Toyota Bigger Battery for PIP Plans?

no and no. we are unlikely to see a major ev distance upgrade, but likely to see some efficiency upgrades and added ev miles. but it's all top secret. the problem is, no one else offers size and hv efficiency like the prius, so you have to choose your poison.

 

Toyota engineers/managers have stated previously the next gen PiP will get more range. They never said anything about a bigger battery. In fact they said everything will be smaller, lighter and more powerful. So the "more range" part will come from efficiencies, not because of a bigger battery.

bisco is right: no to both questions

 

The Toyota NS4 concept-car promises a lot of improvements all-around, but Toyota has announced no radical changes in the next generation Prius, only incremental improvements. Their own benchmark is a 10% increase in fuel economy each generation, but EV range is easier to achieve, therefore we may see 25% or more range due to a larger-capacity battery.

 

No one on PriusChat would know any facts, if you want opinions the folks above did fine.

To get facts, one would be typing in Japanese on an internal Toyota site.

 

that's where i got my opinion, sayonara.

 

And under one serious non-disclosure agreement.

 

Larger CAPACITY battery to improve range, yes. Bigger price tag? Yes. Longer wait to ensure reliability and that range meets Real World Driving? It's going to take a little more time to ensure Toyota's getting their best foot forward. I'd say we won't see this "all new" PlugIN for over a year.

 

yay! thanks di!

 

Just to be clear, any predictions I make are pure speculation on my part. I have no access to any Toyota secret information.

 

Something to look forward.....

 

....within the last 12 months, there was an article (in HybridCars.com?) and someone posted here about Toyota plans for next PiP and it said the next PiP would achieve minimum 10 miles pure EV, compared to current PiP gets 6 miles pure EV. Whomever posted it was bashing Toyota for reducing EV range from 11 to 10 but we all said that's not what the article was saying.

Rationale for minumum 10 miles pure EV if I recall had to do with CARB requirements...but I can never seem to find the article.

 

Does anyone know how the stock markets are going to end up at close of trade today?

 

Down due to Argentina default

 

6 miles??

 

Right about CARB -- the test is set up to measure pure EV miles from the start of the test until the first time the ICE ignites. Blended miles are not appreciated when it comes time to dole out ZEV credits. In order for the PiP to increase its 'EV range' in the test a higher power rating from the electric storage is required. This can be accomplished by a variety of means today. Usually more battery, but it could be a super cap or a battery chemistry that has a higher C rating.

Stupid, really. I hope CARB changes the rules soon.

 

i think that article is where i got my opinion from, maybe there were others. sounds like dianne is confirming it.

 

The "6 EV Miles" number is a bogus artifact of the test. At 6 miles, there is a simulated hill which triggers the ICE in the current PiP, since the system decides that you need the additional power from the ICE. If the hill had been at 2 miles, then the PiP would have been rated at 2 EV miles. It has nothing to do with when the battery is depleted. Really, all Toyota has to do is tweak the programming so the ICE does not kick in on the test scenario. This kind of "design to the test" is done all the time when certifying the performance of software products, so why not here? Nissan did something similar to increase the range rating on the Leaf, by removing the ability for the owner to limit charging to 85% SOC.

 

With the current PiP's 11 EV mile range, a 50% increase would mean we'd get 16.5 EV mile range, which still doesn't seem that much to the majority of us. I am willing to bet the next PiP will continue to have a relatively small battery, or whatever the minimum size to receive tax subsidies is at the time, and will focus on all around efficiency, more-so with gas than with electricity. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. For those with medium commutes it won't be as cost effective as getting a BEV (like Leaf) or EREV (like Volt/i3 REx), but for those of us that have longer commutes but like to dabble in the EV world on weekends the PiP has the lowest total cost of operation.

It's just a shame that Toyota refuses to make a decent BEV competitor. I think a good portion of PiP drivers will move on to models that have more EV range, but will most likely not consider a Fuel Cell car. I predict Toyota will lose a lot of returning EV drivers over the next few years.

 

Right. Was I not clear in my post ?