and 3s on the road, though.

 

Saw my second Prime yesterday, and my first Ioniq today.

 

No, it's a 4th gen. encounter!!

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Here in Socal, the alarm would be a steady buzz (ring?), from mostly jaded, and indifferent Prime owners!!
You all in the "Prime Desert" of the Midwest etc., remind me of us Alfaholics who would practically go into convulsions when we were blessed with the Coming of another Alfa Romeo!! I still miss mine, but financial woes and divorce forced that sad separation upon me.
I've seen dozens of Primes everywhere out here!! Taxis are almost exclusively Prii, but no plug-ins. That's why there's none of that "Prius Hate" you mention in Oklahoma etc. ; everybody's got one, sometimes two!! We truly live in an alternate universe here in Southern California, and I love it!!

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You guys need something like the low wave that motorcyclists do on the highways.

 

First day back in NYC (Astoria,Queens, to be exact) after visiting friends in Maine, and I spot two Primes while eating in the same diner as before. Same gray one and then a silver!

 

Could be worse. In Iceland, I noticed about every 3rd car coming the other direction towards you had one of its two front headlights burnt out.

I'm surprised that DRLs aren't automatically always on in Toyota's American models (as they are on Hondas, where they can't be shut off). I always have them on myself, as I see it as a safety thing even in good weather (after all, you never know when some deranged moose might jump off the CN tower and land in front of you, waving a Toronto Maple Leafs flag...)

I seem to recall the Prime's owners manual mentioning somewhere that that DRLs will slightly reduce the EV range, which surprised me that they'd even mention that, as I'll take safety over 1/100th of a mile extra any day (and also, because I thought it would've drawn from the 12V battery like most cars, not the traction battery).. but I can't seem to find it now. Was I hallucinating? (don't answer that question...)

 

My 2003 4Runner had always on DRL's. This was a first for the 4Runner. They were amber color which did not get lost in the sea of white DRL's. I loved them. There were some complaints about them not being switchable. Some areas had Christmas light display drives that required all vehicles turn off all lights, etc. many complaints were sent to Toyota and they later became switchable.

I love the bright white LED DRL's on the Prime. They also stand out more than the non-LED DRL's.

 

And the traction battery charges the 12V battery.

 

So did our 2004 Matrix.
GM has petitioned NHSTA to make DRLs mandatory in the US. Likely to save them money on installing a different switch between US and Canadian markets. NHSTA cites that the data for improved safety isn't conclusive. At least in the US, different areas of the world have different conditions on the road.

 

I found the section in the manual talking about the lights and fuel economy, but I was mistaken in that it compares the DRLs to normal headlights for fuel economy:

"Compared to turning on the headlights, the daytime running light system offers greater durability and consumes less electricity, so it can help improve fuel economy." (p. 341). It still made my head turn though, to see better fuel economy and headlights in the same sentence, I hope there aren't people out there who think "maybe if I just use my DRLs at night instead of headlights, I'll get slightly better fuel economy."

There was once a winding, 1-lane road in each direction here in SoCal that went through mostly wildnerness area which had a posted sign stating "Daytime Headlights Required next XX miles" for years because a lot of accidents seemed to happen on it. It's still a wilderness area (though for how long is anyone's guess), though when the road got widened to 2 lanes in each direction the sign got taken down, and there's now no such requirement. But again, I keep the DRLs on as a matter of course, perhaps to make someone think twice about deciding to do a left turn at the same time you're going through an intersection...

 

LOL! Well, they have to put on labels telling people not to use hair dryers in the shower.

 

And why DRLs come with auto headlights.

 

Chicago here...haven't spotted another one yet (we've had ours since March-ish...)