Was Toyota right vs other vehicles out now or in 2023?

There is definitely a lack of infrastructure to support the charging of EVs. You have to carefully plan road trips if you drive an EV to avoid being stuck on the side of the road waiting for roadside assistance to come tow you to a charger.

Plus, what are the people who live in apartment complexes supposed to do for charging? Unless chargers get installed at the complexes, this class of people won't ever consider an EV.

 

I think EVs are fine if you can charge at home, which honestly includes a lot of potential car buyers. You can do a lot with 260 miles of range. However, I think the prius is still the best option not because there is little EV infrastructure but because besides the Tesla, there are basically no successful EVs with a track record that have been around for years and decidedly will continue to be around years to come!

The Bolt typically ranks as the best EV besides the Tesla but it is made by chevy, a crap company and already had a major dangerous fire recall. It looks and feels like a cheap piece of garbage that a high school student would drive. The Leaf is similar. Both have outdated charging mechanisms. The Kona and Ionic 5 are decent but nothing to write home about and just don’t seem to be “must have” items the way Priuses and Teslas are “it” things to get.


Until there is a more affordable “it” EV to get the Prius will continue to have an important place, and after considering the Bolt and the Tesla, the 2023 Prius will be my next car.

EVs are rapidly evolving. There will be a slew of new features in the years to come involving charging and electric motor tech, and self driving and computerized features that will change the landscape and rankings of which cars are best to get. Maybe in 3-4 years a clear winner will emerge for an EV at a Prius pricepoint. Until then it is better to get a prius than to make a bet on the Bolt as being that winner…

 

i have my eye on an ev for my next purchase, but i wouldn't buy one without having a gasser for long trips

 

May I ask why you aren’t considering the Prime?

 

I don’t like it. It is inelegant in its design and maintenance. It fails at being a good EV—too short range, needs too frequent charging. It fails at being a good traditional hybrid (or as good as the regular prius) with lower MPG in hybrid mode.

A full ev only needs to be charged once a week. A good regular hybrid only needs its tank filled every 1.5-2 weeks. But the Prime 23 needs to be charged every other day *and* needs to have its tank occasionally filled. It is a major PITA. You have to worry about all that *and* even if you are disciplined about charging, you could wind up with a problem with stale gas in the tank too.

I think people should drive a good traditional hybrid until there is a good full EV option for them available at the right price, and thats why I am buying a Prius 23 this year rather than a Tesla (or any PHEV)

My deposit is now down for the ‘23 regular prius.

 

Thanks for this. I’ve been wanting Prime mostly for occasional charging with present circumstances and possible increase in future charging options. I’m bummed the mpg hasn’t improved much on the Prius over the past 12 years except for LE model.

I didn’t realize the Prime has lower mpg in hybrid mode than the Prius. Why is this? I’ve been comparing the Prime to Prius XLE because I need smart key and more comfortable seats.

 

Plus I forget to mention I live in New England and would prefer XLE FWD but close to impossible to get FWD.

 

Yes more comfortable seats and smart key and wirelss charging would be nice. XLE does not get as good mpg as the LE. I think the difference is the weight of the extra components and different sized tires in the XLE. For the Prime MPG suffers because of the weight of the additional battery needed for it.

But, the differences in MPG are not HUGE. If you want the Prime get it.

For me it is a lot of plugging in all the time and a lot of worry to just save ~$750-1000 tops per year. But, I’m outside the threshold for the PHEV tax credits so it could definitely be an economical choice if you qualify. If you want it get it!

I would admit that if I did qualify, the equation would change in absolute economic terms for me—although I’m not sure it is worth my time to plug in every day to save ~$750-1000 a year. Would you pick up a $5 bill if it required you to bend over twice every other day and worry about stale gas? That is the question. lol.

But if you qualify and it is cheaper than a regular prius would be, then why not? You don’t *have* to use the plug-in aspect, my neighbor had a Prime and never plugged it in lol.

I also have waited longer than I wanted to to upgrade and decided that now is the time, I’m not waiting for the details for the Prime. If you don’t mind waiting, wait. By then there might not be these crazy markups too!

I guess I also don’t see the point of charging it only occasionally as opposed to using it as an EV. When would you plug it in? What would be the occasion? The use case for the plugin feature of the Prime has always has puzzled me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I think I’m in the minority tho, most people here seem more excited about the Prime lol

 

I’m poor enough that I would pick up a $5 bill twice a day. Ha! This purchase is unusual circumstances. As I mentioned earlier in another post I’d typically be spending 6 months looking for best possible 2015 Prius. : /

I think I’m more excited for the Prime but really dislike interior details (color). If it was just the seats I could cover them. I most likely have to get XLE AWD due to availability where I live. Prime could take much longer than spring for inventory to trickle in and my funding circumstances could change.

Appreciate the feedback. Thanks

 

Haha yes, well if you qualify for a tax rebate it could come out to bigger than a $5 bill. So it can def work for some, perhaps many people. I’m not sure how the mechanics work but as the battery in a regular prius degrades the mpg will too, bug a prime has a bigger battery to start with so. But I dont really understand how it works.

But if you go regular prius I would understand lol

in making my deposit i also decided it wasnt worth the time to seek out a dealer with a smaller markdown and traveling to them and waiting even linger like many on these forums have done. all together the LE will cost 36k with fees (oof!). But at least the dealer is close to where i live, reputable etc.

what dont you like about the Prime interior colors? I really like the Beige interiors in the 2022. Moonstone was OK too. I’m very disappointed there seems to be no beige in the 23, but I figured you just cant win lol. It will look very nice from the outside, and light gray interior will be tolerable. Beige is best! Beige with windchill was what I really wanted.

what colors are you after?

i suspect if you search and wait you will get your worm for a bargain, and that you’ll probably prove wiser than me buying this right now..but..gotta have fun! lol

 

Your way, way off base on several statements. Suggest do a little homework before future posting.

Stale gas. Gasoline doesn't go stale in a vehicle storage tank - period. If your tank is sealed and your gas cap secure - your gasoline "what ever octane" will last forever. I've got a boat that come October every year I winterize and leave on boat lift with a full tank of gasoline. Boat sits for six/seven months (in cold weather) and then come April the outboard motor starts perfectly. Year in - year out.

Plugging in all the time - get real. It takes all of 5 seconds. About as long for your garage door to open or close. No big.

Regarding charging if you drive your car every other day or every couple days - why do you say you have to charge constantly? We have two cars and use both, but many times we just rotate vehicles between drives. Spend an hour charging your EV some where and then come back and complain about a 5 second charge cable hook up garage.

Weight of the extra components and different sized tires? Not sure where you're going at here. The Prime gets very good mileage and soon you'll get 38 to 40 miles all on battery power with plug in. Your splitting hairs over extremely minor things. No car is perfect, especially if its under $35,000 in today's prices. Just ask GM and Ford that after their umpteenth recalls over the last few ears.

 

If I ever get a new Prius it will be a Prime, hands down. I don't see why charging once a week is better than once a day. I used to say that about cell phones, and now I got a stupid smart phone that needs to be charged at least every other day. No biggie. Worse fuel economy in a plug-in hybrid is not at all a deal breaker when I can drive most days off of 10₵/kWh electricity.

But the Bolt does appeal to me too. No more oil changes! The fires on previous Bolts seem to have been from two battery manufacturing defects that when put together caused the problem we saw. I don't think that same problem will happen again nor do I think it was GM's fault.

The thing that really appeals to me about EV's is I can make my own fuel if I want with solar panels or windmills.

 

well, got me on stale gas. To be fair someone else on these boards told me about the gas.

my deposit is down for the 2023 prius. Dealer says it will be 36000 for the LE. LOL. Thabks for making me feel better about my choice!

im JK but yes any reader should keep in mind that im motivates to write what I did because I’ve made that choice and because I am outside the qualifying range for tax credits for phevs, so im looking for reasons to justify my 2023 prius purchase lol.

However I’m still convinced I wouldnt like plugging in the prime every other day. I drive the car every day, it will be my only car, and I drive probably 40ish miles each day, so I figure charging every other day would significantly cut the gas if I got a Prime.

 

Yes i was considering the bolt too. But lets face it, the prius is a nicer car. The bolt looks like a clowns car in comparison, or like a kids car. And i do not know the recall might not be chevy’s fault, but that doesnt change the fact that it is made by chevy, known for being unreliable. Tesla is the only successful, tried and true/tested EV that has been around for many years and will continue to be for years to come. But it is too expensive, even the m3.

It leaves you with no option but the Prius! I dont understand why they dont sell way way more

 

Toyota is generally more reliable, but not always. My radio/infotainment center doesn't work correctly (and I can't listen to my music as a result) on my 2013 Avalon hybrid and it's already been repaired by the dealer once.

I do like the leg room though in the Avalon. But I don't think a used Avalon (much less a new one) will be an option again soon with the way used car prices are. A Bolt probably has a lot less leg room, so that would be a minus for me and a plus for the Prius. The killer for both is the lack of a spare tire, something that's absolutely necessary for me. I would probably go with a Corolla or Camry Hybrid simply for that reason.

But with the way things are going economically with rent tripling and wages not really going up and used car prices soaring and cheaper new cars being on year-long waiting lists, I have a feeling that if my Avalon got totaled tomorrow we'd probably have to go some time without a car despite not having public transportation (not even Uber). At that rate the car we get will probably be the cheapest newish car we can get onto our driveway in the most reasonable amount of time.

 

Just to be clear, you are talking about the MX-30. CX-30 is a gas only compact crossover sold nationwide (I have one).

 

I went and test drove a Volvo C 40, nice car 400 hp EV is a kick to drive, but I don’t know if I’m ready for range anxiety… Some of the EV owners on my other forums have stated 40% range loss with the cold weather we’ve been experiencing here in the upper Midwest and the availability of charging stations in the area is dreadful, the Prius prime is probably the way to go in for most with short commute! But I think trying to get one in these times will be challenging.

 

I have a Prime and it has 175k on it now. I charge it TWICE per day, and it's so automatic I don't even realize I'm doing it. The charger nozzle is 2 feet from my front door, so the car gets plugged in before I unlock my front door. It's all routine now and takes about 5 seconds.

Car has averaged 148mpg over ownership period. Which is higher than the eMPG is the Tesla (131eMPG).

When driving in hybrid move, averaging 65mpg.

It's a no brainer for me to order another Prime and I'm currently on the waiting list at 2 dealerships.