Why is apparently no one buying a Prius/Prius Prime on the East Coast?

Those numbers include a recent road trip of almost 1,000 miles where I used HV mode on the freeway. Prior to my road trip, my average was 92.4 mpg. My road trip average mpg was 51.8. So not bad when all is considered. Certainly a lot better than my prior vehicle (2022 Ford Explorer). I bought the Prime to save on my driving costs which it certainly is doing. I expect the overall mpg number to move up once I refill again which probably won't be until November.

 

So if you take longer trips the potential fuel cost advantage of the Prime is not much of a factor.

What I don't understand about the Fuelly analysis is that it seems to include only the cost of the gas used with no mention at all of the cost of the electricity used to recharge the battery. If it ignores that then it's obviously not accurate and total fuel cost is higher.

 

Well, fuel costs do end up being a major cost. More so in other markets. Gas is almost US$5 a gallon in Canada, and electricity tends to run cheaper in many markets. With the average prices and assumptions, the fuel savings for Bolt will cover the price difference over a Trax or Sonic in a year or two. Total ownership costs of BEVs are now comparable to ICE for most models.

The comparison becomes less favorable with a hybrid, but for whatever reason, people tend not to choose a hybrid while they will an EV.

Depending on its EV range, and the owner's use, a PHEV can be as good as a BEV in terms of costs. I do think the price difference should also be weighed by the convenience factor of not having any of a BEV's limitations.

Fuelly is not set up to handle any bi- or dual- fuel vehicles. Can only enter the info for one energy source, so PHEVs there ignore all the electricity used.

I'm not aware of any site or app that can handle tracking fuel use of such type of cars.

 

Toyota went for looks and power with the new Prius because sales were trending steadily downward. I would never have bought a prior model of the Prius. I didn't like the looks or the anemic acceleration. I'm happy with my 2023 Prius. Consumers Reports seems to be trending more in your direction. They liked the old model more. Time will tell if the new approach works.

 

With long trips the Prime is actually much less efficient than the LE. The Prime is designed for short city commutes.

 

It's cause they gave it a longer EV range than the previous model. The gen4 was rated slightly better than the hybrid in hybrid mode, but the gen5 expands the number of people that could go gas free with daily driving.

 

I think the 2022 Eco beat the Prime in combined stated fuel economy.

But my money is on the 2022 non-Prime beating the Prime over the life of a tank (no plugging after first) with savvy driving. That battery weight is gonna drag...

2022 Prime weighs 355lbs more than the Eco.

 

The Eco was a stripper fleet L with the Li-ion battery instead of the NiMH. Feature wise, the other hybrid trims were closer to the Prime.

Hybrid manufacturers size the traction battery to get the performance for the least cost. Increasing the capacity can lead to better fuel economy. It allows longer engine off times, and more recaptured energy when braking, that compensates for the added weight. That's why the DIY and kit PHEV conversions lead to better reported numbers in hybrid more, and the gen3 PiP and gen4 Prime both being EPA rated 2mpg higher than the comparable hybrid model.

The battery capacity of the gen5 Prime goes past the point of helping in hybrid mode that the added weight becomes a liability to hybrid mode efficiency.

 

I'm totally experiencing this with the G5 LE.

It seems to charge faster with ICE-on as well.

 

Yes you are correct but speaking for myself, it's only a marginal difference which is barely worth noticing. I never use a public charging station and mostly charge at home. On the road trip, I charged at my son's home. So far in October, I've used 38 kWh to charge at home (tracked using a PN2500 usage monitor) which equates to $2.28.

 

On longer freeway trips where the hybrid engine is constantly engaged, I agree. But 51.8 mpg from Portland to Spokane and back is not too bad. And who spends all their time on long road trips? Some maybe but not most. I came from a 2022 Ford Explorer which averaged less than 25 mpg, so for me it works. For those folks going from an older Prius to the 2023/2024, probably not so much.

 

I still haven’t seen another one here in the upper mid US, Amazon driver couldn’t believe it was a Prius! my local dealer is still delivering everything when it comes off the truck! Still used cars on the new show floor! if anybody’s waiting for a deal don’t expect any soon. Probably!!

 

Thanks for the reminder. I read something about this a while back. The Prime has the larger battery making it less efficient in hybrid mode than Prius plus the larger battery decreases efficiency of cargo storage. : )

Just wish Prius came with Front Cross Traffic Alert. Has your Prius activated the brakes for pedestrians or slow traffic?

 

Yes.

 

You got that right.

 

My experience has been that using the 'traffic jam assist' the car will apply the brakes to maintain an appropriate following distance. So yes, brakes applied for slow traffic.

 

Interesting. Wish the regular Prius came with this. Oh well…I’m not commuting in traffic that often.

 

I highly doubt the "traffic jam assist" behaves differently compared to the normal cruise contral as far as (regen) braking goes - its more a regulation thing to allow level 2 "plus" (no hands on wheel) driving.