Unanswered questions about new Prius

That's all sort-of true, but hybrids have batteries, and PHEVs have small-ish batteries, compared to EVs. For the difference in battery size between hybrids and PHEVs, PHEVs win *by far* when it comes to ecological footprint over hybrids. This is because a small investment in a larger battery results in a reduction in fuel use of around 50-85%. In other words, you can get 50-85% of the way to a full EV by providing a battery that's around 10% of the size of an EV's battery.

While it's true that dragging around a 300 mile battery for the couple times a year you go on a road trip is not efficient, neither is dragging around a full-sized ICE for the couple of times a year you go on a road trip, and neither is running a full-sized ICE every time you have to go for a drive, even a short one. The heating and cooling cycles on the engine, the fuel wasted on the warmup cycle for a short trip, and needing a 100+kW engine when you have an average need for under 10kW are all inefficiencies of hybrids.

There should be no more hybrids. Every hybrid should be a PHEV, and the efficient way to do that is a range-extender. EV version should be available for those willing to pay for them.

 

We went to an opera downtown last night, got really good mpg: took local shuttle bus and SkyTrain. Very convenient, we've got transit cards tied to our credit cards, tap on, tap off. Shuttle bus just at the end of our block. Got off a couple of blocks from the venue downtown.

At our end it's sadly about almost a km to the SkyTrain: it was supposed to be about a block away, but the NIMBY crowd nixed that; most of the stations are kinda out in the boonies. And then: high rises and commercial development sprout up around them.

 

I suspect they will introduce something in the size category, but use the e-TNGA platform instead of the TNGA C platform the 2023 is built on. I can't imagine the a PHEV with its gas engine would work well on a e-TNGA and an EV version would likely be a challenge in on a TNGA C platform. You've got very different weight distribution and battery needs. There was a mid-sized sedan featured in the bZ rollout last year. Could be vaporware, but I suspect that will be coming in the next couple years.

 

the one in the gen5 prime?

 

"Avoiding meat and dairy products is the single biggest way to reduce your environmental impact on the planet, according to the scientists behind the most comprehensive analysis to date of the damage farming does to the planet.

The new research shows that without meat and dairy consumption, global farmland use could be reduced by more than 75% – an area equivalent to the US, China, European Union and Australia combined – and still feed the world. Loss of wild areas to agriculture is the leading cause of the current mass extinction of wildlife.

The study, published in the journal Science, created a huge dataset based on almost 40,000 farms in 119 countries and covering 40 food products that represent 90% of all that is eaten. It assessed the full impact of these foods, from farm to fork, on land use, climate change emissions, freshwater use and water pollution (eutrophication) and air pollution (acidification).

“A vegan diet is probably the single biggest way to reduce your impact on planet Earth, not just greenhouse gases, but global acidification, eutrophication, land use and water use,” said Joseph Poore, at the University of Oxford, UK, who led the research. “It is far bigger than cutting down on your flights or buying an electric car,” he said, as these only cut greenhouse gas emissions.

“Agriculture is a sector that spans all the multitude of environmental problems,” he said. “Really it is animal products that are responsible for so much of this. Avoiding consumption of animal products delivers far better environmental benefits than trying to purchase sustainable meat and dairy.”

 

Wonder: will it have active grill shutters?

 

In a perfect world I'd ride a bike or walk everywhere I need to go around town and only need a vehicle for long trips. Therefore, bike and ICEV for out-of-town would have been perfect for me. But I've had so many near hits and several people I've known ran over and killed by SUV's and pickups (which seemingly 95% of people drive around here). Just a couple weeks ago a friend of mine, on his bike, was hit and killed by a good friend of his. The streets here are not really designed with bike riders in mind. So, I drive the mile or so to work in an ICE. Yet many times the engine temp never gets above 100°F, and it's not the thermostat.

Driving some sort of EV would be more ideal than driving an ICE. If there were bike paths and other better places for bikes to move, then I could possibly not ever need a vehicle except the +140-mile trips out of town. But as it is, the couple miles of distance to any store, school or work in this small town just seems safer in a vehicle, and that would be best in an EV, not an ICEV.

 

One gentleman mentioned the new Pruis supply line being tight.

It brought back memories of buying our 2008 Prius in 2008- we could only order one and had to wait three months - when ours finally arrived the Dealer sold our Prius as it was being unloaded to an individual who made them an offer they couldn't refuse.
I got an employee discount working at Toyota and the individuals bought the Prius over invoice so the Dealer could make a good profit doing what he did. He immediately ordered us a new one, called us and told us what he did and why he did it and gave us some compensation for the inconvenience. We eventually received our Prius 8 months after the original order. We were trading in a very nice 1992 Toyota Corolla so we weren't desperate for the new Prius and could wait it out.

Prius at that time in 2008 were a hot commodity, maybe that about to happen again!

 

I had to wait 6 months for both my 2004 Prius and my 2017 Prime.

 

I do nearly all my short trips on the e-bikes and e-trikes. We have pretty good bicycle infrastructure around here, with trails and bike lanes nearly everywhere.

The rest of the time I use my Prius Prime in EV mode. The only notable exception is long out-of-town road trips.

 

Does the gen4 not have them? I thought they were standard equipment of fuel saving trims by this time.

 

Well, i think the BZ3 is a EV midsize sedan and is already out in China.
Just isn't clear if will never get the EU and US, but i think it will.

 

+1

To which I'll add, stop ordering things online and buy locally. (oh snap, he didn't just go there!)

Doing either (or both) of these would reduce one's personal pollution WAY more than buying a certain form of personal transportation. Also, stop buying things from China. Slippery slopes.

 

how about from japan?

 

And wear long johns and turn the heater thermostat down to 40°F.

 

This is my biggest concern. I don't know if I'll buy another Prius Prime if they don't do something about it.

 

At this moment, my heat pump is running at 500% efficiency - off the solar.

 

My land lord won't let me put up a TV satelite dish or antenna, much less a solar panel and heat pump system.