I feel the Volt never got the recognition it deserved. It did most of what the Prime does 12 years ago, yet got super (and in my opinion, unfairly) beat-up on by critics.
Agree totally. I have a 2012 Volt. Now for 10 years. I get 37-42 miles per charge and it works perfectly for my daily drive. And get this. Not one single problem with this amazing car. I have 68k miles on it now and NOTHING has gone wrong.
My 2017 Volt has almost 100k, no issues, runs great! I wish GM still offered a plugin hybrid! And yes, a certain political party basically buried the cars reputation when it launched …..
I had a 2018 volt, it was an amazing car and in my opinion a very attractive car, had no issues with it. Now have a bolt euv and a mini cooper se and a wrangler 4xE. In truth for most use cases the volt was the best. Only gripe was the seats were lackluster but otherwise a terrific car.
We purchased an ‘18 Prime in NV when visiting CA in 2022, then drove it home to MD. Many were available in the area. Our average mpg is increasing with our city use, now 88.9, since first use. EV operates best in city, when we get on a highway I switch to hybrid. Recharge is 240 at charge point, etc. or 120 at home. Only 1 gas fill / month. We are pleased with 500+ total range.
Hybrids make a lot more sense right now. When the battery dies after warranty, it will only cost $2000 and not $25,000 to replace the battery. Most people drive below 40miles each day so you are really not saving much buying a full electric.
Thanks for doing this review. I'm a big fan of Toyota Prime technology and own a RAV4 Prime. I assume the Prius Prime tech is similar to the RAV4. Mine is rated for 42 miles EV. I typically run EV below 50 mph and run it hybrid at higher speeds. Doing that, I get 55-60 miles of EV range in moderate temperatures. Unlike some PHEVs, Toyota lets you control the mode. You can run pure EV up to 84 mph. Confirming Nathan's comment, when the car says the battery is empty, it actually still has 30% charge. It uses the extra for acceleration when needed and for low speed driving. When the battery shows 100% charge, it's actually at 90%. Toyota does that to protect the battery from excess wear.
I would actually be interested in this Prius and I never thought I would say that about a Prius. It looks great, way better than the previous ugly Prius', the tech is well proven at this point. The fact that I could do a lot of driving in pure electric but still have a vehicle that would work on a road trip without lengthy charging stops, that to me is the answer.
meh. It's a poor man's EV. Let's be honest, if you had the money you would go with full electric. You save money getting something with less battery. You could get a Chevy Bolt and it would be functionally the same. In fact a bolt can go a lot further on batteries (about 300 miles). I still don't think many people do road trips if they don't live in the middle of nowhere. Why drive ten hours if you can fly there in two hours?
@@neutrino78x no I don’t like full electric yet. I feel like the tech is still immature and there are a lot of improvements to be made. It wouldn’t be terrible in my location but they are still lacking if you need to do more than 300 miles in a day. Something I will be doing twice in the next week.
@@davva360 "o I don’t like full electric yet. " It's more like you can't afford the best ones, right? They have ones with 400 mile range now, it's just that they're expensive right now. As people with higher incomes buy those, they will be able to sell them for a cheaper price. Just like with PCs....the original IBM PC that came out in 1981 was 5,000 USD, which in today's dollars is 16,000. But today, 40 years later, you can get something 1000 times more powerful for a fraction of the price. The price will drop dramatically because, between the Salton Sea and the newly discovered lithium sources in Nevada, we have well over 100 years of domestic supply. So it's just a question of ramping up the production 🙂
I really wanted one of these. But after trying to buy one for over a year, I gave up and bought a Tesla. It seems Toyota is either unable or unwilling to build enough of these to satisfy demand.
Most likely Toyota simply can't build anymore because they didn't scale up battery production the same way Tesla did. That's why they'll talk about how they could build 100 Priuses or 5 Primes with one Tesla Model S battery at 100 kWh. But then they don't do it, and dealers screw you by charging you more to get that Prime due to their low supply and high demand.
You'd have to do 16000+/- kms of that 7 miles to make up the cost of $610 usd at .05c cad /km estimated cost of fuel. I'd say it is worth it considering many prius owners do high mileage and it's a keeper kind of car
Terrific video! My wife has exactly the same model and she manages all her commuting electrically every day (35 miles to work and back home). Not once did the car shift over to gas. For longer journeys like holidays the gas obviously kicked in but very economically and no range anxiety. Great car, probably the best solution on the marked. And man, oh man, does it look good!
Toyota's technology in this Prius is EXACTLY what GM had in 2012 with the Volt. I have a 2012 Volt and LOVE IT. Can't remember when I put gas into my Volt. It gets me 37-42 miles per charge and has been the most reliable car I've ever owned. I wonder why all car makers don't use this tech. It eliminates range anxiety and is the perfect car in my mind.
If you can't remember the last time you put gas in, then why even have ICE parts? Seems wasteful now. Just go full EV or just buy a fuel efficient ICE car. Hybrid and PHEV are a waste now.. That's why all car makers are not using this tech, its outdated.
@@gregpochet4812 because life isn’t black and white 💀. Plug in hybrids are the best of both worlds. If I am city driving most of the time I don’t need to get gas and charge my car if I’m doing road trips or going to places that are far the gas part kicks in and I don’t have to spend 30 minutes charging my car. You save money and time in that regard. Idk why you have to have a hate boner for someone who likes their car the way it is
@@slayerofgeese They are the worst of both worlds. Battery range is low. If you are driving only using the battery, you are carrying around unused ICE part. the ICE engine is under performing and will go bad if not used. Also have to now maintain 2 engine types. Rather have an EV and not worry about oil, transmissions, alternator, spark plugs etc... Just pointing out PHEV are old tech. "Hate boner"?? Are you in high school?
The car is smart enough to let me know when I need to run the ICE (when fuel goes stale). And the car actually "asks" me if its ok. Sorry, this Volt has been terrific on all accounts. Best ever made by GM. @@gregpochet4812
I have this car (without the solar panel) and I routinely get between 45 and 50 miles all EV so long as I'm not running the cabin heater. I didn't have to use the AC much, so I don't know if that would also drop the range. Either way, many 2023 Prime owners are reporting much better EV range than advertised.
@@armstr47a To date, with our 2024 Prime, our best EV range was 91km. But, with a 6% charge remaining. The car would have reached very close to 100km on battery. Today, after an overnight charge, the Trip Computer estimated a range of 103km. Maybe it's better said to say; after 6 months and 8,600+km, we have consumed only 2 tanks of gas.
This is a very practical and money-saving vehicle and one that will be the primer for most people wanting to move towards full EV when battery tech and range takes a leap.
The base model for the Prime is SE (LE is the regular Prius). I decided to get the Prius Prime since I live in Atlanta and regular daily commutes are easily EV. I keep in in auto EV: which will not completely deplete the battery. As soon as the battery goes to that 1/4 (blue) range the HV mode kicks in. I do notice it's not quite as peppy and you hear the gas engine. I rented a Chrysler 300S V6 over the weekend as my Prime was being detailed. Honestly, I thought its acceleration was clunky compared to the Prime (IE the transmission wasn't smooth, and I felt like I really had to floor it to get to 70).
I got a 2023 Prime XE a few months ago. I have noticed that back rear corner is pretty warm to the touch when the car is charging (the back right corner is not). There is also quite a loud buzzing noise that comes from there. Somebody rear ended me at the red light but it was enough to cause the bumper to be changed. I am trying to figure out if all 2023 Prius Primes get warm in the left corner when the car is hooked into the electric charger. Have you noticed if yours does that? I'd appreciate it if you could check and write an answer as the insurance people do not want to pay for diagnostics again.
@@ecealgan No, I've never noticed buzzing or anything getting warm (charging or not). If this happened after you were rear ended, does seem like it could be something electrical.
@@dsr0116 I never touched the rear of my car when it charged before the accident so I do not know if it got warm or not. But after the accident as I was trying to figure out where in the back the louder buzz was coming from and noticed it was pretty warm when I touched it so I have no reference point unfortunately. If you could touch the back of your car after it charged for an hour or so, and tell me if it gets warm or stays cold, I'd be grateful. It's been terrible dealing with the collision center, Toyota service people and my insurance company since November 14th. They don't believe me, they want to charge this as a new condition and most importantly I'm worried about charging the car all night long while I'm sleeping...
Driving my rav 4 prime learned to drive “tap and glide”. Every time foot off gas you getting a bit of regeneration. Get over 20km over advertised range this technique. Also avoid driving highway speeds on EV mode unless just short trip. Drains the battery super fast
Hyper-milers call it "pulse & glide" if I recall. Basically you get up to the speed limit or just slightly above, then let off on the gas, and then step on it again to prevent regen from happening, letting the car coast as long as possible. Once it dropped to a certain speed, you'd accelerate again gently and repeat. I got used to doing this in my Prius, and later my Chevy Volt. I only did this when there was no one right behind me though, because it would get annoying for other drivers to slowly speed up and slow down gradually in this manner. In normal traffic I just drove normally. I loved finding gentle downhill roads and managed to coast nearly a mile on electric in the Prius on a back country road I take to work. Luckily there are several routes I could take to work, and some of them weren't very busy, so I would take those roads often.
The whole point of a PHEV - the point that most people do not understand - is that it really doesn't matter whether the "pure electric" range is 44 miles or 38 miles or 42 miles, because these cars are HYBRIDS that get incredible gas mileage AFTER the "pure EV" range is depleted. If the Prius Prime only goes 40 miles in EV mode, do you know how much gas you'll burn to drive 50 miles? The answer is 23 ounces of gasoline, because the Prius gets 55mpg when it's burning gas! For what it's worth, our Rav4 Prime has a stated "EV Range" of 42 miles, but we get 50+ miles of EV range when the temperatures are in the 70s, and less than 35 miles of range when the temperature is in the teens or colder.
Well, for us, the point was purely economic. The "wave" is to electric motivation, great that. However, an entry level EV in our neighbourhood runs to $60,000, plus another $3,000 for a Level 2 charger. We could have went with a econobox Korean Kia (or like), for $ under $30,000 but, we're wish enough to decline. We just are settling in with our 2024 Prime. It's actually our third Prius but, first PHEV.. We bought it because of the battery range. We just retired. 80Km on electric covers us everyday. It costs less than $2.00 a day to charge. Given a gas cost of around 4l for the same distance, we're paying a quarter of that for electric. And, Oh, we paid under $30,000 for it. Got $8,000 for our 12 year old Model C plus $ 5,000 in government rebates. Neat. We have driven 1,600Km since delivery and there's still 1/2 of the dealer fill-up in the tank. Not very warm here yet either, going to get better as summer lands. Well pleased.
Is the display in front of the steering wheel annoying as many say? Maybe they should have went with a yoke steering wheel. I think would only have two occupants at most , driver and passenger) and drive with the rear seats down for cargo space. Lots of vacation driving. I have owned two hybrids, 2007 Honda Accord Hybrid and a 2015 Hyundai IONIQ Hybrid. I never thought I would say I want a Prius but they got my attention when 2023 came out.
This may be a repeat comment…but this is the third of three Prime trim-the XSE Premium. It’s the only trim that gets the solar roof (as an option). You can also get the SE or XSE for less money.
My parents have a '23 Kia Niro PHEV, though on trips they use the "smart use". And they get in the 80s for mpg. Around town they have not used the gas engine in months
My new 2024 driven hime 10 weeks ago with a full gas tank. I have driven it exclusively to work (5Miles each way) and locally. I get about 4.4miles/Kw charged on flat city driving. My full tank of gas has never been topped off and has a completely full tank about 800miles later. I charge level 1 every 3-4 days but also use a level 2 charger at one of my work sites (once a week) and at the Whole Food Co store. Also have the solar roof which has contributed 75 miles range in 10 weeks. So, running this Prius Prime XLE exclusively as a EV, Soon I will actually try to get the gas engine turned on for a few miles just to keep it smooth. Love driving this car as a city commuter.
Yeah, it doesn't look like this Prius Prime is as efficient as the Volt. The Gen 1 Volt only had ~11 kWh of usable battery, and it would easily do that 40-mile drive just on electricity.
At first blush getting 40 miles from 13.6kWh (2.94mi/kWh) doesn't seem all that great however I found a couple of sources that listed the usable battery capacity as 10.9kWh giving a good 3.67 mi/kWh for your mixed driving loop. Did you happen to note the amount of energy it took to recharge the battery after this test drive?
3.67 mi/kWh is 17kWh per 100km. As you say, very decent for a plug in hybrid. I guess your charge back up to full would show useable if you know the charging loss (typically 8% at 240V)
Just a word of warning though. You might get so used to driving it on electric that you'll come to hate every time the gas engine comes on. I had a 2017 Chevy Volt that had 53 miles of electric range, and 42 mpg when running on gas. In the real world, the mpg was about what I got, and on electric I got 40 miles in winter with heater usage and snow tires on the car. In summer I could get around 68 miles on the "GOM", or "guess-o-meter" since the number it displayed varied based on your driving habits. I got so used to the engine never running for my daily work commute that I would hate it every time it kicked on, whether because of "EMM", or "Engine Maintenance Mode" where it ran for about 10-15 minutes to keep the gas engine lubed, or if it dropped below 15F/--9C, then the dreaded "ERDTT" (Engine Running Due To Temperature) would kick on to help generate some heat for the cabin (the battery pack had its own separate heating/cooling system). One warm July night, I decided to drive on random back country roads to see how far I could drive it on electric. I managed about 101 miles after 4 hours of driving, averaging 25-40 mph. It was by no means "normal" driving, but it was a fun exercise to see how far I could get it on electric. But yes, I could and did take it on longer trips, and filled it up with gas just fine too. Shame that GM abandoned their Voltec platform instead of putting it in bigger, more popular vehicles like their Equinox.
Many owners are reporting a higher EV range than what Toyota is advertising. Many have recommended not to completely fill-up the gas tank if you rarely use the hybrid mode. Only fill the gas tank to around half. That way your EV battery will be more efficient because the car will be carrying a lot less weight around. However, you should still draw down the gas in the tank around every 4-5 months. Gas gets stale at around 6 months. You don't want to wait until then.
@@mrxman581good point. If the Prius has a 43litre tank, that’s 43kg of weight being carried around. That’s like half as much again as the driver in this video. I expect the Prius will do circa 12miles per litre(similar to hybrid corolla). As there are plenty of gas stations, on mostly electric commutes, only need to drive with up to 10 litres in the tank🎉
Mine goes 104 km on my typical drive (not hwy but 85-95 kms per hour roads) without my fan or ac on (cracked windows). I notice the reviewer is driving in brake mode. I’d suggest D and use the adaptive cruise for best mileage.
so are you guys going to road trip in to Miami, as you did in a pure EV? If you do, I am sure you will get there much quicker and beat your EV record. possible by a day if not two. It will be interested to view and I am sure the result will also be very interesting.
What I have seen with many other plug-ins I have driven, is that the 0% on the battery means 0% for EV only. They still have charge for running hybrid. It has been the same with 4 different plug-ins I have tried.
The purpose of the B position (Engine Braking), is to aid in slowing your car without using the friction brakes as much. Your brake linings and rotors will last for over 100,000 km (at least), on a Prius. The B setting employs the car's electric motors to slow the vehicle by increasing resistance in the motors. That energy is sent to the Traction Battery, thus giving an advantage with fuel consumption. Depending on temperature, speed and elevation change, the engine may or may not start when using B Mode. In any event, driving in B Mode would take away mpg because your adding resistance in the drivetrain that the battery would need to overcome. B is only for slowing down.
Were you using the air conditioning during this trip? I see you got 40 miles in all electric range but was that with using the AC? I am in Texas and have to run the AC on full blast in the summer so I was wondering if I would get the 40 miles per all EV range? Thanks
The battery is not depleted; it has plenty left to both protect the battery and let the car become a better hybrid than a Prius hybrid. You should explore how well the car builds up the mpg as a hybrid.
2:00 Is the cabin noise that bad? i'm wondering if there's a way to get 18 inch wheels on the top trim as it might help with the ride quality. Thanks for another great video!
I changed the wheels from the skinny 19 to wider aftermarket 19s. Downside is that they're crossover height tires. So when you go wider, you have more tire options, but your options are heavier. Hurts my MPG but not my EV range.
No, it’s not really that noisy at all. However, today’s high tech microphones are so efficient, they’ll pick two ants standing 10 metres away, holding a conversation! Automobile cabins always sound louder than they really are when microphones (without noise reduction) are used these days. My 2008 Prius is often so quiet, I’ve had situations where I think it has developed a mechanical fault as I’m driving along a multiple lane highway, only to discover the horrible noise was coming from another car in a different lane about 10 metres away! That’s happened several times! 😅
Fun fact; all Toyota Hybrid vehicles reverse in EV mode only. Even if the engine is running. There’s no reverse gearbox (indeed there’s no gear box anyway, but I digress). Reverse is all Toyota Hybrids is accomplished by the electric motor reversing polarity and pushing the car backwards (in reverse). That’s on every Toyota Hybrid and of course, on every Prius ever made. Not a lot of people know that….😊
I think Toyota only shipped about 20-30 of these to the US with solar roofs. I gave up trying to find one and opted for one without that feature. In fact, it's pretty difficult to find a PP anywhere, so I took the first one that was on the lot and not already spoken for.
I believe it can, but it's not a recommended method because you end up burning a lot more gas in the process. Better to just drive normally and let the car do its thing, running the engine as needed.
Two things 1: When doing these range/consumtion videos, put (calculate) the average speed of the trip. The actual value is usually lower than you think. 2: MyT mobile app shows the total % of battery. And it is not 10% when empty, it is more like 30%.
So how much that gas did you use to finish the trip? And how many miles per gallon would that equal for the full 50? And how much would 16 kW hours of electricity cost you? Making a total cost for that 50 mi versus a new Prius/ non-prime. = Then how many years to coop the additional cost if I drove that 50 mi 5 days a week to work approximately 48 weeks per year?
I noticed that when you set out on the trip the dash thermometer was reading 68f. By half way through the journey, the devise showed as low as 46f. That may well explain why the hybrid system engaged at 40 m. Could that account for the less than hoped for range. Also, can you, or anybody else tell me about the charge cable; I read in Toyota's Technical Spec. that either 115 or 220 volts can be used to charge the car. Obviously, we wish to use 220. It's faster and just as important, more economical to use 220 volts. Nowhere online can I find details on the feed side of the charge cable plug. 115 and 220 plugs are not compatible. I visited the dealership to enquire and they had no idea ! So, I asked them to let me know when a Prime arrived so I could travel to the lot and have a look at the cable in person. A few weeks later they called and I dodged over. I was surprised to find upon viewing the cable that the feed end plug is a regular HD three pronged affair that will not plug into a 220 volt outlet. So, what's the deal here. Will I have to chop-off the 115 volt plug and splice on a 220 twist-lock. We ordered a 2022 model 17 months ago and still no sign of it. Last word from the dealer is that they get a three month heads-up upon shipping. That means it will be at least another 90 days waiting. We are not impressed. This new car will be out third Prius. Now, we're going to be faced with not one, but two model year price increases; ( if the car arrives in February it will be a 2024), around 5 grand, and will loose almost two years value for the Prius we're trading. Almost ready to walk away from the deal at this point.
Yeah, that drop in temperature would reduce the range. And an increase in temperature into the mid-70s will increase the range. With our Rav4, we've gotten as much as 55 miles on EV even though the spec says only 42 miles.
What about if you are running the heater during the winter or A/C in the summer (I'm in the washington DC area) how much does this diminish the 40 mile range?
I notice more of a reduction in EV miles with the heater on than I did the few times I had the AC on. Without either of those, I routinely get 45-50 EV miles with mine - and I don't have the solar roof. I try to use the heated seats and steering wheel in lieu of the cabin heater when I can as those have little or no effect on the range.
The buffer in the battery is less about performance and more about battery health, letting a batery get to true 0% would kill it and make it uncharagble, you always have to have some voltage in it to keep it alive
Not a bad concept but at least here in Virginia are very few offered and of course accompanied by discouraging dealership markups which makes the Prius Prime more expensive than entry level EV. Like the RAV4 prime it just feels like Toyota wants to showcase the Prius prime but not really wants to make and sell them.
It's not (entirely)Toyota's fault. Dealers from all manufacturers were allowed to go wild with markups and only stocking higher trim levels during the pandemic since interest rates were low. Things are getting back to normal, though extremely slowly.
So when you use electric only mode and completely drain the battery, do you HAVE to plug-in charge it, or can you drive it in EV mode and it will recharge itself just by driving?
After the Traction Battery is drained the hybrid system takes over seamlessly. At that point, the engine will propel the car and add charge to the battery. It won't fully charge the battery but enough to help greatly with mpg.
So I was wondering about how the vehicle regens? So Nathan ran it out of EV (obviously it has reserve for whatever purpose it serves)...it switches to gas...is that running gas only and regenning the battery at all? Or is it technically hybrid mode when the gas comes on? In hybrid mode, will regenerative braking still fill the battery back up? I'm just wondering if I can expect any level of charge again without plugging it in? I haven't driven or owned any PHEV/HEV/EV, but definitely am on board for one...I think a PHEV would work best for me currently...my commute is 25 miles one way and I can plug in to 110 at work while I work my 12-hour shifts to recoup a good chunk if not all of that charge that was used. Originally wanted the Maverick but when I couldn't get an order in and then everyone started buying to sell for more, I gave up on that knowing that the quality of materials is garbage similar to my current Fusion so it's not worth the inflated pricing. Point was cheap and economic. If I'm going to spend $30-40k, I'll get something like this instead and have better resale for longer than a Maverick will.
I have a Rav4 Prime, and it should behave similarly to the Prius Prime. After the EV range runs out, it basically operates like other Toyota non-plugin hybrids. That means that regenerative braking are in effect and the engine will opportunistically charge the battery where it makes sense. So, once you exhaust the EV range, the state of the battery will remain within a few percentage points. That is, the regenerative braking, etc., won't charge the battery really noticeably like plugging it in, but it's working in the background to keep the efficiency up like a standard hybrid. When my vehicle is operating in hybrid mode, I notice that the vehicle automatically keeps the battery state around the range of 30% to 38% or so as the rest of it is reserved for buffer for battery health. In the Prime vehicles versus standard hybrids, you can get a really decent charge in the battery if you're going down a really long mountain road. I've seen mine add more than 10 miles of EV range just from going down a large hill in hybrid mode (I live in Colorado, so we're talking pretty big hills around here!).
Thanks for the responses @mrelectric423 and @einsweil. That’s what I was assuming but didn’t know for sure if it was running as a hybrid or if (maybe I’m wrong) it was more of a generator like the i3 rather than a motor to drive the vehicle. Unfortunately for me, I’m in SE MN which has slight elevation changes but nothing remotely hilly so I wouldn’t benefit much there. My trips up to the Twin Cities and back I would probably see some decent regen on one way of that trip.
In addition to the other replies, the 2023 Prius Prime also has a mode that recharges the depleted battery more aggressively while you're driving. However, it is the most inefficient way to drive the car. But it can come in handy if you want a full battery once you get to your destination where there are no options for charging. For example, going camping and then plugging into the 3 prong outlets in the car to power devices.
In addition to the other replies, the 2023 Prius Prime also has a mode that recharges the depleted battery more aggressively while you're driving. However, it is the most inefficient way to drive the car. But it can come in handy if you want a full battery once you get to your destination where there are no options for charging. For example, going camping and then plugging into the 3 prong outlets in the car to power devices.
Yes, if the 17 inch wheels fit. All else being equal, a smaller wheel usually has better efficiency/less weight/unsprung mass to deal with compared to a bigger, heavier wheel/tire.
If you can coast, rather than use regenerative breaking, that would be more efficient, whats better than reclaiming ~60-80% of the energy, is not taking it out of the battery in the first place.
I think it would have that affect on anyone that was forced to wear that monstrosity. Like wearing a bullseye at a shooting range. Let's ask for people to kill us by wearing something absurd.
There's a reason why all of the suddenly the BEV rush is slowing, and even Hertz are backing in their full BEV fleets. Without major improvements into battery Cells technology, Hybrids make perfect sense for the following decades.
EV sales are not slowing. They continue to grow in all markets globally. As for batteries, they last longer than most ICE engines, the number of Teslas out there with 200K, 300K and more miles on the original battery are visible on RUclips and other sites. A recent video of a guy in the USA (I live in France) who rented a Tesla from Hertz was amazed to see it had over 70K miles on it. Usually rental firms get rid of cars at 40K but EVs can go a lot longer without needing serious maintenance and of course no oil changes at all. They also hold their value better when its time to sell.
That's like saying I would like the plane to only crash into the ground at 80mph. How about we be a bit more agressive and try to stem the CO2 output - like actually put a meaningful delta on the temperature rise since it's a feedback loop. And yes cars are only part of the equation. The grid needs to be cleaned up and people need to cut down usage.
car sales in general are slowing. Hertz's big issue with EVs is the lack of customized software. All the benefits of driving a Tesla and simplicity of supercharging is washed out by the inability to connect to the car. I've had Tesla cars 11 years now and I rented a Hertz Tesla 6 months ago and the experience for me, a long time Tesla driver, was so bad I won't rent another Tesla without a dramatic change in the system
Incorrect. The BEV rush is "slowing" because the entire car market is contracting. Reduced consumer confidence and auto loan interest rates approaching 10% will do that.
its different for everyone. I have the 2020 Prius Prime and I could do 100 miles a day on all EV. 16 mile to work. Then level 2 charger at work, which I installed myself. Then go do a ton of deliveries and charge every time I park back at the restaurant. Then 16 miles home. All electric. 11 hrswork day.
I really like my '21 Prius Prime Limited (my 2nd Prius). This updated version is really nice imo. IF I was purchasing today, I would skip the Prius. Why would you pay 45-50 grand on this when you can get a Tesla Model 3 or Y...both can be purchased well under $50k and also with the full $7.5k tax credit (at this time). Choices are good, but for the premium price and only 40 all ev miles...this is a pass for me, and I have been a Toyota only owner for years. For me a 75 - 100 mile EV range only with that new motor would be a game changer.
I often encounter a recurring argument in PHEV and BEV forums that suggests Tesla's Model 3 or Y are better options than other vehicles in the same price range, such as the Prius Prime. The sentiment is usually framed as, "Why spend $38,000 to $42,000 on a Prius Prime when you can get a Tesla Model 3 for under $40,000?" However, having owned both types of vehicles, I don't necessarily agree with that perspective. To me, the new Prius Prime models are just as appealing as Teslas, making their comparable price tags justifiable. While I've owned luxury cars in the past, I don't consider Teslas to be in the luxury category; they're more akin to competitors of Toyota and Honda. The Teslas are fast though, so they have that going for them. Anyhow, for many of us, the choice isn't as clear-cut.
@@User.Joshuathe model 3 is also everything I don't like about EV interiors. That plus Toyota predicted reliability, total value, interior, versatility with gas...
Those who claim volt = 2024 Prius prime. Dead wrong. Volt problem: Low mpg on gas Blindspot was horrible Trunk…or was it a trunk? 4 seats and not five Too much piano black Cheap interior with 80s arcade display Real world drive was 27-33 mpg on first gen Priced too high It was only fun when in EV mode.
Three years ago I made a statement on Toyota Prius my statement was this why doesn't Toyota or Chevy or Ford or GMC put solar panels on the roofs of their cars thank you very much for your video it shows me that it can be done wow
With that Solar Panel Roof, in Colorado or places alike, when it starts to hail, doesn't that blows the fuel efficiency out of the door... running for cover ? 😁
The MPGe only counts the EV range and this is a lighter car than most full EVs. Efficiency drops significantly once the gas engine kicks in. Base model 3 still wins though I think, so is the Ioniq Electric which is similar sized. Interestingly, the 2021 Prius Prime has a higher MPGe because it got a smaller battery thus even lighter.
Why don't all electric/hybrid vehicles have solar on the roof? Because it costs a fair bit and doesn't give you that much range even in the best case. Motortrend calculated that under optimistic assumptions you'd need the better part of a decade for this feature to pay for itself, in sunny Los Angeles. It's one of those ideas that makes intuitive sense but doesn't pencil out when you start to look at numbers. It may work for RVs (large roof area, sits in one place for weeks) or super efficient vehicles like Aptera's, but it's pretty questionable on an ordinary car.
Electric only Reverse very interesting. I wonder if that means they do not have a reverse gear and therefore a bit of weight savings. Probably could mean a smaller transmission case as well.
My 01 Prius has the first electric reverse brought to the US market by Toyota. Electric only range is about a mile, the planetary transmission doesn’t shift so going from reverse to drive can happen while in motion and is seamless. It’s a good system and undoubtedly much more refined in the 2023 Prius. I have yet to drive one because I like my 01 too much.
They don't have traditional geared transmission at all. Instead, if they didn't change it, they are using planetary gears and use various electric motor speed to control the car. Very cool stuff.
Niceee- I get about 26-27 miles out my 2017. Used to be enough for a week since I worked so close to home. But I moved & don’t even have a place to charge now🤷🏻♂️ Love the idea of solar! But I checked the cat out myself, it’s for sure less space. And only black interior now?! Wack. So I’ll stick with my 2017 until I God willing get a Tesla
I like it. How many Prius Prime's will Toyota deliver to the US each year? 5K? or something meaningful like 50k+? The PHEVs have felt like more marketing and greenwashing than an actual product.
Yeah, I hate how Toyota talks about how many Priuses or Primes they could build with a 100 kWh battery pack that a Tesla Model S uses. But then they don't build enough Primes to back up that claim in a meaningful way. This then also gives dealers a lot of room to screw people buy tacking on some "market adjustment fees" or some other BS where they make you pay thousands more due to greed. Which then causes some people to reconsider it since they don't want to pay another $5-20k extra for it. And you usually still have to wait 6 months to get it on top of that.
Probably not a lot. Prius has really fell out of favor in the US over the last 10 years. They were selling 15K each month back in 2013, now they are luck to get 5K. I am not sure what Toyota is trying to achieve here. They are not going to get people who want sporty cars, yet this version lost a lot of practicality in terms of cargo space. And it's priced close to a model Y after tax credit.
those who complain about that they can not see speedometer , FYI , this vehicle design to use York steering wheel but because of People talk , Toyota added full steering .
You mean "yoke?" That makes complete sense... a yoke type steering wheel would be perfect with this dash configuration. But... yoke steering wheels are very uncomfortable.
Thanks I was curious about this. The lowest trim SE starts at $32,675. I was wondering how much the solar one shown here is,but the limited trim isn't available on their website currently. 😕
Expect to pay even more because of their low supply and high demand, causing dealers to tack on thousands extra. Of course, once you're in that $50k range, you might as well start considering a Tesla Model 3 or Y instead, and not have to deal with that dealer BS and get a tax credit for it which Toyota EV's currently aren't eligible for due to being made in Japan.
That's the problem with these cars. If I only wanted to go 5km, why would I need to use engine to heat? I hope it provides an option to be used as an EV 100% of the time.
@@wgemini4422 yes. For long trips though, when it is cold it's better to start in gas mode to warm the car up, and then keep it in a "mixed" mode to kick on the engine for heating, but use the battery for movement. I don't think very many PHEVs handle this well. I used to have a Ford energi that would switch between AC and resistive heating in the summer to maintain cabin temperature.
Using the electric motor for reverse has been a Prius/any-Toyota-Hybrid thing since probably the 2012 model. There is no reverse gearing in the eCVT transmission.
I have occasionally had the gas motor turn on while reversing my RAV4 prime. It is probably just recharging the residual charge reserved for hybrid operation after the EV range has been depleted.
If it's anything like the now discontinued Chevy Volt, it probably has a program where it'll run the engine for 10-15 minutes every few weeks to keep it lubed up.
I wish battery tech was good enough to give PHEVs 150km of range. Sadly most of my driving is 60-70km each way on mountain roads, which is rather gas intensive, but within a single tank/battery for a dedicated drivetrain vehicle. But i also often go multiple hundreds of kms each way on weekends, in remote areas, with time being an important factor. So something that could give me the savings of EVs for the former and the convenience of gas for the latter would be perfect. If it existed
Dude just get the normal hybrid prius. Studies show most PHEV owners don't actually plug in and just drive like a normal hybrid. The hybrid is like 10k cheaper (that's like 20 years of fuel) and gets 55MPG easy.
Your situation is very specific and not the norm which is why it's unlikely you'll ever have a car capable of doing all that you want. The entry level Prius Prime would be the closest especially if you could charge at work too.
That is a good car, but is comparable more to the previous gen Prius Prime. No comparison to the new one. The Ioniq is way underpowered by comparison. And, it's a very bland, generic, looking car.
That winsome shape is also not as aerodynamic as the previous Gen model. 40-mile range is great and works for the average daily commute of 35-miles, but I would still like more EV only range of 50-60_miles. Thanks for doing the EV range test.
Big picture, this is better. If you never use the gas in the tank, it will go bad. Then, when you need it, you're gonna have one heck of a fun chug fest under the hoood. Better to use a pint of gas, here and there. It's still ridiculously cheap and you keep things working the way they should.
Solar on a car is extremely expensive for the amount of energy it will provide in real world use. You might as well spend that money on solar for your home or just buy a good level 2 wall charger with the money. At best the solar roof panel adds 2.7 miles of range and day. That is AT BEST! On a cloudy day you wouldn’t even see 1 mile of range. That is just a waste of money.
@@NathanDAdlenReally sorry you are in a job where your boss forces you to wear his mug on a t-shirt or get fired. ☹ Cruelty to employees like that should be outlawed.
If you love the idea of solar on the roof then I look forward to your thoughts on Aptera. Amazing company that is on the verge of producing a car that does 400 miles on a charge and adds up to 40 miles a day from it's solar panels.
I have a plug in hybrid and a full ev. Guess what….i never have range anxiety because i rarely drive more than 200 miles a day. But even if i did with the ev…there are chargers everywhere….but you do need to check ahead of time if where they are which might be too much for some people and i understand that (unless you have Tesla ). The hybrid I have is nice too. What I’m saying is range anxiety is nonsense ppl say because they aren’t used to charging every night. Now if you don’t have home charging I don’t recommend getting a ev as it’s a pain to go somewhere and wait
That was 40 miles without pollution. Just as important as fuel savings. And since I won’t be here when the Batteries Pollute Too crowd chimes in: 1) that’s a one time event, which costs far less CO2 that the life of a ICE-only vehicle, 2) hybrids use much smaller batteries than an EV, and 3)never mind, I lost you at #1.
The only thing I dislike about my family's 2018 Prius Prime -- and admittedly, I've seen no problem surface yet in 50K miles -- is how the gas engine suddenly springs to life when the all-electric portion is depleted. Of course, that's exactly what it is supposed to do but it can happen under any circumstance, including being on the highway in 10 degree weather when it is winter here in Chicago. I just don't like how a dormant, cold gas engine has to instantly wake up and possibly rev high to match the load of driving.
I've noticed on my Rav4 Prime that it actually eases into the gasoline hybrid mode when you've run out of EV range. That's the case, at least, unless you're flooring it or something weird. But just cruising on the highway, it gently starts up and eventually when it's fully warm then you can hear the engine working harder as needed. I'm not sure if the older Priuses were different, but they seem to have at least thought of this now.
The new Prius Prime works differently. The past models would turn on the hybrid engine under more situations. The new one does feel more like a true EV when in battery mode. You can now floor it in EV mode and the hybrid engine will not come on.
The biggest issue with trying to max out the range is that charging lithium batteries to 100% cuts their life by half, when compared to charging to 80 %. You'd greatly extend the life of your battery by only charging to 80%, running on battery down to 15% or so, then switching to engine power. The extra gas you'd use is a lot cheaper than replacing the battery prematurely.
I charge my LFP battery in my mod.3 very often. Any time I charge it, it will be 100%. I dont now Toyota HPEV prius battery. But it may be LFP too. So if it LFP, you can charge it to 100% as many time as you want to. Just do 6khw charger or 3kwh charger. It will be fine.
I feel the Volt never got the recognition it deserved. It did most of what the Prime does 12 years ago, yet got super (and in my opinion, unfairly) beat-up on by critics.
Indeed. Some guy who works for GM did over 300,000 miles in his with no problems
Agree totally. I have a 2012 Volt. Now for 10 years. I get 37-42 miles per charge and it works perfectly for my daily drive. And get this. Not one single problem with this amazing car. I have 68k miles on it now and NOTHING has gone wrong.
My 2017 Volt has almost 100k, no issues, runs great! I wish GM still offered a plugin hybrid! And yes, a certain political party basically buried the cars reputation when it launched …..
A few of you might have gotten good miles out of yours but I think it got rightfully beat up over quality issues.
I had a 2018 volt, it was an amazing car and in my opinion a very attractive car, had no issues with it. Now have a bolt euv and a mini cooper se and a wrangler 4xE. In truth for most use cases the volt was the best. Only gripe was the seats were lackluster but otherwise a terrific car.
We purchased an ‘18 Prime in NV when visiting CA in 2022, then drove it home to MD. Many were available in the area. Our average mpg is increasing with our city use, now 88.9, since first use. EV operates best in city, when we get on a highway I switch to hybrid. Recharge is 240 at charge point, etc. or 120 at home. Only 1 gas fill / month. We are pleased with 500+ total range.
Hybrids make a lot more sense right now. When the battery dies after warranty, it will only cost $2000 and not $25,000 to replace the battery. Most people drive below 40miles each day so you are really not saving much buying a full electric.
Thanks for doing this review. I'm a big fan of Toyota Prime technology and own a RAV4 Prime. I assume the Prius Prime tech is similar to the RAV4. Mine is rated for 42 miles EV. I typically run EV below 50 mph and run it hybrid at higher speeds. Doing that, I get 55-60 miles of EV range in moderate temperatures. Unlike some PHEVs, Toyota lets you control the mode. You can run pure EV up to 84 mph. Confirming Nathan's comment, when the car says the battery is empty, it actually still has 30% charge. It uses the extra for acceleration when needed and for low speed driving. When the battery shows 100% charge, it's actually at 90%. Toyota does that to protect the battery from excess wear.
The new Prius has a newer version of Toyota's safety sense technology.
very cool
I would actually be interested in this Prius and I never thought I would say that about a Prius. It looks great, way better than the previous ugly Prius', the tech is well proven at this point. The fact that I could do a lot of driving in pure electric but still have a vehicle that would work on a road trip without lengthy charging stops, that to me is the answer.
ikr! what were the engineers and designers thinking!😂
Yeah this Prius looks good. Honestly a car I really want to test drive though is an Apeterra but I like weird looking cars just can't afford them 😂.
meh. It's a poor man's EV. Let's be honest, if you had the money you would go with full electric. You save money getting something with less battery. You could get a Chevy Bolt and it would be functionally the same. In fact a bolt can go a lot further on batteries (about 300 miles).
I still don't think many people do road trips if they don't live in the middle of nowhere. Why drive ten hours if you can fly there in two hours?
@@neutrino78x no I don’t like full electric yet. I feel like the tech is still immature and there are a lot of improvements to be made. It wouldn’t be terrible in my location but they are still lacking if you need to do more than 300 miles in a day. Something I will be doing twice in the next week.
@@davva360
"o I don’t like full electric yet. "
It's more like you can't afford the best ones, right?
They have ones with 400 mile range now, it's just that they're expensive right now. As people with higher incomes buy those, they will be able to sell them for a cheaper price.
Just like with PCs....the original IBM PC that came out in 1981 was 5,000 USD, which in today's dollars is 16,000.
But today, 40 years later, you can get something 1000 times more powerful for a fraction of the price.
The price will drop dramatically because, between the Salton Sea and the newly discovered lithium sources in Nevada, we have well over 100 years of domestic supply.
So it's just a question of ramping up the production 🙂
I really wanted one of these. But after trying to buy one for over a year, I gave up and bought a Tesla. It seems Toyota is either unable or unwilling to build enough of these to satisfy demand.
Awesome to see you here! 👍🏻
Most likely Toyota simply can't build anymore because they didn't scale up battery production the same way Tesla did. That's why they'll talk about how they could build 100 Priuses or 5 Primes with one Tesla Model S battery at 100 kWh. But then they don't do it, and dealers screw you by charging you more to get that Prime due to their low supply and high demand.
They are only built in Japan. Teslas are built in several states and a few countries including China.
They are only built in Japan. Teslas are built in several states and a few countries including China.
@@GeckogoldNo, the main reason is manufacturing capacity. They are only built in Japan.
The solar roof for $610 extra is worth it. Extends range 7 miles per day.
Haha. 7/8ths of the year I'm driving dawn to dusk commuting. Lol
Realistically your getting 4 miles a day.
@@djplonghead5403 I live in the southwest where the sun is super bright.
You'd have to do 16000+/- kms of that 7 miles to make up the cost of $610 usd at .05c cad /km estimated cost of fuel. I'd say it is worth it considering many prius owners do high mileage and it's a keeper kind of car
Ironically you car would last longer if you avoid parking in direct sunlight..
Terrific video! My wife has exactly the same model and she manages all her commuting electrically every day (35 miles to work and back home). Not once did the car shift over to gas.
For longer journeys like holidays the gas obviously kicked in but very economically and no range anxiety.
Great car, probably the best solution on the marked.
And man, oh man, does it look good!
Dont forget fluids have a lifespan use de engine a couple times a week and never allow the battery to drain.
Now, you have to test how many miles in reverse you can go once the battery is shown depleted.
Toyota's technology in this Prius is EXACTLY what GM had in 2012 with the Volt. I have a 2012 Volt and LOVE IT. Can't remember when I put gas into my Volt. It gets me 37-42 miles per charge and has been the most reliable car I've ever owned. I wonder why all car makers don't use this tech. It eliminates range anxiety and is the perfect car in my mind.
If you can't remember the last time you put gas in, then why even have ICE parts? Seems wasteful now. Just go full EV or just buy a fuel efficient ICE car. Hybrid and PHEV are a waste now.. That's why all car makers are not using this tech, its outdated.
@@gregpochet4812 Price? Years ago i remember looking at Volts and i could find them very cheap. You just can't find a short range BEV cheap in the US.
@@gregpochet4812 because life isn’t black and white 💀. Plug in hybrids are the best of both worlds. If I am city driving most of the time I don’t need to get gas and charge my car if I’m doing road trips or going to places that are far the gas part kicks in and I don’t have to spend 30 minutes charging my car. You save money and time in that regard. Idk why you have to have a hate boner for someone who likes their car the way it is
@@slayerofgeese They are the worst of both worlds. Battery range is low. If you are driving only using the battery, you are carrying around unused ICE part. the ICE engine is under performing and will go bad if not used. Also have to now maintain 2 engine types. Rather have an EV and not worry about oil, transmissions, alternator, spark plugs etc... Just pointing out PHEV are old tech. "Hate boner"?? Are you in high school?
The car is smart enough to let me know when I need to run the ICE (when fuel goes stale). And the car actually "asks" me if its ok. Sorry, this Volt has been terrific on all accounts. Best ever made by GM.
@@gregpochet4812
I have this car (without the solar panel) and I routinely get between 45 and 50 miles all EV so long as I'm not running the cabin heater. I didn't have to use the AC much, so I don't know if that would also drop the range. Either way, many 2023 Prime owners are reporting much better EV range than advertised.
I am getting 80-87 km a day ev only depending on my driving style.
@@armstr47a To date, with our 2024 Prime, our best EV range was 91km. But, with a 6% charge remaining. The car would have reached very close to 100km on battery. Today, after an overnight charge, the Trip Computer estimated a range of 103km.
Maybe it's better said to say; after 6 months and 8,600+km, we have consumed only 2 tanks of gas.
This is a very practical and money-saving vehicle and one that will be the primer for most people wanting to move towards full EV when battery tech and range takes a leap.
The new Prius is really compelling
The base model for the Prime is SE (LE is the regular Prius). I decided to get the Prius Prime since I live in Atlanta and regular daily commutes are easily EV. I keep in in auto EV: which will not completely deplete the battery. As soon as the battery goes to that 1/4 (blue) range the HV mode kicks in. I do notice it's not quite as peppy and you hear the gas engine. I rented a Chrysler 300S V6 over the weekend as my Prime was being detailed. Honestly, I thought its acceleration was clunky compared to the Prime (IE the transmission wasn't smooth, and I felt like I really had to floor it to get to 70).
Well it’s piece of crap Chrysler with a v6 with less than 260 rwhp , what u expect lol
The Chrysler is 300 HP. It has the same MSRP, so I would have expected a smooth transmission.
I got a 2023 Prime XE a few months ago. I have noticed that back rear corner is pretty warm to the touch when the car is charging (the back right corner is not). There is also quite a loud buzzing noise that comes from there. Somebody rear ended me at the red light but it was enough to cause the bumper to be changed. I am trying to figure out if all 2023 Prius Primes get warm in the left corner when the car is hooked into the electric charger. Have you noticed if yours does that? I'd appreciate it if you could check and write an answer as the insurance people do not want to pay for diagnostics again.
@@ecealgan No, I've never noticed buzzing or anything getting warm (charging or not). If this happened after you were rear ended, does seem like it could be something electrical.
@@dsr0116 I never touched the rear of my car when it charged before the accident so I do not know if it got warm or not. But after the accident as I was trying to figure out where in the back the louder buzz was coming from and noticed it was pretty warm when I touched it so I have no reference point unfortunately. If you could touch the back of your car after it charged for an hour or so, and tell me if it gets warm or stays cold, I'd be grateful. It's been terrible dealing with the collision center, Toyota service people and my insurance company since November 14th. They don't believe me, they want to charge this as a new condition and most importantly I'm worried about charging the car all night long while I'm sleeping...
Driving my rav 4 prime learned to drive “tap and glide”. Every time foot off gas you getting a bit of regeneration. Get over 20km over advertised range this technique. Also avoid driving highway speeds on EV mode unless just short trip. Drains the battery super fast
Yeah dude, were the one impeding the traffic on freeway driving 50mph?
Hyper-milers call it "pulse & glide" if I recall. Basically you get up to the speed limit or just slightly above, then let off on the gas, and then step on it again to prevent regen from happening, letting the car coast as long as possible. Once it dropped to a certain speed, you'd accelerate again gently and repeat.
I got used to doing this in my Prius, and later my Chevy Volt. I only did this when there was no one right behind me though, because it would get annoying for other drivers to slowly speed up and slow down gradually in this manner. In normal traffic I just drove normally. I loved finding gentle downhill roads and managed to coast nearly a mile on electric in the Prius on a back country road I take to work.
Luckily there are several routes I could take to work, and some of them weren't very busy, so I would take those roads often.
@@Geckogold basically driving like a grandpa and getting a ticket for driving too slow, I love my Tesla!
The whole point of a PHEV - the point that most people do not understand - is that it really doesn't matter whether the "pure electric" range is 44 miles or 38 miles or 42 miles, because these cars are HYBRIDS that get incredible gas mileage AFTER the "pure EV" range is depleted. If the Prius Prime only goes 40 miles in EV mode, do you know how much gas you'll burn to drive 50 miles? The answer is 23 ounces of gasoline, because the Prius gets 55mpg when it's burning gas!
For what it's worth, our Rav4 Prime has a stated "EV Range" of 42 miles, but we get 50+ miles of EV range when the temperatures are in the 70s, and less than 35 miles of range when the temperature is in the teens or colder.
Well, for us, the point was purely economic. The "wave" is to electric motivation, great that.
However, an entry level EV in our neighbourhood runs to $60,000, plus another $3,000 for a Level 2 charger. We could have went with a econobox Korean Kia (or like), for $ under $30,000 but, we're wish enough to decline.
We just are settling in with our 2024 Prime. It's actually our third Prius but, first PHEV.. We bought it because of the battery range. We just retired. 80Km on electric covers us everyday.
It costs less than $2.00 a day to charge. Given a gas cost of around 4l for the same distance, we're paying a quarter of that for electric. And, Oh, we paid under $30,000 for it. Got $8,000 for our 12 year old Model C plus $ 5,000 in government rebates. Neat. We have driven 1,600Km since delivery and there's still 1/2 of the dealer fill-up in the tank. Not very warm here yet either, going to get better as summer lands.
Well pleased.
Is the display in front of the steering wheel annoying as many say? Maybe they should have went with a yoke steering wheel. I think would only have two occupants at most , driver and passenger) and drive with the rear seats down for cargo space. Lots of vacation driving. I have owned two hybrids, 2007 Honda Accord Hybrid and a 2015 Hyundai IONIQ Hybrid. I never thought I would say I want a Prius but they got my attention when 2023 came out.
I am seriously so impressed with the Prius 23 and 24. They look freaking amazing. ❤
This may be a repeat comment…but this is the third of three Prime trim-the XSE Premium. It’s the only trim that gets the solar roof (as an option). You can also get the SE or XSE for less money.
My parents have a '23 Kia Niro PHEV, though on trips they use the "smart use". And they get in the 80s for mpg. Around town they have not used the gas engine in months
I was told by my local Toyota dealership on long Island that there were only 2 built in 2023 so you have one of them. Congratulations
My new 2024 driven hime 10 weeks ago with a full gas tank. I have driven it exclusively to work (5Miles each way) and locally. I get about 4.4miles/Kw charged on flat city driving. My full tank of gas has never been topped off and has a completely full tank about 800miles later. I charge level 1 every 3-4 days but also use a level 2 charger at one of my work sites (once a week) and at the Whole Food Co store. Also have the solar roof which has contributed 75 miles range in 10 weeks. So, running this Prius Prime XLE exclusively as a EV, Soon I will actually try to get the gas engine turned on for a few miles just to keep it smooth. Love driving this car as a city commuter.
A t-shirt with Roman's mugshot on it is unnerving! ;-)
My 2017 Volt was rated for 53 miles but could get 70+ in mixed driving.
Cool
Yeah, it doesn't look like this Prius Prime is as efficient as the Volt. The Gen 1 Volt only had ~11 kWh of usable battery, and it would easily do that 40-mile drive just on electricity.
Yeah cool😂😂
And the new Prius Prime is rated at 44 miles and many people are reporting much more than that.
And the new Prius Prime is rated at 44 miles and many people are reporting much more than that.
Are you not aware this model is rated for 39 miles on a full charge? Why would you expect 50 and 100 miles out of it?
At first blush getting 40 miles from 13.6kWh (2.94mi/kWh) doesn't seem all that great however I found a couple of sources that listed the usable battery capacity as 10.9kWh giving a good 3.67 mi/kWh for your mixed driving loop. Did you happen to note the amount of energy it took to recharge the battery after this test drive?
3.67 mi/kWh is 17kWh per 100km. As you say, very decent for a plug in hybrid. I guess your charge back up to full would show useable if you know the charging loss (typically 8% at 240V)
I'm really considering getting one... I drive 44 miles combined everyday to work and back. I could use mostly electricity every day.
Just a word of warning though. You might get so used to driving it on electric that you'll come to hate every time the gas engine comes on.
I had a 2017 Chevy Volt that had 53 miles of electric range, and 42 mpg when running on gas. In the real world, the mpg was about what I got, and on electric I got 40 miles in winter with heater usage and snow tires on the car. In summer I could get around 68 miles on the "GOM", or "guess-o-meter" since the number it displayed varied based on your driving habits.
I got so used to the engine never running for my daily work commute that I would hate it every time it kicked on, whether because of "EMM", or "Engine Maintenance Mode" where it ran for about 10-15 minutes to keep the gas engine lubed, or if it dropped below 15F/--9C, then the dreaded "ERDTT" (Engine Running Due To Temperature) would kick on to help generate some heat for the cabin (the battery pack had its own separate heating/cooling system).
One warm July night, I decided to drive on random back country roads to see how far I could drive it on electric. I managed about 101 miles after 4 hours of driving, averaging 25-40 mph. It was by no means "normal" driving, but it was a fun exercise to see how far I could get it on electric.
But yes, I could and did take it on longer trips, and filled it up with gas just fine too. Shame that GM abandoned their Voltec platform instead of putting it in bigger, more popular vehicles like their Equinox.
Many owners are reporting a higher EV range than what Toyota is advertising. Many have recommended not to completely fill-up the gas tank if you rarely use the hybrid mode. Only fill the gas tank to around half. That way your EV battery will be more efficient because the car will be carrying a lot less weight around. However, you should still draw down the gas in the tank around every 4-5 months. Gas gets stale at around 6 months. You don't want to wait until then.
@@mrxman581good point. If the Prius has a 43litre tank, that’s 43kg of weight being carried around. That’s like half as much again as the driver in this video.
I expect the Prius will do circa 12miles per litre(similar to hybrid corolla). As there are plenty of gas stations, on mostly electric commutes, only need to drive with up to 10 litres in the tank🎉
Mine goes 104 km on my typical drive (not hwy but 85-95 kms per hour roads) without my fan or ac on (cracked windows).
I notice the reviewer is driving in brake mode. I’d suggest D and use the adaptive cruise for best mileage.
so are you guys going to road trip in to Miami, as you did in a pure EV? If you do, I am sure you will get there much quicker and beat your EV record. possible by a day if not two. It will be interested to view and I am sure the result will also be very interesting.
THANKS NATHAN
we loved our 2017 and 2021 primes while we had them will consider this new one when it comes time for another car
What I have seen with many other plug-ins I have driven, is that the 0% on the battery means 0% for EV only. They still have charge for running hybrid. It has been the same with 4 different plug-ins I have tried.
any reason to use B transmission, rather than D? any advantage for fuel efficiency?
The purpose of the B position (Engine Braking), is to aid in slowing your car without using the friction brakes as much. Your brake linings and rotors will last for over 100,000 km (at least), on a Prius. The B setting employs the car's electric motors to slow the vehicle by increasing resistance in the motors. That energy is sent to the Traction Battery, thus giving an advantage with fuel consumption.
Depending on temperature, speed and elevation change, the engine may or may not start when using B Mode. In any event, driving in B Mode would take away mpg because your adding resistance in the drivetrain that the battery would need to overcome. B is only for slowing down.
Were you using the air conditioning during this trip? I see you got 40 miles in all electric range but was that with using the AC? I am in Texas and have to run the AC on full blast in the summer so I was wondering if I would get the 40 miles per all EV range? Thanks
When did Roman get arrested?
Free Roman!
He spanked Tommy
Why did you have in brake assist the whole time ?
The battery is not depleted; it has plenty left to both protect the battery and let the car become a better hybrid than a Prius hybrid. You should explore how well the car builds up the mpg as a hybrid.
2:00 Is the cabin noise that bad? i'm wondering if there's a way to get 18 inch wheels on the top trim as it might help with the ride quality.
Thanks for another great video!
What are you coming from? I have a 2022 Prius Prime w/ 15in wheels (lol) and curious if this is better.
@@Mark-eu6mc Coming from a Hilux I drive back home, here in Canada the new Prius in the lower XLE trim is still offered with 19's.
I changed the wheels from the skinny 19 to wider aftermarket 19s. Downside is that they're crossover height tires. So when you go wider, you have more tire options, but your options are heavier. Hurts my MPG but not my EV range.
No, it’s not really that noisy at all. However, today’s high tech microphones are so efficient, they’ll pick two ants standing 10 metres away, holding a conversation!
Automobile cabins always sound louder than they really are when microphones (without noise reduction) are used these days.
My 2008 Prius is often so quiet, I’ve had situations where I think it has developed a mechanical fault as I’m driving along a multiple lane highway, only to discover the horrible noise was coming from another car in a different lane about 10 metres away!
That’s happened several times! 😅
Lol, the jab at Aurora is brutal. But parts of Aurora are amazing, especially anything East of the tollway.
Now that you mention it, my 2012 Prius V only reverses in battery mode as well.
Fun fact; all Toyota Hybrid vehicles reverse in EV mode only. Even if the engine is running.
There’s no reverse gearbox (indeed there’s no gear box anyway, but I digress).
Reverse is all Toyota Hybrids is accomplished by the electric motor reversing polarity and pushing the car backwards (in reverse).
That’s on every Toyota Hybrid and of course, on every Prius ever made.
Not a lot of people know that….😊
I love your video and thank you very much for making it. It actually will really help me make a decision on my next car purchase. Thank you so much.
Your center display shows a solar roof charger. When did you buy the car as I've been waiting 6 months and haven't seen a solar yet?
I think Toyota only shipped about 20-30 of these to the US with solar roofs. I gave up trying to find one and opted for one without that feature. In fact, it's pretty difficult to find a PP anywhere, so I took the first one that was on the lot and not already spoken for.
Can the engine charge up the battery while you drive?
I believe it can, but it's not a recommended method because you end up burning a lot more gas in the process. Better to just drive normally and let the car do its thing, running the engine as needed.
Yes. There is a specific mode to do that more aggressively than just regular regenerative braking.
Yes. There is a specific mode to do that more aggressively than just regular regenerative braking.
Two things
1: When doing these range/consumtion videos, put (calculate) the average speed of the trip. The actual value is usually lower than you think.
2: MyT mobile app shows the total % of battery. And it is not 10% when empty, it is more like 30%.
So how much that gas did you use to finish the trip? And how many miles per gallon would that equal for the full 50? And how much would 16 kW hours of electricity cost you? Making a total cost for that 50 mi versus a new Prius/ non-prime. = Then how many years to coop the additional cost if I drove that 50 mi 5 days a week to work approximately 48 weeks per year?
I noticed that when you set out on the trip the dash thermometer was reading 68f. By half way through the journey, the devise showed as low as 46f. That may well explain why the hybrid system engaged at 40 m. Could that account for the less than hoped for range.
Also, can you, or anybody else tell me about the charge cable; I read in Toyota's Technical Spec. that either 115 or 220 volts can be used to charge the car. Obviously, we wish to use 220. It's faster and just as important, more economical to use 220 volts. Nowhere online can I find details on the feed side of the charge cable plug. 115 and 220 plugs are not compatible.
I visited the dealership to enquire and they had no idea ! So, I asked them to let me know when a Prime arrived so I could travel to the lot and have a look at the cable in person. A few weeks later they called and I dodged over. I was surprised to find upon viewing the cable that the feed end plug is a regular HD three pronged affair that will not plug into a 220 volt outlet.
So, what's the deal here. Will I have to chop-off the 115 volt plug and splice on a 220 twist-lock.
We ordered a 2022 model 17 months ago and still no sign of it. Last word from the dealer is that they get a three month heads-up upon shipping. That means it will be at least another 90 days waiting. We are not impressed. This new car will be out third Prius. Now, we're going to be faced with not one, but two model year price increases; ( if the car arrives in February it will be a 2024), around 5 grand, and will loose almost two years value for the Prius we're trading. Almost ready to walk away from the deal at this point.
Yeah, that drop in temperature would reduce the range. And an increase in temperature into the mid-70s will increase the range. With our Rav4, we've gotten as much as 55 miles on EV even though the spec says only 42 miles.
What about if you are running the heater during the winter or A/C in the summer (I'm in the washington DC area) how much does this diminish the 40 mile range?
I notice more of a reduction in EV miles with the heater on than I did the few times I had the AC on. Without either of those, I routinely get 45-50 EV miles with mine - and I don't have the solar roof. I try to use the heated seats and steering wheel in lieu of the cabin heater when I can as those have little or no effect on the range.
The buffer in the battery is less about performance and more about battery health, letting a batery get to true 0% would kill it and make it uncharagble, you always have to have some voltage in it to keep it alive
Not a bad concept but at least here in Virginia are very few offered and of course accompanied by discouraging dealership markups which makes the Prius Prime more expensive than entry level EV. Like the RAV4 prime it just feels like Toyota wants to showcase the Prius prime but not really wants to make and sell them.
It's not (entirely)Toyota's fault. Dealers from all manufacturers were allowed to go wild with markups and only stocking higher trim levels during the pandemic since interest rates were low. Things are getting back to normal, though extremely slowly.
So when you use electric only mode and completely drain the battery, do you HAVE to plug-in charge it, or can you drive it in EV mode and it will recharge itself just by driving?
After the Traction Battery is drained the hybrid system takes over seamlessly. At that point, the engine will propel the car and add charge to the battery. It won't fully charge the battery but enough to help greatly with mpg.
So I was wondering about how the vehicle regens? So Nathan ran it out of EV (obviously it has reserve for whatever purpose it serves)...it switches to gas...is that running gas only and regenning the battery at all? Or is it technically hybrid mode when the gas comes on? In hybrid mode, will regenerative braking still fill the battery back up? I'm just wondering if I can expect any level of charge again without plugging it in?
I haven't driven or owned any PHEV/HEV/EV, but definitely am on board for one...I think a PHEV would work best for me currently...my commute is 25 miles one way and I can plug in to 110 at work while I work my 12-hour shifts to recoup a good chunk if not all of that charge that was used. Originally wanted the Maverick but when I couldn't get an order in and then everyone started buying to sell for more, I gave up on that knowing that the quality of materials is garbage similar to my current Fusion so it's not worth the inflated pricing. Point was cheap and economic. If I'm going to spend $30-40k, I'll get something like this instead and have better resale for longer than a Maverick will.
Plug in hybrids switch to hybrid when ev range is depleted. If you go down a long hill you can regen and capture more than a standard hybrid.
I have a Rav4 Prime, and it should behave similarly to the Prius Prime. After the EV range runs out, it basically operates like other Toyota non-plugin hybrids. That means that regenerative braking are in effect and the engine will opportunistically charge the battery where it makes sense. So, once you exhaust the EV range, the state of the battery will remain within a few percentage points. That is, the regenerative braking, etc., won't charge the battery really noticeably like plugging it in, but it's working in the background to keep the efficiency up like a standard hybrid.
When my vehicle is operating in hybrid mode, I notice that the vehicle automatically keeps the battery state around the range of 30% to 38% or so as the rest of it is reserved for buffer for battery health. In the Prime vehicles versus standard hybrids, you can get a really decent charge in the battery if you're going down a really long mountain road. I've seen mine add more than 10 miles of EV range just from going down a large hill in hybrid mode (I live in Colorado, so we're talking pretty big hills around here!).
Thanks for the responses @mrelectric423 and @einsweil.
That’s what I was assuming but didn’t know for sure if it was running as a hybrid or if (maybe I’m wrong) it was more of a generator like the i3 rather than a motor to drive the vehicle.
Unfortunately for me, I’m in SE MN which has slight elevation changes but nothing remotely hilly so I wouldn’t benefit much there. My trips up to the Twin Cities and back I would probably see some decent regen on one way of that trip.
In addition to the other replies, the 2023 Prius Prime also has a mode that recharges the depleted battery more aggressively while you're driving. However, it is the most inefficient way to drive the car. But it can come in handy if you want a full battery once you get to your destination where there are no options for charging. For example, going camping and then plugging into the 3 prong outlets in the car to power devices.
In addition to the other replies, the 2023 Prius Prime also has a mode that recharges the depleted battery more aggressively while you're driving. However, it is the most inefficient way to drive the car. But it can come in handy if you want a full battery once you get to your destination where there are no options for charging. For example, going camping and then plugging into the 3 prong outlets in the car to power devices.
Would swapping the 19" wheels for 17" gain an extra 4 miles of EV range?
Yes, if the 17 inch wheels fit. All else being equal, a smaller wheel usually has better efficiency/less weight/unsprung mass to deal with compared to a bigger, heavier wheel/tire.
If you can coast, rather than use regenerative breaking, that would be more efficient, whats better than reclaiming ~60-80% of the energy, is not taking it out of the battery in the first place.
The last prius could out perform 15 sport cars from the past, very high end cars. The handling was amazing. The article was from car and driver.
Lmao the Roman shirt killed me.
I think it would have that affect on anyone that was forced to wear that monstrosity. Like wearing a bullseye at a shooting range. Let's ask for people to kill us by wearing something absurd.
There's a reason why all of the suddenly the BEV rush is slowing, and even Hertz are backing in their full BEV fleets. Without major improvements into battery Cells technology, Hybrids make perfect sense for the following decades.
only legacy Media thinks this
EV sales are not slowing. They continue to grow in all markets globally. As for batteries, they last longer than most ICE engines, the number of Teslas out there with 200K, 300K and more miles on the original battery are visible on RUclips and other sites. A recent video of a guy in the USA (I live in France) who rented a Tesla from Hertz was amazed to see it had over 70K miles on it. Usually rental firms get rid of cars at 40K but EVs can go a lot longer without needing serious maintenance and of course no oil changes at all. They also hold their value better when its time to sell.
That's like saying I would like the plane to only crash into the ground at 80mph. How about we be a bit more agressive and try to stem the CO2 output - like actually put a meaningful delta on the temperature rise since it's a feedback loop. And yes cars are only part of the equation. The grid needs to be cleaned up and people need to cut down usage.
car sales in general are slowing. Hertz's big issue with EVs is the lack of customized software. All the benefits of driving a Tesla and simplicity of supercharging is washed out by the inability to connect to the car. I've had Tesla cars 11 years now and I rented a Hertz Tesla 6 months ago and the experience for me, a long time Tesla driver, was so bad I won't rent another Tesla without a dramatic change in the system
Incorrect. The BEV rush is "slowing" because the entire car market is contracting. Reduced consumer confidence and auto loan interest rates approaching 10% will do that.
its different for everyone. I have the 2020 Prius Prime and I could do 100 miles a day on all EV. 16 mile to work. Then level 2 charger at work, which I installed myself. Then go do a ton of deliveries and charge every time I park back at the restaurant. Then 16 miles home. All electric. 11 hrswork day.
I really like my '21 Prius Prime Limited (my 2nd Prius). This updated version is really nice imo. IF I was purchasing today, I would skip the Prius. Why would you pay 45-50 grand on this when you can get a Tesla Model 3 or Y...both can be purchased well under $50k and also with the full $7.5k tax credit (at this time). Choices are good, but for the premium price and only 40 all ev miles...this is a pass for me, and I have been a Toyota only owner for years. For me a 75 - 100 mile EV range only with that new motor would be a game changer.
I often encounter a recurring argument in PHEV and BEV forums that suggests Tesla's Model 3 or Y are better options than other vehicles in the same price range, such as the Prius Prime. The sentiment is usually framed as, "Why spend $38,000 to $42,000 on a Prius Prime when you can get a Tesla Model 3 for under $40,000?" However, having owned both types of vehicles, I don't necessarily agree with that perspective.
To me, the new Prius Prime models are just as appealing as Teslas, making their comparable price tags justifiable. While I've owned luxury cars in the past, I don't consider Teslas to be in the luxury category; they're more akin to competitors of Toyota and Honda. The Teslas are fast though, so they have that going for them. Anyhow, for many of us, the choice isn't as clear-cut.
Buy the Tesla then. Do what ever you want with your money. People like Tesla, some don't. People like toyota, some don't m
Model 3 can be had for 30k or less, with incentives.
@@User.Joshuathe model 3 is also everything I don't like about EV interiors. That plus Toyota predicted reliability, total value, interior, versatility with gas...
I sold my garbage Prime and got a Tesla! I hated the Prime, the EV miles are not enough.
Those who claim volt = 2024 Prius prime. Dead wrong.
Volt problem:
Low mpg on gas
Blindspot was horrible
Trunk…or was it a trunk?
4 seats and not five
Too much piano black
Cheap interior with 80s arcade display
Real world drive was 27-33 mpg on first gen
Priced too high
It was only fun when in EV mode.
It also had much less HP and total range. And it was ugly by comparison.
I have had mine for a month and it is amazing ! Huge difference over the 2018 -2022 model.
You did not explain the differences
looks outdated, even the Volt gets better EV range! Clarity got 50 miles five years ago! Prime is not even catching up!
@@jimdon7377Jim, let people enjoy things; you’re nagging everyone about their choices. Having a variety of options isn’t a bad thing 😂
@@jimdon7377 but then you’re driving a GM, no resale value and expect much more repairs. Did you see what the Clarity looks like ? Lol 😬
@@Mortgage.Expert 25 miles of range, now has 40 miles. 121 hp vs 220 hp. That’s all you need to know .
Fun fact prius does not have a reverse gear in its transmission or a traditional starter. It uses its hybrid system to substitute it.
Yup. It's one of those technology advancements that has contributed to the reliability of the Synergy Drive.
Three years ago I made a statement on Toyota Prius my statement was this why doesn't Toyota or Chevy or Ford or GMC put solar panels on the roofs of their cars thank you very much for your video it shows me that it can be done wow
With that Solar Panel Roof, in Colorado or places alike, when it starts to hail, doesn't that blows the fuel efficiency out of the door... running for cover ? 😁
You're driving it in B mode which is the most inefficient way to drive this car. You would have gotten more EV range had you not done that.
The more average my daily the more fun my toys are.
The rated MPGe on this plug in 'hybrid' is higher than most full EVs on the market
yeah sure, how so? the range is garbage!
And comparable to Teslas. The 2023 Prius Prime mpge range is from 114-127. The Tesla M3 is around 114-141. It depends on what trim levels you get.
@@jimdon7377Google the mpge of the various cars.
I get about 3.9 miles per KW on md Y on a normal drive@@mrxman581
The MPGe only counts the EV range and this is a lighter car than most full EVs. Efficiency drops significantly once the gas engine kicks in. Base model 3 still wins though I think, so is the Ioniq Electric which is similar sized. Interestingly, the 2021 Prius Prime has a higher MPGe because it got a smaller battery thus even lighter.
Why don't all electric/hybrid vehicles have solar on the roof? Because it costs a fair bit and doesn't give you that much range even in the best case. Motortrend calculated that under optimistic assumptions you'd need the better part of a decade for this feature to pay for itself, in sunny Los Angeles. It's one of those ideas that makes intuitive sense but doesn't pencil out when you start to look at numbers. It may work for RVs (large roof area, sits in one place for weeks) or super efficient vehicles like Aptera's, but it's pretty questionable on an ordinary car.
Electric only Reverse very interesting. I wonder if that means they do not have a reverse gear and therefore a bit of weight savings. Probably could mean a smaller transmission case as well.
My 01 Prius has the first electric reverse brought to the US market by Toyota. Electric only range is about a mile, the planetary transmission doesn’t shift so going from reverse to drive can happen while in motion and is seamless. It’s a good system and undoubtedly much more refined in the 2023 Prius. I have yet to drive one because I like my 01 too much.
Yup.
They don't have traditional geared transmission at all. Instead, if they didn't change it, they are using planetary gears and use various electric motor speed to control the car. Very cool stuff.
For highway speeds switch to HV mode, then back to EV mode down the offramp. Unless of course you can do the whole trip in all EV.
What does HV stand for? Hybrid Vehicle?
@@MeltingRubberZ28 Yes, HV mode selected manually just makes it drive like a regular Prius and leaves EV range untouched.
The extra power might help with smooth consistent power. But it also ensures the car acts the same 10 years down the road.
Niceee- I get about 26-27 miles out my 2017. Used to be enough for a week since I worked so close to home. But I moved & don’t even have a place to charge now🤷🏻♂️
Love the idea of solar!
But I checked the cat out myself, it’s for sure less space. And only black interior now?! Wack.
So I’ll stick with my 2017 until I God willing get a Tesla
The shirt is amazing 😅
THANKS NATHAN....AND CAMERA NINJA KASE
Omg that’s the greatest intro of TFL!😂 ❤
So, little fancy tip.
You can tune a second gen Volt and it'll make over 200 HP to the tires at any RPM.
I trust you, I don’t want to go to Aurora 😅
I like it. How many Prius Prime's will Toyota deliver to the US each year? 5K? or something meaningful like 50k+? The PHEVs have felt like more marketing and greenwashing than an actual product.
Yeah, I hate how Toyota talks about how many Priuses or Primes they could build with a 100 kWh battery pack that a Tesla Model S uses. But then they don't build enough Primes to back up that claim in a meaningful way.
This then also gives dealers a lot of room to screw people buy tacking on some "market adjustment fees" or some other BS where they make you pay thousands more due to greed. Which then causes some people to reconsider it since they don't want to pay another $5-20k extra for it. And you usually still have to wait 6 months to get it on top of that.
They are building more and more but they're constrained because they only build them in Japan for the whole world.
Probably not a lot. Prius has really fell out of favor in the US over the last 10 years. They were selling 15K each month back in 2013, now they are luck to get 5K. I am not sure what Toyota is trying to achieve here. They are not going to get people who want sporty cars, yet this version lost a lot of practicality in terms of cargo space. And it's priced close to a model Y after tax credit.
those who complain about that they can not see speedometer , FYI , this vehicle design to use York steering wheel but because of People talk , Toyota added full steering .
You mean "yoke?"
That makes complete sense... a yoke type steering wheel would be perfect with this dash configuration. But... yoke steering wheels are very uncomfortable.
Never heard the price...so i looked it up. XSE permium starts just over 39K.
Thanks I was curious about this. The lowest trim SE starts at $32,675. I was wondering how much the solar one shown here is,but the limited trim isn't available on their website currently. 😕
Expect to pay even more because of their low supply and high demand, causing dealers to tack on thousands extra. Of course, once you're in that $50k range, you might as well start considering a Tesla Model 3 or Y instead, and not have to deal with that dealer BS and get a tax credit for it which Toyota EV's currently aren't eligible for due to being made in Japan.
Yes, but there is only one option you can add to that trim because it's basically fully loaded. The option is the technology package for about $1500.
If you're in cold weather you should always let the engine kick on for heating in a PHEV.
That's the problem with these cars. If I only wanted to go 5km, why would I need to use engine to heat? I hope it provides an option to be used as an EV 100% of the time.
@@wgemini4422 you can probably still use electric heat, but it will eat another 10km range of your 5km trip.
@@thedopplereffect00 That can be ok if I can charge it up again. Might still be cheaper than the gas used.
@@wgemini4422 yes. For long trips though, when it is cold it's better to start in gas mode to warm the car up, and then keep it in a "mixed" mode to kick on the engine for heating, but use the battery for movement. I don't think very many PHEVs handle this well. I used to have a Ford energi that would switch between AC and resistive heating in the summer to maintain cabin temperature.
Using the electric motor for reverse has been a Prius/any-Toyota-Hybrid thing since probably the 2012 model. There is no reverse gearing in the eCVT transmission.
I have occasionally had the gas motor turn on while reversing my RAV4 prime. It is probably just recharging the residual charge reserved for hybrid operation after the EV range has been depleted.
4 hours on a level 2. They cheaper out on a 7kwh charger?
Seems like rarely using the ICE engine would be detrimental to some of the mechanicals of the vehicle.
If it's anything like the now discontinued Chevy Volt, it probably has a program where it'll run the engine for 10-15 minutes every few weeks to keep it lubed up.
The car is designed to deal with that situation.
I wish they would build this as a Camry...
I wish they would build this as a Camry wagon.
I wish battery tech was good enough to give PHEVs 150km of range. Sadly most of my driving is 60-70km each way on mountain roads, which is rather gas intensive, but within a single tank/battery for a dedicated drivetrain vehicle.
But i also often go multiple hundreds of kms each way on weekends, in remote areas, with time being an important factor. So something that could give me the savings of EVs for the former and the convenience of gas for the latter would be perfect. If it existed
Dude just get the normal hybrid prius. Studies show most PHEV owners don't actually plug in and just drive like a normal hybrid. The hybrid is like 10k cheaper (that's like 20 years of fuel) and gets 55MPG easy.
@@MeltingRubberZ28But, it's also about polluting less and not just about MPG for some people.
Your situation is very specific and not the norm which is why it's unlikely you'll ever have a car capable of doing all that you want. The entry level Prius Prime would be the closest especially if you could charge at work too.
Interesting. The true EV range of our PHEV Hyundai Ioniq is not much less than Prius. But the price is significantly cheaper.
but the hyunDIE is JUNK
That is a good car, but is comparable more to the previous gen Prius Prime. No comparison to the new one. The Ioniq is way underpowered by comparison. And, it's a very bland, generic, looking car.
@@allentoyokawa9068cringe. Its better than any german car. Not as good as Toyotas tho.
That winsome shape is also not as aerodynamic as the previous Gen model.
40-mile range is great and works for the average daily commute of 35-miles, but I would still like more EV only range of 50-60_miles.
Thanks for doing the EV range test.
Big picture, this is better. If you never use the gas in the tank, it will go bad. Then, when you need it, you're gonna have one heck of a fun chug fest under the hoood. Better to use a pint of gas, here and there. It's still ridiculously cheap and you keep things working the way they should.
@@TheCharleseyeThe car let's you know when the gas begins to get stale which is around at 6 months.
Owners are reporting more than 50+ miles in EV mode. Much depends on how you drive and weather.
Solar on a car is extremely expensive for the amount of energy it will provide in real world use. You might as well spend that money on solar for your home or just buy a good level 2 wall charger with the money. At best the solar roof panel adds 2.7 miles of range and day. That is AT BEST! On a cloudy day you wouldn’t even see 1 mile of range. That is just a waste of money.
It's a $600 option in the USA. It's included on the top trim.
Was the 40 mile range with or without the HVAC on?
With it on “auto”
@@NathanDAdlenReally sorry you are in a job where your boss forces you to wear his mug on a t-shirt or get fired. ☹ Cruelty to employees like that should be outlawed.
@@WW-wf8tu Actually, I made the shirt against his wishes
And great video!
If you love the idea of solar on the roof then I look forward to your thoughts on Aptera. Amazing company that is on the verge of producing a car that does 400 miles on a charge and adds up to 40 miles a day from it's solar panels.
Which will come out first? Tesla FSD out beta? Fusion? Or Aptera? 😂
@@jimobie4767 haha, definitely Aptera
I have a plug in hybrid and a full ev. Guess what….i never have range anxiety because i rarely drive more than 200 miles a day. But even if i did with the ev…there are chargers everywhere….but you do need to check ahead of time if where they are which might be too much for some people and i understand that (unless you have Tesla ). The hybrid I have is nice too. What I’m saying is range anxiety is nonsense ppl say because they aren’t used to charging every night. Now if you don’t have home charging I don’t recommend getting a ev as it’s a pain to go somewhere and wait
"... there are chargers everywhere." 😅... 😒
@@jerryjeromehawkins1712 typical non educated response. Thanks for proving my point
Perhaps where you live.
Solar panels add to the cost. While in suburban sprawl North America you can have wide spaces, but that's not for everyone.
That was 40 miles without pollution. Just as important as fuel savings. And since I won’t be here when the Batteries Pollute Too crowd chimes in: 1) that’s a one time event, which costs far less CO2 that the life of a ICE-only vehicle, 2) hybrids use much smaller batteries than an EV, and 3)never mind, I lost you at #1.
BZ4X should be like this 👍. Have a Gas engine for range😊
Toyota needs to offer a prime version of every model
The only thing I dislike about my family's 2018 Prius Prime -- and admittedly, I've seen no problem surface yet in 50K miles -- is how the gas engine suddenly springs to life when the all-electric portion is depleted. Of course, that's exactly what it is supposed to do but it can happen under any circumstance, including being on the highway in 10 degree weather when it is winter here in Chicago. I just don't like how a dormant, cold gas engine has to instantly wake up and possibly rev high to match the load of driving.
I've noticed on my Rav4 Prime that it actually eases into the gasoline hybrid mode when you've run out of EV range. That's the case, at least, unless you're flooring it or something weird. But just cruising on the highway, it gently starts up and eventually when it's fully warm then you can hear the engine working harder as needed. I'm not sure if the older Priuses were different, but they seem to have at least thought of this now.
The new Prius Prime works differently. The past models would turn on the hybrid engine under more situations. The new one does feel more like a true EV when in battery mode. You can now floor it in EV mode and the hybrid engine will not come on.
Interesting, thanks. I have dropped the pedal to the max more than a time or two on our 2018 and it stays in all-electric power.
Interesting, thanks. I have dropped the pedal to the max more than a time or two on our 2018 and it stays in all-electric power.
Interesting, thanks. I have dropped the pedal to the max more than a time or two on our 2018 and it stays in all-electric power.
The biggest issue with trying to max out the range is that charging lithium batteries to 100% cuts their life by half, when compared to charging to 80 %. You'd greatly extend the life of your battery by only charging to 80%, running on battery down to 15% or so, then switching to engine power. The extra gas you'd use is a lot cheaper than replacing the battery prematurely.
PHEVs usually need to be designed with this in mind. 100% on a PHEV is rarely actually 100%.
I charge my LFP battery in my mod.3 very often. Any time I charge it, it will be 100%. I dont now Toyota HPEV prius battery. But it may be LFP too. So if it LFP, you can charge it to 100% as many time as you want to. Just do 6khw charger or 3kwh charger. It will be fine.
I love the old prius look. I dont get why people think the older prius design is 'ugly'
The no wiper on the hatch is kind of lame. Gonna have to run rain x all over it for rainy days in florida