Would you recommend the Prius PHEV?

First of all, the vast majority of PHEV and especially PiP are sold in California where free HOV is a major time savings and major incentive to buy a plug-in, not to mention a CA financial bonus on top Fed Tax cedit of $2500 (old PiP) to approx. $4500 (new Prime).

Take away that CA chunk of Prius Plug-ins and you have those that support plug-ins for various reasons. I will let the owners tell you. But peppy drive quality of EV (less true on PiP1), gaso fuel savings (less now), avoidance of petroleum, and state rebates in some cases. Not to mention we have a few fans of Toyota quality and design around here - hard to find us sometimes, but we do exist.

I kind of like the used older PiP1 which has very few sacrifices in terms of Cargo space. The newer Prime goes for the peppy drive quality of EV and more EV miles at the expense of the 5th rear seat and Cargo space.

I love the concept of the solar charging Prime (look Mom - no gaso and no plug! for some miles) but that is not offered in USA right now.

 

For short trips the Prius Plug-in is the superior choice when charged. The motor in EV mode has no "warm up" to get the best mileage. Anything less than 5 miles used to kill the mileage on my Gen 2 Prius. Long downhills in the PiP no longer make the ICE spin to burn off regenerated energy that cannot be stored in an already full battery. When the ICE is used, the larger battery also provides a lot more assist to the ICE for a much longer time and over a wider speed window. If I had to do it over again I would buy the PiP again.


Unsupervised!

 

1) I hate using carbon fuels
2) I live around lots of (down)hills, and I was always "overcharging" the small hybrid battery in my '04 Prius
3) My workplace is within the EV distance of the PIP, and I can plug in at work
4) I have solar panels on my house, so I "commute with solar", in effect

Enough reasons? BTW, I charge even though electricity costs more than gas per mile in my area

-- Dean

 

after owning a 2004 and 2008, i was looking at gen 3, when i heard about the coming pip.
the thing that excited me most was using less imported oil. but also, i was fascinated by the regular prius when in ev mode, and had always wished for more of it.
nowadays, when the engine comes on, i shudder, because it reminds me of my old gassers in comparison to my first prius.
the down side is, with 15 miles of ev, i'm looking for more, and the next purchase will have it. there's nothing to love about an internal combustion engine for me. not the noise, not the vibration, nothing.

and right now? i'm paying more for electricity than gas. that's how bad this addiction is.

 

If you're in withing the PiP electrical range (9 miles average) go for it. If beyond that mark, save your capital and jump straight to the conventional Hybrid vehicle, you will be happier.

 

only if you want all ev for that trip. i would never be happier in a lift back.

 

I have only had my PIP, 2014, for a couple months, but ...

Gas prices are never going to stay this low.
My commute is 10.1 miles.
I can plugin at work for free.
Its actually fun to drive all EV and see how far you can go.
2 months and I went to the gas station once - $16 Bucks

 

A few reasons why I bought the Prius PHEV:
-round trip commute all EV
-errands all EV
-best MPG long trips I took several times a year
-Prius Envy (had a ’95 Honda Civic and always wanted a Prius, was secretly hoping the Civic would fail so I could get one, but it never did and couldn’t resist the PHEV version)
-Toyota quality
-no cold start penalty
-Federal + State incentives made it more affordable
-Tesla envy, but did not fit in the budget
-quest towards net zero carbon/pollution footprint
-good combo with home solar and off-peak charging
-decrease local (and total) air pollution
-best cargo PHEV option
-EV driving is fun
-bridge until there is an affordable BEV that gets 300+ miles range on a charge

FYI:
-live in California but never put Green (solo HOV) stickers on car

 

At the time of purchase:
1) California HOV Stickers
2) Federal Tax Credit + CA Tax Rebate putting my 2014 Base at $26k OTD when I purchased in December 2013
3) Increased payments for new PiP versus payments on old CPO Mustang (v6 Convertible) plus gas consumption difference meant my total monthly cost was equal (Mustang was weekend car for me and regular car for rest of family that didn't drive as much as me, Prius C was my daily driver, that's how much of a difference switching out the gas hog made)
4) Fits up to 10 foot surfboards inside the car, and can close it and lock them inside

Now:
- Pretty well optioned for a 2014 MY generation (front heated cloth seats, nav, backup camera)
- Enjoy plugging in to save money (I only plug-in at home during super-off-peak rates or free public chargers)
- Lack of spare tire has not been a problem in 60k miles
- Miss having a sunroof (not offered on the Prius Plug-in, really only reason I would consider regular Prius over PiP)
- Enjoyed benefits of plugging in so much that I ended up buying a Nissan Leaf a year later (still have the PiP), but no longer interested in purchasing hybrids

Future:
- Reservation placed for Tesla Model 3
- No current plans to purchase hybrid in future (plugging my PiP in got me hooked on electric vehicles, and nobody can compete with Tesla in that market, with Toyota not even bothering)
- Might delay Tesla Model 3 purchase indefinitely since current garage of vehicles are so fuel efficient and reliable, that financially the Tesla Model 3 becomes a WANT not a NEED

 

Elon Musk's got you covered on that one - LOL


For me, the PHEV seemed like a good option at the time. We already had a Prius, so we were sold on the economic side. Since that time we've added a Tesla Model S (which is just the opposite - economically speaking!) While we've driven the Tesla to many places people might not think possible - it's still tethered to the Supercharger network or much slower 240V chargers for long trips.

PiP has no such constraints. It's not particularly the "best" of both worlds, but it's an OK compromise. I'm all for renewable energy resources, and as long as there's gas around we should burn it as efficiently as we can. The Prius family does that, and the PHEV adds a little flexibility for those who make frequent short local trips. My lifetime mpge in the PiP reflects a 60mile daily round trip. There aren't many cars on the market that can make that commute using less than a gallon of gas. The PiP does it every weekday.

 

I replaced my 2006 Prius with a 2012 PIP. I wanted the Toyota Prius quality with an electric car experience. I mostly got it especially since I use the car mostly for local trips after plugging in. In the winter, the ICE easily comes on, but it is not intrusive and it is needed for warmth both for the defroster and the heater. My lifetime mpg is 120 mpg which is good enough for me. The new Prius Prime is supposed to be more EV like, but I am happy with my PIP. Besides I like the styling better. There are some very good deals on used PIPs now. One worry that I had as an early adopter was that the traction battery would not hold up. Mine has not shown any noticeable degradation in four years. Unlike an electric car, if there is battery degradation, the PIP will simply use a little more petrol. It will still go where I want to go.

A PIP is great if much of your driving is local trips. You would not notice the benefit as much if your commute is long or your main use is road trips.

 

1. Lots of short trips all on EV (kids to and from school and deliver them to sports, church, bank, groceries, etc.)
2. Don't like foreign oil purchased from terror-supporting countries
3. LOVED my Honda Fit but thought real-world 31 mpg was abysmal for a subcompact (getting 2x that now with more backseat room)
4. Bought it used coming off a 3 year lease, and the price was great, actually cheaper than any comparable non-PiP Prius. Sold the Fit and almost paid for the PiP with it.
5. Wanted to see what I was missing, i.e. see what the hubbub was about.
6. Tired of wasting fuel and money.
7. Loved the styling on Gen II and III.
8. Have become an addict for the extremely quiet EV driving experience.

Finally, yes I would recommend it if: 1. You don't mind plugging in each night. 2. You don't have a lead foot. 3. You don't plan on buying a Prime, Volt, Bolt, Ioniq, or Model 3 in the next few years.

 

I went for the Plug-in over the standard Prius as the used purchase price difference was negligible after 4 years, despite the extortionate premium when new (Toyota Ireland never sold them because they thought it would be too expensive and wouldn't sell, so I imported used from the UK).

I was impressed by the larger batteries, lower fuel consumption, and being able to do my commute in EV mode (most of the time). I would recommend one if your commute is short.

Only real downsides are lack of spare wheel and the weird black-painted 15" alloy wheels.

 

I purchased my PiP for solo HOV access in CA. Am I happy with the purhase? Absolutely. Would I buy another one? Nope. Electricity costs more than gasoline so there is no savings there. No more green decals means I'd rather save the money and get a base Prius Two or go all-in with a BEV.

 

Well, electricity is significantly cheaper than gas if you're charging at home on Time of Use rates. However, it's hard to justify switching your entire household to TOU for a measly 3kWh/day only for the PiP, especially if you use air conditioning during the day.

 

I love mine, but I would not recommend it because the added cost over a standard Prius isn't worth it. I had a very long commute, and so I leapt at the opportunity to gain commuter lane access. And the car's been fantastic. But absent the incentive, it's not worth the price premium, especially since you lose the spare tire and about two gallons of fuel capacity.

 

I wasn't necessarily looking for a Prius, but a plug-in vehicle that would fit my driving habits and needs from a primary daily driver. The Leaf could cover my typical daily miles, but would have been a liability for the occasional(1 every week or two) for the larger trips. The Volt only seated 4 and the trunk space was a joke.

I wanted a plug-in for a variety of reasons, including that the fortunes of many of my country's biggest adversaries in the world depend on oil demand. When oil demand is up, they do well. When it's down, they hurt. I want them to hurt.

I also like clean air and I also think it's insane that some people think we can continue to change the composition of our atmosphere and not have any consequences for doing that. Reducing my impact to the best of my ability in that regard is a duty.

The plug. My daily driving is about 35 miles, but it's segmented in such a way that it can all be covered by charges throughout the day. Charges that are trivial given my living/work situation, where I can always(on a typical day) park in a garage and plug-in with no real effort.

Totally depends. You have to do the math of your daily driving and take into account your ability to trivially charge. If I lived in an apartment and had to park on the street or in a lot where I couldn't charge easily and regularly, the feature would largely go unused so I wouldn't recommend paying more for it.

Another scenario I might not recommend it and probably wouldn't have bought it, is if I had a really long commute that doesn't even come close to having at least a significant portion of the commute covered by the charge and no where to charge when I got there.

For me, during the school year, my ratio is about 75 percent EV to 25 percent Hybrid. During the summer this drops to about 50 percent(less local trips, more long road trips). I don't think I would have spent the extra money if I couldn't get at least half my driving on EV regularly and I get much more than that typically. I think if people's driving habits can at least hit that target with the limited range of the plug in, then I would recommend it. Maybe even in scenarios where the ratio is lower, but it would depend more on the details in those cases.

 

I wanted to learn whether I could live with and like a plug-in car, and I had two prior Priuses - a Gen I and a Gen II. Additionally, as a retired U.S. Army guy I will try anything to lessen the chance of (again) sending our guys and gals to the Middle East, and as I understand how the world works, that means lessening our oil imports... so just for that intangible benefit, the plug-in was worth it for me.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Although I was very motivated by the idea of reducing gas consumption, I don't think the Prius Plug-in creates much overall energy efficiency over the standard Prius. I owned a 2010 Prius for over two years before buying my Plug-in, and without any charging, it's about 8-10 mpg better for me. But once efficiency reached about 45-50, there are such easier ways to reduce fuel consumption: Carpool, drive slower, drive less.