Video: Prius Prime Full Walkaround Demonstration

Great info and demo in the walk around. Maybe I missed it but I didn't see the heatpump features covered. Probably because ya'll were in warmy, sunny southern California and the heater was the last thing on your minds. LOL

 

The text at 2:20 is backwards.

 

can any one explain where the extra hatch space is vs the pip, and hom much? is it useful, or only for sand or water? how about the height from deck to glass at various points?

 

that makes more sense. i thought maybe the extended body meant more distance from hatch threshold to rear seats.

 

Nice video.
I noticed he said Prime has more cargo space than PiP, which is probably not true, by a long shot I am thinking. But even we take "EPA Cargo Space" (which I do not like) but PiP has more on that basis too. I am thinking Gen3/PiP had about at least 18-ft3 over the floor. Prime we're talking closer to 12-13 ft3.

Interesting about the extra 4-inches length though...I could see the thickness in the hatch top

Also interesting the Tonneau cover fits under the floor...that's like Toyota's biggest design priority

 

So what is the truth here ?
Didn't Toyota say they had to sacrifice the 5. seat because of weight issues ?
In this video the guy is saying they did it because of rear comfort for the side rear passengers .
Now if that is true,it should be absolutely no problem for Toyota to offer a 5 seat option soon and by soon I mean before the official refresh hits the market in 3 years !
In fact I hope as soon as possible !
Another thing went through my mind thinking about the loss of the 5. seat,we will no longer be able to fit a large item across the rear bench because of that extra center console.
They should have at least made it removable!

 

That isn't a real issue - fold the seats down.

 

No way that would happen. Production is too far along for changes plus the car might need new crash testing, etc.

 

Yes probably just wishful thinking....

 

Yeah but you don't get the backup of the seats backrest which can be needed or be useful in some cases .

 

You get the battery behind your device, and you can even put the flaps over it if you want.

 

You can see my speculation about some of your questions here:
https://priuschat.com/posts/2431793/

 

Three questions @Danny :
1. No rear wiper, is the double wave glass hydrophobic?
2. When plugged in, is there a warning or defeat to put the car into gear?
3. Are the display contents for the dash display (not the 11.6) the same as for the liftback?

 

aside on the PiP mis-statement...Implication is the Prime battery could fit in a PiP ...gimme that car! What we are all wondering why Toyota can't give us a no excuses Plug_in with good cargo and 5 seats the whole 9 yards. That's what Prius hybrid was....no excuses...gives everything and 50 MPG to "boot".

P.S.- Don't get me wrong, Prime looks absolutely marvelous for commuters!!! The rear seats look so nice! Here we have a successful car pool system called "slugging" where you stop to pick up 3 for free HOV access. Prime looks like a sluggers dream car.

As far as me, I got 3 child seats across in there and dried wet Cheerios on seats.

 

Thank you.

 

My bad, mispoke on the cargo capacity vs previous gen plug in - good catch! I think the biggest benefit to the the new PHV system layout (moving the charger, etc.) allows for the Prime to maintain the same size fuel tank as the Prius, and still maintain good cargo capacity with a larger battery.

 

The battery in the Prime is enormous (around 5 f^3?) and heavy (around 120kg) for a measly 8.8kWh.

Prime Specific Energy: 73Wh/kg. State of the art: 260 Wh/kg.
Prime Volumetric Energy Density: Around 60Wh/l. State of the art: >600Wh/L.

What gives?

Given the state-of-the-art, the Prime battery should fit easily under the rear seat like the one in the liftback does.

 

So this is what Toyota thinks makes up for lost cargo space ?
I would have at least expected that the "side pockets" have the depth of the hight the cargo floor has been lifted !
No tie downs to be seen,I really hope this is just the case in pre-production models !
How does Toyota expect us to make sure cargo stays in the cargo area while an emergency braking with a relatively flat cargo area as the Prime unfortunately has,if it doesn't even have tie downs ?

 

Do you know how the Prime will act if one drives downhill right after charging? As you know, PIP starts the ICE.

Also, do you know if it hurts PIP to go down the first hill after a full charge in neutral, staying under 45 mph, to avoid turning on the ICE?

 

We can compare to FORD Energi and Hyundai IONIQ to see if the space lost vs. the hybrid version is excessive, but I tend to think it is probably reasonable.

Keep in mind Gen4 strives for a sportier drive and sedan-look that many prefer over the old Prii. This look gives less room in the back hatch so it'll be harder to put 8+ kWhr back there without a modest sacrifice.

Prime looks like a beauty for price and looks and could be a big hit for many.

I am just frustrated accurate cargo space numbers is a thing of the past, I just need to get over it. I do like the way Volt shows cargo space by several methods, but GM probably needs to do that for their marketing due to less inside space to fiddle with.