Why I Hate my Prius Prime

My daily commute is well within the Prime's range.

 

I think it would be used in situations where you have to drive beyond the EV range and will use gas until you plugin again. I would be a convenience to use and not have to think much when you have to use gas. For me, I strictly try to only use electricity and not gas.

#1 in Easley,SC

 

Unlike ordinary Prime owners who seldom visit, PriusChat members are control freaks?

Bob Wilson

 

For me EV auto is conservative. I've tried it and a few other scenarios. For my commute, me controlling it gets me the best daily mpg. If my commute were shorter of longer, I might change my strategy. Everyone's trips are different and with the Prime there is no one size fits all.

 

Thanks all!

My commute is 37 miles each way, so no way am I going to get all EV. I like not having to worry about things, so I'll probably use it. I ordered the Advanced because of all it's other conveniences.

That's one reason I absolutely love the idea of the Prime, it is extremely versatile, and to answer the OP, I'd never buy a pure EV because it's as rigid as you can get. A taste of something I know I don't want is not I'm going to worry about.

 

That percent EV is suspect. It appears that it counts engine off, motor on in hybrid mode as EV miles. This means the percent EV isn't just grid powered miles.

 

correct, gen 4 has gone to a new system of reporting: engine on/off. idk if there's a reason, or toyota is just trying to pad their stats.

 

was that different in the original PiP? For my part, I'd assumed it would show the miles driven in EV, whether that energy came from the plug, re-gen or what. The manual page 221 says:
“EV Driving Ratio”: For the displayed distance of the mileage display, the percent traveled using only electric motor power is displayed.

Could you elaborate on your "suspect" comment please?

 

i see, thanks for the response

 

I think no one on the site is probably harder on their Prime than we are. We (hubby and I) commute 21 miles each way to work each day. If you're not going at least 70 in the carpool lane ( and up to 85 sometimes) you'll get run over here and usually with the a/c on both ways. Husband gets to drive in on full electric, I drive out maybe 4-5 miles back on electric before the gas kicks in. Electric is an absolute delight. Love to drive our leased Leaf despite serious range anxiety while we awaiting our pre- ordered model 3 later arriving later this year. I could not imagine 2 full electric cars though, thus the Prime was a "no brainer" ...A Toyota and qualifies for my carpool plate! It is hard to drive a gas car once you have driven electric. I am very glad we waited for the Prime it's an absolute joy and I'm sure it will live up to it's quality expectations. We drove our 2008 Prius just as hard with not a single issue(barring recalls and flat tires). We expect nothing less of the Prime.

Hybrids, plug -ins, and electric cars all have different attributes it takes research to determine which suits your needs best to bring you to your ultimate decision.

 

Let's start with #2: If 70% of us drive alone, or with one other person, and want to put an upright base in the car, but dont like the divider.. Put the seats down. Mine lives with the seats down. I dont have rear seat passengers more than once every few weeks at most, and its easy enough to put back up when needed. With it down.. the back seat divider has never once been a problem. Its not even visible.

Bringing us to #1: With seats down, I put in wheelchairs, groceries, and other larger items with no difficulty whatsoever. Went camping with a friend and two full sets of gear, and still had full visibility out the back window. I carry a lot of stuff regularly and have had 0 space issues. Never once even come close to running out of space.

Which flows into #6.. that rear seat divider provides.. a place to put things. An extra cubby. If it were retractable, I doubt it would have room to put much of anything into it.

 

As I understand it, the purpose of EV Auto is to give you more power when you need it by recruiting the ICE when you need power to accelerate. You are not going to get better mileage in EV Auto. I've tried it a few times. Now I never use it.

 

My commute is a 37 mile each way mix of highway, city, and rural, roads that I take every day. I was thinking that EV auto would possibly use the ICE on the highway, full EV in the city, and maybe a mix on the rural roads, once the predictive efficient drive learned my route. Maybe I'm asking for it to do too much, but that's the way I would program it if i did it.

I'll certainly have to try different things when I get my Prime in. If it ever gets here.

 

One thing different in the Prime from a regular hybrid is that when you are in a slight decline, even at freeway speeds, HV will use the battery whether you have EV portion left or not. When the power indicator goes above the line at ECO, the ICE will kick in. The ICE needs to be warmed up, though. In my 2012 v, I could only use the battery up to 43 mph.

 

You might have had to get a Ford Energi for that.

 

only because there's no free lunch, and hv ev miles are generated by gasoline, albeit by capturing potentially lost energy.
a third data gauge would be welcome.

 

Too far for an Energi.

 

Your commute is similar to mine. I tried different scenarios and found the one that is right for me. EV auto didn't work for my commute. Your mix of speed limits and hills will take a while to figure out. But it'll definitely be fun trying. Hope your Prime comes in soon.