Spinning ain't winning. Lol the 7 hp motor is definitely helping. If it doesn't break the tires lose doesn't mean anything. A light easy push will make a huge difference on bad surfaces.
I bought a '19 awd-e LE, and I think it's the best bang-for-the buck awd commuter available. I commute over a small mountain pass which is often icy. The Prius' awd system works exactly as advertised; it's not made to spin the rear wheels, it's made to get the car going and keep moving. Many awd-e owners are getting much better fuel economy than advertised; I average 3.9L/100kms -- 60 us mpg -- year-round with winter tires used for four months, and often see 65 - 80 mpg in the summer with the excellent stock Bridgestone LRR tires. This is not a sports car; it's a very capable car that's comfortable and easy to drive.
@@johnb4183 -- Yes. From doing spreadsheets I've figured out that the mileage figure on the dash is 2mpg or 0.2L/100kms optimistic, and I have pictures of mileage on the dash of 88 us mpg.
@@Davran2742 hello david hope you are doing well. I got one question, could you please tell from your experience how much of the fuel efiiciency would be sacrificed than its countetpart fwd version if the car is driven mostly on plain non hilly tropical country condition surface?
@@tanvir28310 -- Hi Tanvir. If I understand your question correctly, I don't think the awd-e Prius uses any more fuel than a fwd Prius (not including the Prime, of course). I drive in the west coast mountains of Canada.
Hi Kyle, I had the privilege to own both the 2019 Prius AWD-e and a Subaru Legacy. The Subaru is definitely more FUN to drive in the snow because you can really get crazy... But I have to say, the Prius wins all the time at LOW speed on very steep road. WHY? The Prius doesn't need motor revolution. You've got high torks at low speed. Where the Subaru wheels will spin in order the get the torks it needs. Conclusion: Subaru are FUN, Prius are Secure.
Why would you want spin? The fact that the rear wheels didn’t spin makes me feel safer about owning one of these than getting wheel spin on all four wheels. The rear motor is not meant to have a lot of torque it’s more about assisting the front wheels and giving the car extra momentum to climb icy uphill roads.
I may be wrong here but given how well you went up that hill the AWD system was simply doing its job. In reality the rear wheels shouldn’t slip if it’s a good system. Am I expecting Subaru performance? No, but given that since it is electronically controlled the computer may be providing enough (battery) power to the rear wheels to get the car moving forward and (hopefully) keep up with the front tires. I believe you said you turned the traction control system off, so all things considered I think it did pretty well. As others have stated it would have been interesting to see a front wheel drive only car attempt the same run. Tires also make a huge difference and are often times a game changer in bad weather. Great video by the way. It’s nice to watch a video where they don’t spend 15 minutes talking about all the soft touch surfaces and whether or not the damn head lights are LED or not and giving a dissertation on the design of the grill. You simply got in and drove the damn car and on behalf of many of the You Tube viewers we thank you! 😂
As an Impreza and Mitsubishi outlander owner. I am looking for an AWD card but yeah can’t expect a prius to have AWD like an Subi or Mitsubishi. I think its designed to assist when slipping but for 50-60 mpg it may be a fair trade.maybe a 10-15 mph motor on future versions.
I have the same truck for 10 years and never touched the dashboard on purpose, after reading your comment I had to touch the dashboard . It really didn't do anything for me LOL . I just hope I don't get addicted to touching everyone's dashboards to see if it's soft or hard 🤣
@@alf6259 well, is it hard plastic, or a nice plush soft touch material? Is there a nice contrasting stitching? Which portion of the dash did you touch? 👀 how else can I guess what truck you drive 🤨🤷🏻♂️
I started cracking up when he said 7 hp. But now that I think about all of the times I have seen a person help push a car out of trouble during snow, I’m now thinking to myself that a man with snow boots on and pushing from a slippery surface surely must not be generating too much hp either!
You do need to compare side-by-side with an FWD Prius to actually evaluate the difference. But what I can see in your video is that the car starts moving the moment you depress the accelerator pedal and continues accelerating without any “jerkiness” that you would normally see in a FWD car when its front wheels lose traction on ice and start spinning like in your video. In fact, the best illustration I think was at 7:31 when you were bringing the car to its test position. At that moment, the front wheels were not grabbing at all, yet the car was moving like it was on chains. I think an FWD car would show more struggle and nose drifting there. So I think it is definitely a win for the Prius. Personally, I don’t think it is a totally useless feature. 7HP is good enough to give this car a good push when front wheels are struggling and, frankly, this is all I expect it to do.
I can tell you, I have driven all generations of prius with equal tires in the same weather, and that awd is absolutely helping you. the addition of a traction control button is a plus is the newest generation. that test you did on the flat icy ground, you would have spun and spun until you were blue in the face if you didnt have the rear assist. its not about spinning the rear tires, its about them assisting and holding traction.
Believe folks, I’ve the 2019 and I go to places (during winter) where people look at me like “are you serious?” 10 to 15 centimetres of snow (obviously with winter tires) and never stuck. I know, you want to see the tires spinning like a Subaru but you don’t need that, what you need is a car dealing with the snow like a charm and this is what exactly I get from Prius e awd. Get the damn car in 15 centimetres of snow and then film it!!!!
@@joshuaonevnine i do, when i drive at night and not too many cars around i drive in a way i optimize the battery usage and I get sick miles per gallon. Car has now 62 k kms on the ODO and the more i drive my prius the more i love hybrid and electric cars. Never a ful ICE's.
AWD Prius also gains about a half inch of ground clearance, for what it’s worth. I drive a 2015 third ten Prius, and works very well with a strong set of winter tires. I use Michelin X Ice Snow. I can see this tiny bit of AWD assistance (along with winter tires) helping out even more. It’s making an inexpensive practical car even more practical.
Patrick, I also had a 2003 Prius and put Michelin X ice tires on in the winter (mid-west U.S. winter). The car was great under most conditions. Also, the X ice tires are energy efficient so I did not lose gas mileage. Most people think AWD is more important than good winter tires. They are wrong.
something you missed is; did you notice how quickly you were propelled forward on snow and ice, up hill when you step on the petal? and something missed by your camera man was the rear tire (left) not only spin, so did the right (which he was not looking for) as in Positive track design.. you should have tried another similar fwd car in the same location with similar thrust.
8:00 the fact that it didn't spin it's wheels probably means it either found grip that 7hp could not overcome or...the traction control system works... To know for sure you'd need to compare it to a fwd Prius.
I think it's a good idea. If you already have a battery for a hybrid, it just takes a little motor to add a little assist to the back wheels. Proper winter tires should be 90% of it for you, the AWD-e is just a little boost over that. Could they serve to double the motor power, sure.
I got the 2022 AWD-e and in edmontons ice it has helped a lot. The rear axes is pretty much always turning on traction control and it does spin the wheels and also it locks to drift you back straight or help turning
I think the people who need AWD are NOT planning on turning the TC off and attempting donuts. They just don't want to slip and end up in a ditch, that's all.
Even with no snow my AWD rear motor kicks in briefly when I accelerate away after a full stop. You can see them working when looking at the AWD display.
Seems to me he went into his "tests" having already decided what result he would get. But the car proceeded smartly up the slope in both trials. Is that not the point?
2013 we got 28 inches I took my 2008 prius over 111 hwy which was closed . It worked amazing others had to stop and I made it to the hospital. They are awesome in the snow!
NMH battery usually do well in cold weathers... I guess Toyota is mostly expecting people to buy the 4WD Prius in cold weather areas? Hence the different battery packs....
Oversteer in snow is overrated IMO. I drove a rear wheel drive BMW in Ontario for 15 years. Good snow tires are absolutely necessary but it wasn't unusual for me to start off in 2nd gear (it was a manual transmission) just to prevent wheelspin and oversteer. Even with traction control, it was a pain to drive in Winter. I don't think the Prius system is a lot different than other. mostly FWD, vehicles like the RAV4 or CR-V. They only ever kick in rear wheel power when the front tires loose traction. It's more power than the Prius offers but I'm confident Toyota figured out what they could get away with. Having said all that, the limiting factor for many small cars is weight over the wheels and low clearance. The only time we run into trouble in snow is when it's really deep. That's when SUV/CUV's shine. Their better ground clearance and AWD makes it much easier to get around during a snow storm. After everything is cleared up, FWD is usually good enough.
A “Donut” ;the car is not a Ford Focus RS. The Prius focus is on fuel economy: the rear motor was designed were its needed to the most, in low friction situation. The AWD-e is designed to assist the car to move forward from a stop and to move at low speeds were AWD is most effective. Once cars are moving at speed the AWD system is not needed as much. Your video appears to be designed to promote viewership and not to accurately portray the care and it’s designed purpose, “fuel efficiency and a safe comfortable mode of transportation with enhance traction” We live in eastern Oregon which has some periods of extreme weather. I was a truck Driver for 18 years, pulling extended length doubles in all weather conditions; Trucks are the worst vehicles in low frictions conditions especially at low speeds. We have a 2012 Subaru Outback, 2011 Dodge Ram Laramie both are excellent in low friction situation. We now own a 2022 Prius AWD-e and have tested it in severe weather condition. High winds on icy roads, 55-60mph, 4-6 inches deep snow, on steep hills, from a stop, Sloppy deep slush. The car is phenomenal and has exceeded my exceptions. I understand its limitations: low ground clearance, and AWD is available at speeds under 45 MPH. But we purchased the car for is Fuel milage/safety ratings, comfort and it legendary reliability.
Can’t remember the last time I saw one of these on the road, then I checked the sales numbers realized they have pretty much tanked since the Model 3 came out.
Prius were all over in Seattle when I was there. Mostly 2nd gen cars. Seemed like every 4th car was a Prius. I'm sure Tesla is very popular also in the West Coast. Personally I would take proven durability from a known brand. I have a 2008 Prius myself. 356,000 miles on it, I've put 156,000 on it in the last 3 years and it still gives me 45 to 50 MPG Reliable practical comfortable. It's all I really care about. And when I need to do maintenance on it it's cheap, and I can buy parts from lots of sources and do the work myself. My total cost per mile is $0.07. that includes all fuel, all maintenance items and tires. financially you'd be much better off buying the Prius than buying the Tesla when you factor purchase price and cost of operation. I drive 50,000 miles per year. when I do the calculation on a brand new Prius for $30,000 which would be a loaded one versus a Tesla Model 3 long range at $48,000 you've got an $18,000 price differential. And at the difference in cost of operation of $0.07/ mile vs $0.04/ mile on the Tesla even driving 50,000 miles per year would take me 12 years to break even on. That doesn't sound like a very smart move.
@@kens97sto171 if you’re good with driving the Prius, go for it! Personally, I prefer more performance and better tech from Tesla. I like Toyota, in fact, I just bought a 2021 Tacoma trd off-road for offroading adventures. They have been making great hybrids for so long, I’m surprised they don’t already have a plug in hybrid for every model they sell.
@@officialyasir For me it just comes down to cost of purchase and cost of operation. I drive for a living. I sometimes spend 11 hours a day driving around in the city, about 350 miles, Something that rides relatively soft has very light steering is a positive trait. I prefer doing all of my own repairs and maintenance, so Parts availability and ease of repair is important when you're driving a 13-year-old car. I agree with you I think they should have more plug-in hybrids with real range. The first one we've really seen with significant range is the new RAV4 prime. And it seems to be selling very well. If you want something that's inexpensive reliable comfortable and practical pretty hard to go wrong getting a Prius or a Toyota Corolla or Camry for that matter. When I have my customers ask about what car they should get I asked them how many miles they drive. I tell them if you don't drive that many miles it kind of doesn't matter what you get get a Corolla or a camry. If on the other hand you drive a shit ton of miles then a hybrid or an EV might make more sense. Couple years ago I did a long road trip, 4,500 Miles over 2 weeks. Total cost for the trip was $315.. 285 for the fuel the remainder was my cost per mile of Maintenance and tires. Considering I bought the car 3 years ago for $1,800? I think I did pretty well. it's really not a great idea to be driving around with passengers in the backseat of a brand new car. Would you want somebody barfing in the backseat of your tesla? Probably not. Fortunately that doesn't happen very often. but doing the job that I do it doesn't really make any sense to be driving around in a brand new anything.
@@SirHackaL0t. I'm transporting hundreds of people a week to there jobs and shopping and restaurants. Which removes the pollution they would have caused by running there cars for short errands. And I'm using the most fuel efficient and reliable vehicles you can buy. I'm also using a vehicle that has been already built to it's maximum potential. There IS a carbon footprint associated with the manufacturing of your new car. Mine has long ago been compensated by the work it has performed over the last 13 years. Also.. your EV is charged using what as the power source? 60% of it is fossil fuels. 20% is nuclear, 20% is renewable. So even though your not polluting where your driving you ARE polluting somewhere.
That isn’t true at all, there is far too much inertia in a large electric motor connected to gear reduction, axles, tires etc for it to have that level of speed control. Plus the traction control system is based off of wheel speed, not motor speed, so a tire has to lose traction and spin before the traction control can react.
@@albergan3174Sometimes it is electric, sometimes it is ICE, sometimes it is both. It is totally unlike the Chevy Volt, where your statement would be true, and the ICE just sometimes provides the electricity to the electric drive motors. In the Prius, that is not true. It is a parallel hybrid, not a serial hybrid. Tricky planetary gearing connects both the ICE and the electric motor/generator to the wheels at all times. In the case of my Prius Prime, both motor/generators.
@@wrenchingfool5284Not true AT ALL? I think your position is much weaker than Pepperidge's, at least in theory. How quickly the car executes real actions might be another matter, as super-fast actions generally require more expensive hardware than slow actions. Both the wheel side and the motor side have angular momentum (just a more precise engineering description of what you're calling inertia). I'm not sure which side has more angular momentum, but I suspect the wheel side does. Regardless of how much each side has, the faster your control loop is, and the finer its resolution and accuracy regarding the rotational speeds, the better. You're probably imagining a "starting position of the scenario" being a significantly spinning wheel, but with a fast enough control loop and accurate enough sensors, that never has to happen. You're slightly correct in the sense that there may be actions with a delayed response time, such as the time from deciding to reduce motor torque, until the motor torque is actually changed to the newly desired value. There may also be resonant frequency issues either mechanically or electronically. But those also apply to how quickly the car can start doing something to start the problem needing correction. I doubt that Toyota designed the car and their control loops so that you can start trouble much more quickly than you can correct it.
Thanks for the test. Your finds are very similar to consumer reports recommendation in that don’t expect to it to do any heavy duty awd task, especially when the battery is depleted. But it’s useful in basic wet weather conditions.
In any normal operation the battery will never be depleted, and expectations are often not the reality. 53lb-ft of torque is quite a significant amount of power to go to the rear, IN ADDITION to all the power going to the front.
The rear axle is there to help you, it’s not supposed to spin out, it also would have traction control built into it as well. I don’t think this video’s logic of what should happen is necessarily correct.
You need to test it side by side with a non-AWD Prius. Basically get the regular Prius stuck and see if the AWD Prius can do better. I know that my Prius Prime has very little traction at low speeds, with the stock tires and a 7hp push would sometimes make all the difference.
If I am thinking correctly, the traction control applies the brakes. When I tried to go up hill, no snow tires, in my fwd 2010 prius, it took about 10 tries, blizzard like conditions on the back road, front bumper pushing snow. Made it over the hill and home, paved county road. I would like to get some snow socks for the tires. I had to take off the traction control, because you need the tires to keep spinning when going through the snow, like mudding, but not for regular road driving, only when stuck or going uphill through the snow. Yes awd makes a difference if needed. But notjing except chains will stop you from sliding off the road on ice. Just ask a big 4x4 pickup driver, they can tell you 4 wheel drive does not help on ice, you will slide right off. 4x4 does help to get out of the ditch, if you accidently slide off. But if your in the ditch itself, your toast, you need a wench, or a good buddy and a jerk strap, lol Ive been doing this for years, i love playing in the snow. Good luck everyone for this winter.
I suspect that you're not going to see any wheel spin on that rear tire. They can very accurately control the wheel rotation since it's a direct drive Electric motor. 40 lb of torque is definitely more than enough to make a difference especially coming from a standing stop in some snow. It certainly would be nice to be able to force it to spin however because there are circumstances where that is the preferable option to getting out of a situation when you're stuck. Overall I think you are correct though just get some decent snow tires if you live in that area. Other than that just get the regular Prius. be interesting to see whether that nickel metal pack ends up being long-term more reliable. That is the pack that they have used since 2004 it's the same Panasonic modules in fact across the second and third and fourth gen Prius. I believe the nickel metal pack was the standard pack in all trims even in the 4th gen Prius except for the 2 Eco and now L Eco trims. They got the lithium pack..
I want to see the Prius in deep snow. I just want to see a system that can help get me un-stuck in a deeper snow situation. Seven HP is about 4 men pushing.
The battery type is not lithium because nimh performs better in colder climates, where the model is intended to be used. Rear sliding can totally happen when turning without AWD. In my opinion you need proper dedicated tires for snow/ice AWD or not.
It needs to have more power and more usefulness for the extra Money it costs and the MPG penalty. As you said, better winter tyres would be just as helpful.
Haven’t seen a new Prius for years here in Sweden. But that wasn’t always the case. Used to be quite popular. I guess Toyota are happy selling other hybrids.
4:19 you can see the rear wheel spin up a bit. How on earth do you drive in that position? It looks like your legs are in a vertical position nearly touching the steering wheel column.
7hp is one thing, torque is a different story where electric engine has it from 0 rpm. I think it helps a lot, computer measures rpm of each wheel and knows where give the rpm.
A taxi service in Corpus Christi, Texas uses the toyota prius, however you spell more than one prius. If you pick up or drop off someone at the airport, you can usually see about five of them waiting for fares.
I am not sure if this works or not. I was curious because I live on a 650 foot mountain in CT and thought the 7 hp was not enough to push a car up a hill like that when the roads are not plowed well. I used to own a Honda Accord and Saab 9-3 FWD cars with snow tires and when it snowed enough, I had to wait for the road to be plowed to get home. Now I own a Subaru Legacy and Buick Envision AWD and both cars with snow tires have no problem getting me home. I am still not sure this would work with snow tires to get me home and unless I see a real uphill test with snow I won't be getting a car like this as I hated not being able to get home with FWD cars and snow tires.
i have the eawd 2019 from nyc to dallas and it has not disappoint. 41.1 mpg without even trying to drive economically. it was driven and street parked in nyc winter where snow is just plowed to the side of the street. never got stuck. I had to give up my Abarth for this but I do miss mg Abarth :(.
I think your testing this all wrong. The fact that the wheels did NOT spin is a WIN! It is not a 4x4 truck and is not meant for deep snow or off road. It's 7HP, that's it. Call what it is, it is a gas saving simple car that offers a little better traction with AWD on the models that offer it. It's a great car that gets great MPG.
I drove AWD Cadillacs as well as front wheel drive cars. This driving was done in the cold and snow as well as rain. The biggest difference. The AWDs guzzled gas!
It's maybe too much of a compromise, they didn't want to hurt the mpg, but snow tires on a normal Prius make more sense. The ground clearance is nearly the same so a good snow bank will still beach it. That said I saw one of these in my town the month it launched, haven't seen many more though.
I went from an SUV with 0 to 60 mph in 6.9 seconds to one that does it in 8.6 seconds to save money. I have test drove a Prius and Crosstrek with a longer 0 to 60 time, but they seemed too slow for me, with numb steering compared to a Mazda. The Crosstrek did have very good braking feel. For most, adding better winter tires for the front wheels would be better than losing 3 miles per gallon all of the time, although it is a hassle to change tires more often.
It engages under 6mpg regardless of need and then up to 40ish if it senses a need. I drove 2019 the other day. After. 5 mile test drive mpg posted at 51 however then I played around reversing, testing all sounds, for a bit and it fell like a rock to 38 mpg.
It’s working, its not a 4x4 , the Electric motor just helps when needed. I driven both in the snow here in Colorado and you can tell the difference. It would be nice if it were say 12hp. And if you think thats bad, try driving my 2000 fwd 6spd toyota celica gts on snow… it’s horrible! I take one of the trucks instead.
Kyle, time for a remote mic, it will keep the audio levels the same across multiple shots.. The Prius are Fine for basic transportation, But are No fun, have no soul. Gutless, and have way to much shiny plastic on the inside.
I think you are missing the fact that electric rear axle motor is much more responsive/sensitive to traction control than mechanical systems. That's why rear wheels don't spin even if the AWD does work/help. In many cases, all it takes is a more or less significant push to get a stuck car out so 7HP serves as that push, and I like it better than being a source of that push myself. On the other hand, I might be bias because I just ordered a 2022 LE AWD-e Prius... I just - based on almost 20 years of professional experience as a Mechanical Breakdown Inspector in the field AND an extensive personal experience - has learned to trust Toyota. And not to trust anybody else.
@@jamie.777 Compared to what? Of course my 4Runner is better. A lot better. In fact, I replaced that Prius (that I really loved!) with a Rav4 Hybrid AWD because I live in the middle of nowhere and need a bit more clearance. Rav is more suitable for my environment but handling and gas mileage are worse than Prius' but still better than any ford.
@@nofyfb123 2004 fwd prius. I got stuck 3 inches slush off ramp highway. Like a toy car 🚗 pushing with C batteries. Had it for 5 years in New england. It was TERRIBLE in slushy worcester hills. I also worked 3d shift and weekends. I was forced to drive un plowed roads, even state of emergency. I ran batch ,monitored servers, and did backups. Back then we did tape backups, and servers crashed a lot. The prius was left home after 3 times spinning wheels... even my chevy s10 rear wheel with no sand bags was better than prius in snow. 2000s early prius were bad. I can't speak for other years
I had the primitive prius. And my wife drove it mostly, I had crappy truck. It was definitely a gen1, and now after thinking 🤔 I actually had a 2004 lift back red. It did Disney 24 hours, Virginia 8 hour trip s , Canada trips. It was a odditie in 2004. Hybrid prius used sold fast. Loved it. Hated in snow. Was tan interior zero blind spot. Forced to sell, got minivan. 4 kids in car seats. I loved that car
Very disappointed that this seems to be a rigged test to demonstrate the shortcomings of a hybrid power train. One other note is the 7 hp rear drive motor is not only to assist in poor traction environment but it provides regeneration to the rear tires to give balance to the handling (not a gimmick).
I don’t think this is a rigged test at all. Most people think they need AWD in order to drive in the snow/ice (mainly because they are misinformed). This shows that the rear motor is not that helpful in the snow and ice. It also comes with a big efficiency penalty, which is likely the main reason that people would be shopping for a Prius since hybrids are no longer the green status symbol they once were. The loss in EPA rated fuel economy shows that any added regen braking from the rear motor is not enough to overcome the additional drag it puts on the vehicle, making it essentially a moot point. If it can only output 7hp, then realistically it could likely only regen 7hp or about 5kw. That’s not much in the world of electric motors on cars. The front motor generators don’t really regen that much either in the grand scheme of things (compared to an EV), certainly not enough to have a noticeable effect on handling or vehicle balance, so that’s another moot point.
Eh, it probably helps a little, but the difference made by a 7hp/50lb*ft motor driving the rear wheels is going to be substantially less than putting a decent set of snow tires on the vehicle. FWD cars are perfectly fine in the snow with proper snow tires, even those without the heavy front weight bias that a typical ICE car would have (like a FWD EV or hybrid). Besides, the marginal improvement in foul weather is only going to help slightly in foul weather, the 3MPG drop is going to hurt every day. This is just a response by Toyota to the AWD craze in some states like Oregon, Washington and Colorado. If a vehicle is sold with AWD or 4WD in those states as well as FWD or RWD, you will pretty much never see the 2WD version in those states. Toyota needed a way to put an AWD badge on a Prius, so they came up with this token effort. I have a lot of experience with Prius, and for what it is (a basic commuter/eco car, made for people who drive way more than average miles and need maximum economy) it’s a decent car. The newer models have improved a lot in the areas where the older Prius really failed (like ride quality, interior build quality and road noise), but it is not an exciting car, nor will it ever be. It handles ok, better than most suvs or cuvs, but with the heavy weight for its size and narrow eco tires, grip is pretty limited. The tiny battery means it can only really assist the ICE for maybe 30 seconds to a minute before it is discharged (in non-PHEV models), after that you are driving a heavy car with less than 100hp. It works fine to maintain speed on most average hills, but if you are trying to drive it fast with a lot of changes in speed, the battery is discharged pretty quickly.
That thing shoots up a steep slick ramp and somehow it's a loss? You know it's taking a zillion impulses a minute to calculate how to use it's power in the best possible way?
It's an AWD. Not a 4x4. Correct me if im wrong. But AWD sends power to a slipping tire. And 4x4 is power to all 4 tires at all times. So no tye rear tires wouldnt spin in AWD would they?
They do make 1.5 inch lift kits for the prius including the AWD-e one but the Rav4 hybrid might be better suited for you with 41 mpg highway and a more powerful engine.
Can you turn off the read motor, get the car stuck somewhere that the front motor can't get the car unstuck. Then turn on the read motor and see if it can get you unstuck. I see that as real benefit of the rear motor, along with the fact that the driver probably would never know went a two wheel drive Prius would have got stuck, but the all wheel drive kept them going. Sort of like we don't know how many times the 100D got us home whereas a 75D would have forced us to stop and charge. When you have the extra "whatever" you never realize when the extra saved you.
Everyone talks about AWD for snow. Maybe I'm not thinking about this correctly. Drive 2013 Prius II. Looking for new car - probably electric - but have had such good luck with my Prius as far as repair/maint costs that I looked at the new Prius AWDe. Here's what I can't stand about every Toyota I've ever driven - Prius, Corolla, Camry. They ALL feel like I'm losing the back end on some turns and for sure when pavement is even slightly wet. I thought AWD would solve that. Am I wrong?
On the other hand, if the rear wheels were spinning like mad, that would prove that it was implemented poorly, and losing traction. You really want all 4 wheels just on the verge of spinning, but not actually spinning. I suspect that if you turn traction control back on, that's exactly what happens.
I would imagine that the Prius notices there is no traction on the rear wheel and prevents it from spinning. I wouldn't assume its just going to spin out the back wheel with no traction, it is an electric motor attached to computer car.
It's mock wheel drive. Seriously, Nimh battery because of the cold? Who is toyota kidding. Why not out some nice alkaline D cells like the first gen Prius. This AWD system with it's clear cost cutting approach gives options I suppose, but it's so compromised. Just get snow tires. Much better option. Hahaha.
Well he mentioned the nickel metal hydride battery is also more than double the capacity of the lithium pack. also the nickel metal hydride packs are more durable overall to both extreme heat and extreme cold. They have used the same internal Panasonic nickel metal hydride modules since 2004. And I believe were using them up until 2020 in all of the trims except the "Eco" trim which got the lithium pack. There's a reason. Because they work , and they're reliable and they have KNOWN reliability.. The lithium doesn't really gain you anything other than a weight savings in the vehicle. Why change something you don't need to when it doesn't really gain you anything? There is a very small efficiency gain because of the weight loss. But what will be the long term durability? Nobody knows yet. This is coming from an owner of a 2008 Prius with 356,000 mi on it. I have put 156,000 mi on it in the last 3 years and it's still rolling on its original pack, and it still gives me between 45 and 50 MPG.
A me piace molto la prius,vivo in Italia...da questo video (se un giorno dovessi acquistare la prius) ho capito che megli prenderla con la sola trazione anteriore, questo video ha confermato ciò che pensavo...abitando in Italia,la trazione integrale non mi serve,ha anche un costo maggiore...qui rottamando un veicolo euro 0 ,porti a casa la prius active (trazione anteriore) con 29.000 euro... vedremo sul da farsi ... Grazie per il video
I thought the testing was pretty good! I will disagree with the conclusion, sort-of, like many, but really the conclusion is perhaps more agreement than not? It’s stated the vehicle not spinning the rear wheels on an extremely icy surface, means the rear is not helping much. I think Toyota have in fact, done this exact test! They have literally tweaked all the fun out of it, and locked it there. Really, that’s what has happened probably. For insurance, for ‘safety’ and for the buyer who is not an ‘enthusiast’ to barely notice the rear driving force exists. Remember, most people drive FWD, a change in driving characteristics, would be potentially a shock, and put them off. So while you might want breakaway, most normal Prius drivers won’t?! I think the fact remains, it’s a help - but my experience is, if you can lock the wheels together as if they were a solid axle, then either FWD or RWD, are both capable in most snowy situations. I think you are correct, that it’s a bit gimmicky and a bit practical, but then a lot of AWD are. Another issue, is the ground clearance. Many cars are so low now, in 6 inches of snow, they are ploughing the stuff, causing more force pushing against their efforts. Kind of waiting for a Prius Crossover? But, instead Toyota brought out the CH-R. Maybe Toyota should take ‘pledges’ to see what kind of special model of Prius people would put money down for, and make that? The genius part, is that they are using this as a test bed, as they always used Prii, and this AWD does away with the connecting prop shaft fore and aft. They have to use software instead, which will serve Toyota well, as we proceed with electrifying vehicles. I really believe, the obvious end-point is an electric motor on every wheel instead of a drive shaft, and electronic/software differentials. This would enable a ‘virtual lockable diff’. You don’t need the brakes to kick-in with that to give traction control, for example, you just cut the current to the motor where the wheel is slipping. You lose all the weight of the differential gears too. But thanks for the testing, it was a good suite of tests I thought.
Loosing 3 MPG is a kinda hard penalty for an additional and mostly useless motor. How do they compare price wise? If the increase isn’t that big, well better have it and use it sometimes :D
Pointless exercise - only boy-racers want the wheels to spin. Traction is what is required by the rest of us to get moving, especially on slippery inclines.
Spinning ain't winning. Lol the 7 hp motor is definitely helping. If it doesn't break the tires lose doesn't mean anything. A light easy push will make a huge difference on bad surfaces.
Yes but without traction control on you should be able to spin the wheels in snow. If you can’t, that’s a really bad thing.
@@turboeddude Yeah but he left traction control on for this test i'd be interested to see it off.
@@OvertPumkin Yeah true, me too. It can def make a big difference from car to car.
It climbed a hill better than any front wheel drive car. I don’t care if the tires spin.
My fwd Prius wouldn't get up this hill at all with my "all season tires", so it's definitely helping. I'd buy one to try out here in Colorado.
I bought a '19 awd-e LE, and I think it's the best bang-for-the buck awd commuter available.
I commute over a small mountain pass which is often icy. The Prius' awd system works exactly as advertised; it's not made to spin the rear wheels, it's made to get the car going and keep moving.
Many awd-e owners are getting much better fuel economy than advertised; I average 3.9L/100kms -- 60 us mpg -- year-round with winter tires used for four months, and often see 65 - 80 mpg in the summer with the excellent stock Bridgestone LRR tires.
This is not a sports car; it's a very capable car that's comfortable and easy to drive.
Exactly. Spinning wheels are NOT what you want on snow and ice.
65 to 80 mpg ???
@@johnb4183 -- Yes. From doing spreadsheets I've figured out that the mileage figure on the dash is 2mpg or 0.2L/100kms optimistic, and I have pictures of mileage on the dash of 88 us mpg.
@@Davran2742 hello david hope you are doing well. I got one question, could you please tell from your experience how much of the fuel efiiciency would be sacrificed than its countetpart fwd version if the car is driven mostly on plain non hilly tropical country condition surface?
@@tanvir28310 -- Hi Tanvir. If I understand your question correctly, I don't think the awd-e Prius uses any more fuel than a fwd Prius (not including the Prime, of course). I drive in the west coast mountains of Canada.
Hi Kyle, I had the privilege to own both the 2019 Prius AWD-e and a Subaru Legacy. The Subaru is definitely more FUN to drive in the snow because you can really get crazy... But I have to say, the Prius wins all the time at LOW speed on very steep road. WHY? The Prius doesn't need motor revolution. You've got high torks at low speed. Where the Subaru wheels will spin in order the get the torks it needs. Conclusion: Subaru are FUN, Prius are Secure.
Why would you want spin? The fact that the rear wheels didn’t spin makes me feel safer about owning one of these than getting wheel spin on all four wheels. The rear motor is not meant to have a lot of torque it’s more about assisting the front wheels and giving the car extra momentum to climb icy uphill roads.
I may be wrong here but given how well you went up that hill the AWD system was simply doing its job. In reality the rear wheels shouldn’t slip if it’s a good system. Am I expecting Subaru performance? No, but given that since it is electronically controlled the computer may be providing enough (battery) power to the rear wheels to get the car moving forward and (hopefully) keep up with the front tires. I believe you said you turned the traction control system off, so all things considered I think it did pretty well. As others have stated it would have been interesting to see a front wheel drive only car attempt the same run. Tires also make a huge difference and are often times a game changer in bad weather. Great video by the way. It’s nice to watch a video where they don’t spend 15 minutes talking about all the soft touch surfaces and whether or not the damn head lights are LED or not and giving a dissertation on the design of the grill. You simply got in and drove the damn car and on behalf of many of the You Tube viewers we thank you! 😂
As an Impreza and Mitsubishi outlander owner. I am looking for an AWD card but yeah can’t expect a prius to have AWD like an Subi or Mitsubishi. I think its designed to assist when slipping but for 50-60 mpg it may be a fair trade.maybe a 10-15 mph motor on future versions.
Yes but without traction control on you should be able to spin the wheels in snow. If you can’t, that’s a really bad thing.
I have the same truck for 10 years and never touched the dashboard on purpose, after reading your comment I had to touch the dashboard . It really didn't do anything for me LOL .
I just hope I don't get addicted to touching everyone's dashboards to see if it's soft or hard 🤣
@@alf6259 well, is it hard plastic, or a nice plush soft touch material? Is there a nice contrasting stitching? Which portion of the dash did you touch? 👀 how else can I guess what truck you drive 🤨🤷🏻♂️
I started cracking up when he said 7 hp. But now that I think about all of the times I have seen a person help push a car out of trouble during snow, I’m now thinking to myself that a man with snow boots on and pushing from a slippery surface surely must not be generating too much hp either!
They aren't even producing 1hp.
It's torque that matters, not horsepower.
@@HansDelbruck53 oh ok. I know much more about philosophy than I know about cars lol
You do need to compare side-by-side with an FWD Prius to actually evaluate the difference. But what I can see in your video is that the car starts moving the moment you depress the accelerator pedal and continues accelerating without any “jerkiness” that you would normally see in a FWD car when its front wheels lose traction on ice and start spinning like in your video. In fact, the best illustration I think was at 7:31 when you were bringing the car to its test position. At that moment, the front wheels were not grabbing at all, yet the car was moving like it was on chains. I think an FWD car would show more struggle and nose drifting there. So I think it is definitely a win for the Prius. Personally, I don’t think it is a totally useless feature. 7HP is good enough to give this car a good push when front wheels are struggling and, frankly, this is all I expect it to do.
It does work. There are other reviewers that used a steeper grade in icy snow getting up where 2wd failed.
I can tell you, I have driven all generations of prius with equal tires in the same weather, and that awd is absolutely helping you. the addition of a traction control button is a plus is the newest generation. that test you did on the flat icy ground, you would have spun and spun until you were blue in the face if you didnt have the rear assist. its not about spinning the rear tires, its about them assisting and holding traction.
Believe folks, I’ve the 2019 and I go to places (during winter) where people look at me like “are you serious?” 10 to 15 centimetres of snow (obviously with winter tires) and never stuck. I know, you want to see the tires spinning like a Subaru but you don’t need that, what you need is a car dealing with the snow like a charm and this is what exactly I get from Prius e awd. Get the damn car in 15 centimetres of snow and then film it!!!!
DO YOU GET 50 PLUS MPGS IN GOOD WEATHER>?
@@joshuaonevnine i do, when i drive at night and not too many cars around i drive in a way i optimize the battery usage and I get sick miles per gallon. Car has now 62 k kms on the ODO and the more i drive my prius the more i love hybrid and electric cars. Never a ful ICE's.
AWD Prius also gains about a half inch of ground clearance, for what it’s worth. I drive a 2015 third ten Prius, and works very well with a strong set of winter tires. I use Michelin X Ice Snow. I can see this tiny bit of AWD assistance (along with winter tires) helping out even more. It’s making an inexpensive practical car even more practical.
Patrick, I also had a 2003 Prius and put Michelin X ice tires on in the winter (mid-west U.S. winter). The car was great under most conditions. Also, the X ice tires are energy efficient so I did not lose gas mileage. Most people think AWD is more important than good winter tires. They are wrong.
True.
Prius off road in California makes a 1.5" lift kit, which I'm going to put on my '19 awd-e at some point.
Lol a WHOLE half inch?? Wish it was 1.5” or 2” higher instead.
something you missed is; did you notice how quickly you were propelled forward on snow and ice, up hill when you step on the petal? and something missed by your camera man was the rear tire (left) not only spin, so did the right (which he was not looking for) as in Positive track design.. you should have tried another similar fwd car in the same location with similar thrust.
Nickel Metal Hydride batteries, are better performers in the cold , when usually the rear drive would be used.
8:00 the fact that it didn't spin it's wheels probably means it either found grip that 7hp could not overcome or...the traction control system works...
To know for sure you'd need to compare it to a fwd Prius.
I think it's a good idea. If you already have a battery for a hybrid, it just takes a little motor to add a little assist to the back wheels. Proper winter tires should be 90% of it for you, the AWD-e is just a little boost over that. Could they serve to double the motor power, sure.
I got the 2022 AWD-e and in edmontons ice it has helped a lot. The rear axes is pretty much always turning on traction control and it does spin the wheels and also it locks to drift you back straight or help turning
I think the people who need AWD are NOT planning on turning the TC off and attempting donuts. They just don't want to slip and end up in a ditch, that's all.
The real test would be whether that rear wheel motor can get you unstuck in a situation where the front wheels alone leave you stuck.
The rear motor is not made to do donuts. It's meant to be just enough to help you not get stuck in the snow.
I was thinking the exact same thing. The bottom line is that he didn't get stuck. That's a success in my opinion.
Even with no snow my AWD rear motor kicks in briefly when I accelerate away after a full stop. You can see them working when looking at the AWD display.
Seems to me he went into his "tests" having already decided what result he would get. But the car proceeded smartly up the slope in both trials. Is that not the point?
2013 we got 28 inches I took my 2008 prius over 111 hwy which was closed . It worked amazing others had to stop and I made it to the hospital. They are awesome in the snow!
NMH battery usually do well in cold weathers... I guess Toyota is mostly expecting people to buy the 4WD Prius in cold weather areas? Hence the different battery packs....
Oversteer in snow is overrated IMO. I drove a rear wheel drive BMW in Ontario for 15 years. Good snow tires are absolutely necessary but it wasn't unusual for me to start off in 2nd gear (it was a manual transmission) just to prevent wheelspin and oversteer. Even with traction control, it was a pain to drive in Winter.
I don't think the Prius system is a lot different than other. mostly FWD, vehicles like the RAV4 or CR-V. They only ever kick in rear wheel power when the front tires loose traction. It's more power than the Prius offers but I'm confident Toyota figured out what they could get away with.
Having said all that, the limiting factor for many small cars is weight over the wheels and low clearance. The only time we run into trouble in snow is when it's really deep. That's when SUV/CUV's shine. Their better ground clearance and AWD makes it much easier to get around during a snow storm. After everything is cleared up, FWD is usually good enough.
A “Donut” ;the car is not a Ford Focus RS. The Prius focus is on fuel economy: the rear motor was designed were its needed to the most, in low friction situation. The AWD-e is designed to assist the car to move forward from a stop and to move at low speeds were AWD is most effective. Once cars are moving at speed the AWD system is not needed as much.
Your video appears to be designed to promote viewership and not to accurately portray the care and it’s designed purpose, “fuel efficiency and a safe comfortable mode of transportation with enhance traction”
We live in eastern Oregon which has some periods of extreme weather. I was a truck Driver for 18 years, pulling extended length doubles in all weather conditions; Trucks are the worst vehicles in low frictions conditions especially at low speeds. We have a 2012 Subaru Outback, 2011 Dodge Ram Laramie both are excellent in low friction situation. We now own a 2022 Prius AWD-e and have tested it in severe weather condition. High winds on icy roads, 55-60mph, 4-6 inches deep snow, on steep hills, from a stop, Sloppy deep slush. The car is phenomenal and has exceeded my exceptions. I understand its limitations: low ground clearance, and AWD is available at speeds under 45 MPH. But we purchased the car for is Fuel milage/safety ratings, comfort and it legendary reliability.
It helps a lot you are taking right off in the snow! I have a 2020 Corolla hybrid and you accelerated so much better than my fwd would…
Can’t remember the last time I saw one of these on the road, then I checked the sales numbers realized they have pretty much tanked since the Model 3 came out.
Prius were all over in Seattle when I was there. Mostly 2nd gen cars. Seemed like every 4th car was a Prius.
I'm sure Tesla is very popular also in the West Coast.
Personally I would take proven durability from a known brand.
I have a 2008 Prius myself. 356,000 miles on it, I've put 156,000 on it in the last 3 years and it still gives me 45 to 50 MPG
Reliable practical comfortable. It's all I really care about.
And when I need to do maintenance on it it's cheap, and I can buy parts from lots of sources and do the work myself.
My total cost per mile is $0.07. that includes all fuel, all maintenance items and tires.
financially you'd be much better off buying the Prius than buying the Tesla when you factor purchase price and cost of operation.
I drive 50,000 miles per year.
when I do the calculation on a brand new Prius for $30,000 which would be a loaded one versus a Tesla Model 3 long range at $48,000 you've got an $18,000 price differential. And at the difference in cost of operation of $0.07/ mile vs $0.04/ mile on the Tesla even driving 50,000 miles per year would take me 12 years to break even on. That doesn't sound like a very smart move.
@@kens97sto171 if you’re good with driving the Prius, go for it! Personally, I prefer more performance and better tech from Tesla. I like Toyota, in fact, I just bought a 2021 Tacoma trd off-road for offroading adventures. They have been making great hybrids for so long, I’m surprised they don’t already have a plug in hybrid for every model they sell.
@@officialyasir
For me it just comes down to cost of purchase and cost of operation.
I drive for a living. I sometimes spend 11 hours a day driving around in the city, about 350 miles, Something that rides relatively soft has very light steering is a positive trait.
I prefer doing all of my own repairs and maintenance, so Parts availability and ease of repair is important when you're driving a 13-year-old car.
I agree with you I think they should have more plug-in hybrids with real range. The first one we've really seen with significant range is the new RAV4 prime.
And it seems to be selling very well.
If you want something that's inexpensive reliable comfortable and practical pretty hard to go wrong getting a Prius or a Toyota Corolla or Camry for that matter.
When I have my customers ask about what car they should get I asked them how many miles they drive. I tell them if you don't drive that many miles it kind of doesn't matter what you get get a Corolla or a camry. If on the other hand you drive a shit ton of miles then a hybrid or an EV might make more sense.
Couple years ago I did a long road trip, 4,500 Miles over 2 weeks.
Total cost for the trip was $315.. 285 for the fuel the remainder was my cost per mile of Maintenance and tires.
Considering I bought the car 3 years ago for $1,800? I think I did pretty well.
it's really not a great idea to be driving around with passengers in the backseat of a brand new car. Would you want somebody barfing in the backseat of your tesla? Probably not. Fortunately that doesn't happen very often. but doing the job that I do it doesn't really make any sense to be driving around in a brand new anything.
@@kens97sto171 Just thinking of all that CO2 and particulates you are putting into the local atmosphere.
@@SirHackaL0t.
I'm transporting hundreds of people a week to there jobs and shopping and restaurants. Which removes the pollution they would have caused by running there cars for short errands.
And I'm using the most fuel efficient and reliable vehicles you can buy.
I'm also using a vehicle that has been already built to it's maximum potential.
There IS a carbon footprint associated with the manufacturing of your new car.
Mine has long ago been compensated by the work it has performed over the last 13 years.
Also.. your EV is charged using what as the power source? 60% of it is fossil fuels. 20% is nuclear, 20% is renewable.
So even though your not polluting where your driving you ARE polluting somewhere.
Electric motor drive does not spin because milli second level traction control. That is the point of using electric motor for rear.
That isn’t true at all, there is far too much inertia in a large electric motor connected to gear reduction, axles, tires etc for it to have that level of speed control. Plus the traction control system is based off of wheel speed, not motor speed, so a tire has to lose traction and spin before the traction control can react.
And the front drivetrain is electric as well.
@@albergan3174Sometimes it is electric, sometimes it is ICE, sometimes it is both. It is totally unlike the Chevy Volt, where your statement would be true, and the ICE just sometimes provides the electricity to the electric drive motors. In the Prius, that is not true. It is a parallel hybrid, not a serial hybrid. Tricky planetary gearing connects both the ICE and the electric motor/generator to the wheels at all times. In the case of my Prius Prime, both motor/generators.
@@wrenchingfool5284Not true AT ALL?
I think your position is much weaker than Pepperidge's, at least in theory. How quickly the car executes real actions might be another matter, as super-fast actions generally require more expensive hardware than slow actions.
Both the wheel side and the motor side have angular momentum (just a more precise engineering description of what you're calling inertia). I'm not sure which side has more angular momentum, but I suspect the wheel side does. Regardless of how much each side has, the faster your control loop is, and the finer its resolution and accuracy regarding the rotational speeds, the better. You're probably imagining a "starting position of the scenario" being a significantly spinning wheel, but with a fast enough control loop and accurate enough sensors, that never has to happen.
You're slightly correct in the sense that there may be actions with a delayed response time, such as the time from deciding to reduce motor torque, until the motor torque is actually changed to the newly desired value. There may also be resonant frequency issues either mechanically or electronically. But those also apply to how quickly the car can start doing something to start the problem needing correction. I doubt that Toyota designed the car and their control loops so that you can start trouble much more quickly than you can correct it.
Thanks for the test. Your finds are very similar to consumer reports recommendation in that don’t expect to it to do any heavy duty awd task, especially when the battery is depleted. But it’s useful in basic wet weather conditions.
In any normal operation the battery will never be depleted, and expectations are often not the reality. 53lb-ft of torque is quite a significant amount of power to go to the rear, IN ADDITION to all the power going to the front.
The rear axle is there to help you, it’s not supposed to spin out, it also would have traction control built into it as well. I don’t think this video’s logic of what should happen is necessarily correct.
You need to test it side by side with a non-AWD Prius. Basically get the regular Prius stuck and see if the AWD Prius can do better. I know that my Prius Prime has very little traction at low speeds, with the stock tires and a 7hp push would sometimes make all the difference.
If I am thinking correctly, the traction control applies the brakes. When I tried to go up hill, no snow tires, in my fwd 2010 prius, it took about 10 tries, blizzard like conditions on the back road, front bumper pushing snow. Made it over the hill and home, paved county road. I would like to get some snow socks for the tires. I had to take off the traction control, because you need the tires to keep spinning when going through the snow, like mudding, but not for regular road driving, only when stuck or going uphill through the snow. Yes awd makes a difference if needed. But notjing except chains will stop you from sliding off the road on ice. Just ask a big 4x4 pickup driver, they can tell you 4 wheel drive does not help on ice, you will slide right off. 4x4 does help to get out of the ditch, if you accidently slide off. But if your in the ditch itself, your toast, you need a wench, or a good buddy and a jerk strap, lol Ive been doing this for years, i love playing in the snow. Good luck everyone for this winter.
I suspect that you're not going to see any wheel spin on that rear tire. They can very accurately control the wheel rotation since it's a direct drive Electric motor.
40 lb of torque is definitely more than enough to make a difference especially coming from a standing stop in some snow. It certainly would be nice to be able to force it to spin however because there are circumstances where that is the preferable option to getting out of a situation when you're stuck.
Overall I think you are correct though just get some decent snow tires if you live in that area. Other than that just get the regular Prius.
be interesting to see whether that nickel metal pack ends up being long-term more reliable. That is the pack that they have used since 2004 it's the same Panasonic modules in fact across the second and third and fourth gen Prius. I believe the nickel metal pack was the standard pack in all trims even in the 4th gen Prius except for the 2 Eco and now L Eco trims. They got the lithium pack..
I want to see the Prius in deep snow. I just want to see a system that can help get me un-stuck in a deeper snow situation. Seven HP is about 4 men pushing.
Good luck getting 53 lb-ft of torque out of those men. That said, it takes about 2 men pushing to get that car going.
The battery type is not lithium because nimh performs better in colder climates, where the model is intended to be used.
Rear sliding can totally happen when turning without AWD.
In my opinion you need proper dedicated tires for snow/ice AWD or not.
It appears to have helped. It's not a very good AWD system, but it seems to be giving that extra push needed to get out of snow.
It needs to have more power and more usefulness for the extra Money it costs and the MPG penalty. As you said, better winter tyres would be just as helpful.
Haven’t seen a new Prius for years here in Sweden. But that wasn’t always the case. Used to be quite popular. I guess Toyota are happy selling other hybrids.
@@theinvisibleman2070 Tack men är verkligen det bästa du kan ägna påsken åt att rätta små grammatiska fel i youtube kommentarer?
I didn’t see it spin which logically is expected with traction control on...no?
Traction control was turned off... Which he explicitly said in the video.
I think it threw some snow backwards in both runs. Not super fast slippage, but not just rolling either.
you need to compare it directly with a fwd to see the significance
4:19 you can see the rear wheel spin up a bit. How on earth do you drive in that position? It looks like your legs are in a vertical position nearly touching the steering wheel column.
2016 RAV4 hybrid has a 67hp rear traction motor.
7hp is one thing, torque is a different story where electric engine has it from 0 rpm. I think it helps a lot, computer measures rpm of each wheel and knows where give the rpm.
A taxi service in Corpus Christi, Texas uses the toyota prius, however you spell more than one prius. If you pick up or drop off someone at the airport, you can usually see about five of them waiting for fares.
I am not sure if this works or not. I was curious because I live on a 650 foot mountain in CT and thought the 7 hp was not enough to push a car up a hill like that when the roads are not plowed well. I used to own a Honda Accord and Saab 9-3 FWD cars with snow tires and when it snowed enough, I had to wait for the road to be plowed to get home. Now I own a Subaru Legacy and Buick Envision AWD and both cars with snow tires have no problem getting me home. I am still not sure this would work with snow tires to get me home and unless I see a real uphill test with snow I won't be getting a car like this as I hated not being able to get home with FWD cars and snow tires.
i have the eawd 2019 from nyc to dallas and it has not disappoint. 41.1 mpg without even trying to drive economically. it was driven and street parked in nyc winter where snow is just plowed to the side of the street. never got stuck. I had to give up my Abarth for this but I do miss mg Abarth :(.
I get 40mpg in my Rav4 Hybrid though, and it’s far more capable.
Did the Prius have winter tires on it ?
I think your testing this all wrong. The fact that the wheels did NOT spin is a WIN! It is not a 4x4 truck and is not meant for deep snow or off road. It's 7HP, that's it. Call what it is, it is a gas saving simple car that offers a little better traction with AWD on the models that offer it. It's a great car that gets great MPG.
I drove AWD Cadillacs as well as front wheel drive cars. This driving was done in the cold and snow as well as rain.
The biggest difference. The AWDs guzzled gas!
It's maybe too much of a compromise, they didn't want to hurt the mpg, but snow tires on a normal Prius make more sense. The ground clearance is nearly the same so a good snow bank will still beach it. That said I saw one of these in my town the month it launched, haven't seen many more though.
The rear tire was not spinning therefore it is getting more traction. Especially with the crappy tires it was amazing.
Try putting some snow tires on... it's a requirement in BC now to drive on highways from Oct 1st every year.
I went from an SUV with 0 to 60 mph in 6.9 seconds to one that does it in 8.6 seconds to save money. I have test drove a Prius and Crosstrek with a longer 0 to 60 time, but they seemed too slow for me, with numb steering compared to a Mazda. The Crosstrek did have very good braking feel. For most, adding better winter tires for the front wheels would be better than losing 3 miles per gallon all of the time, although it is a hassle to change tires more often.
I would have just changed jobs!
Which of the snowy states was this video recorded in?
I’m not sure my brain spun around enough to understand the logic of spinning rear tires = good
The music is perfect for this video.
The 2024 Camry is gonna have a e-motor in the rear. I hope they give it at least 30-40hp in order to kick the rear end out properly
Can you test same scenario with 2023 AWD Prius?
Is the awd on all of the time ? Or you have to turn it on ? Also is this a regular hybrid? Or a plug in?
Thanks in advance.
It engages under 6mpg regardless of need and then up to 40ish if it senses a need. I drove 2019 the other day. After. 5 mile test drive mpg posted at 51 however then I played around reversing, testing all sounds, for a bit and it fell like a rock to 38 mpg.
Not quite sure what this guy is expecting from this awd system. It does exactly what it is supposed to do.
It’s working, its not a 4x4 , the Electric motor just helps when needed. I driven both in the snow here in Colorado and you can tell the difference. It would be nice if it were say 12hp. And if you think thats bad, try driving my 2000 fwd 6spd toyota celica gts on snow… it’s horrible! I take one of the trucks instead.
Kyle, time for a remote mic, it will keep the audio levels the same across multiple shots.. The Prius are Fine for basic transportation, But are
No fun, have no soul. Gutless, and have way to much shiny plastic on the inside.
I think you are missing the fact that electric rear axle motor is much more responsive/sensitive to traction control than mechanical systems. That's why rear wheels don't spin even if the AWD does work/help. In many cases, all it takes is a more or less significant push to get a stuck car out so 7HP serves as that push,
and I like it better than being a source of that push myself.
On the other hand, I might be bias because I just ordered a 2022 LE AWD-e Prius... I just - based on almost 20 years of professional experience as a Mechanical Breakdown Inspector in the field AND an extensive personal experience - has learned to trust Toyota. And not to trust anybody else.
They SUKK in snow. Period
@@jamie.777 Compared to what? Of course my 4Runner is better. A lot better. In fact, I replaced that Prius (that I really loved!) with a Rav4 Hybrid AWD because I live in the middle of nowhere and need a bit more clearance. Rav is more suitable for my environment but handling and gas mileage are worse than Prius' but still better than any ford.
@@nofyfb123 2004 fwd prius. I got stuck 3 inches slush off ramp highway. Like a toy car 🚗 pushing with C batteries. Had it for 5 years in New england. It was TERRIBLE in slushy worcester hills. I also worked 3d shift and weekends. I was forced to drive un plowed roads, even state of emergency. I ran batch ,monitored servers, and did backups. Back then we did tape backups, and servers crashed a lot. The prius was left home after 3 times spinning wheels... even my chevy s10 rear wheel with no sand bags was better than prius in snow. 2000s early prius were bad. I can't speak for other years
I had the primitive prius. And my wife drove it mostly, I had crappy truck. It was definitely a gen1, and now after thinking 🤔 I actually had a 2004 lift back red. It did Disney 24 hours, Virginia 8 hour trip s , Canada trips. It was a odditie in 2004. Hybrid prius used sold fast. Loved it. Hated in snow. Was tan interior zero blind spot. Forced to sell, got minivan. 4 kids in car seats. I loved that car
I just got my 2020 Prius eAWD and I was able to get a tiny amount of oversteer turning in a gravel parking lot.
Very disappointed that this seems to be a rigged test to demonstrate the shortcomings of a hybrid power train. One other note is the 7 hp rear drive motor is not only to assist in poor traction environment but it provides regeneration to the rear tires to give balance to the handling (not a gimmick).
This is basically the same for all Toyota and Lexus AWD systems as they all suck! Nothing new here regardless of hybrid or not.
I don’t think this is a rigged test at all. Most people think they need AWD in order to drive in the snow/ice (mainly because they are misinformed). This shows that the rear motor is not that helpful in the snow and ice. It also comes with a big efficiency penalty, which is likely the main reason that people would be shopping for a Prius since hybrids are no longer the green status symbol they once were.
The loss in EPA rated fuel economy shows that any added regen braking from the rear motor is not enough to overcome the additional drag it puts on the vehicle, making it essentially a moot point. If it can only output 7hp, then realistically it could likely only regen 7hp or about 5kw. That’s not much in the world of electric motors on cars. The front motor generators don’t really regen that much either in the grand scheme of things (compared to an EV), certainly not enough to have a noticeable effect on handling or vehicle balance, so that’s another moot point.
Eh, it probably helps a little, but the difference made by a 7hp/50lb*ft motor driving the rear wheels is going to be substantially less than putting a decent set of snow tires on the vehicle. FWD cars are perfectly fine in the snow with proper snow tires, even those without the heavy front weight bias that a typical ICE car would have (like a FWD EV or hybrid). Besides, the marginal improvement in foul weather is only going to help slightly in foul weather, the 3MPG drop is going to hurt every day. This is just a response by Toyota to the AWD craze in some states like Oregon, Washington and Colorado. If a vehicle is sold with AWD or 4WD in those states as well as FWD or RWD, you will pretty much never see the 2WD version in those states. Toyota needed a way to put an AWD badge on a Prius, so they came up with this token effort.
I have a lot of experience with Prius, and for what it is (a basic commuter/eco car, made for people who drive way more than average miles and need maximum economy) it’s a decent car. The newer models have improved a lot in the areas where the older Prius really failed (like ride quality, interior build quality and road noise), but it is not an exciting car, nor will it ever be. It handles ok, better than most suvs or cuvs, but with the heavy weight for its size and narrow eco tires, grip is pretty limited. The tiny battery means it can only really assist the ICE for maybe 30 seconds to a minute before it is discharged (in non-PHEV models), after that you are driving a heavy car with less than 100hp. It works fine to maintain speed on most average hills, but if you are trying to drive it fast with a lot of changes in speed, the battery is discharged pretty quickly.
That thing shoots up a steep slick ramp and somehow it's a loss? You know it's taking a zillion impulses a minute to calculate how to use it's power in the best possible way?
Torque matters, not the horsepower.
Especially when speed is zero, hahaha
You can clearly see during the donut test, the rear tires break free briefly in the second try. They spin under power.
It's an AWD. Not a 4x4. Correct me if im wrong. But AWD sends power to a slipping tire. And 4x4 is power to all 4 tires at all times. So no tye rear tires wouldnt spin in AWD would they?
I'm looking at the ground clearance and see that this car won't be able to exist garage in a good snowy day
They do make 1.5 inch lift kits for the prius including the AWD-e one but the Rav4 hybrid might be better suited for you with 41 mpg highway and a more powerful engine.
Can you turn off the read motor, get the car stuck somewhere that the front motor can't get the car unstuck. Then turn on the read motor and see if it can get you unstuck. I see that as real benefit of the rear motor, along with the fact that the driver probably would never know went a two wheel drive Prius would have got stuck, but the all wheel drive kept them going. Sort of like we don't know how many times the 100D got us home whereas a 75D would have forced us to stop and charge. When you have the extra "whatever" you never realize when the extra saved you.
𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪, I don't know anyone else that tested the AWD-e system on snow
3:39 the car starts to finally move if anyone els want to see the action.
Everyone talks about AWD for snow. Maybe I'm not thinking about this correctly. Drive 2013 Prius II. Looking for new car - probably electric - but have had such good luck with my Prius as far as repair/maint costs that I looked at the new Prius AWDe. Here's what I can't stand about every Toyota I've ever driven - Prius, Corolla, Camry. They ALL feel like I'm losing the back end on some turns and for sure when pavement is even slightly wet. I thought AWD would solve that. Am I wrong?
Pls answer yes or no . Is TYOTA AWD worth buying . YES or NO.
Maybe..
Yes and no.
If a Gen 2 can rock crawl with a suspension lift, I'd like to see that the AWD-e can do.
ruclips.net/video/ifNDywTMKTE/видео.html
Given that in eurooe just fma decade or two ago they had cars with 24hp i would say 7hp might berly just do something on a light enough car
I was about to buy this car because of its AWD features.
Seems like i have to think twice now.
On the other hand, if the rear wheels were spinning like mad, that would prove that it was implemented poorly, and losing traction. You really want all 4 wheels just on the verge of spinning, but not actually spinning. I suspect that if you turn traction control back on, that's exactly what happens.
If that's 5 inches of snow, I'm John Holmes.
I would imagine that the Prius notices there is no traction on the rear wheel and prevents it from spinning. I wouldn't assume its just going to spin out the back wheel with no traction, it is an electric motor attached to computer car.
It's mock wheel drive. Seriously, Nimh battery because of the cold? Who is toyota kidding. Why not out some nice alkaline D cells like the first gen Prius. This AWD system with it's clear cost cutting approach gives options I suppose, but it's so compromised. Just get snow tires. Much better option. Hahaha.
Well he mentioned the nickel metal hydride battery is also more than double the capacity of the lithium pack. also the nickel metal hydride packs are more durable overall to both extreme heat and extreme cold. They have used the same internal Panasonic nickel metal hydride modules since 2004. And I believe were using them up until 2020 in all of the trims except the "Eco" trim which got the lithium pack.
There's a reason.
Because they work , and they're reliable and they have KNOWN reliability.. The lithium doesn't really gain you anything other than a weight savings in the vehicle. Why change something you don't need to when it doesn't really gain you anything? There is a very small efficiency gain because of the weight loss. But what will be the long term durability? Nobody knows yet.
This is coming from an owner of a 2008 Prius with 356,000 mi on it. I have put 156,000 mi on it in the last 3 years and it's still rolling on its original pack, and it still gives me between 45 and 50 MPG.
If you put winter tires on it and drive it like a Prius and not a Subaru, I think this will suit you just fine.
2:54 ultra comfortable ? First time I heard that .
People who don’t like sitting on a lithium bomb might prefer this vehicle
If you use winter tires the ABS will barely come on
A me piace molto la prius,vivo in Italia...da questo video (se un giorno dovessi acquistare la prius) ho capito che megli prenderla con la sola trazione anteriore, questo video ha confermato ciò che pensavo...abitando in Italia,la trazione integrale non mi serve,ha anche un costo maggiore...qui rottamando un veicolo euro 0 ,porti a casa la prius active (trazione anteriore) con 29.000 euro... vedremo sul da farsi ... Grazie per il video
I thought the testing was pretty good! I will disagree with the conclusion, sort-of, like many, but really the conclusion is perhaps more agreement than not? It’s stated the vehicle not spinning the rear wheels on an extremely icy surface, means the rear is not helping much. I think Toyota have in fact, done this exact test! They have literally tweaked all the fun out of it, and locked it there. Really, that’s what has happened probably. For insurance, for ‘safety’ and for the buyer who is not an ‘enthusiast’ to barely notice the rear driving force exists. Remember, most people drive FWD, a change in driving characteristics, would be potentially a shock, and put them off.
So while you might want breakaway, most normal Prius drivers won’t?! I think the fact remains, it’s a help - but my experience is, if you can lock the wheels together as if they were a solid axle, then either FWD or RWD, are both capable in most snowy situations. I think you are correct, that it’s a bit gimmicky and a bit practical, but then a lot of AWD are. Another issue, is the ground clearance. Many cars are so low now, in 6 inches of snow, they are ploughing the stuff, causing more force pushing against their efforts. Kind of waiting for a Prius Crossover? But, instead Toyota brought out the CH-R. Maybe Toyota should take ‘pledges’ to see what kind of special model of Prius people would put money down for, and make that?
The genius part, is that they are using this as a test bed, as they always used Prii, and this AWD does away with the connecting prop shaft fore and aft. They have to use software instead, which will serve Toyota well, as we proceed with electrifying vehicles. I really believe, the obvious end-point is an electric motor on every wheel instead of a drive shaft, and electronic/software differentials. This would enable a ‘virtual lockable diff’. You don’t need the brakes to kick-in with that to give traction control, for example, you just cut the current to the motor where the wheel is slipping. You lose all the weight of the differential gears too. But thanks for the testing, it was a good suite of tests I thought.
Loosing 3 MPG is a kinda hard penalty for an additional and mostly useless motor. How do they compare price wise? If the increase isn’t that big, well better have it and use it sometimes :D
If that’s 5” of snow, I feel bad for his partner.
put those front wheels over a patch of ice and see how it responds then
For the money I wouldn't get the awd but the bigger battery would be nice.
I'll say; i bet an extra 10hp for a total of 17hp to the rear electric motor would be that much better
I think I need to see a tug war in the snow then you would know if it helps
The batteries are for colder climates.
Dude its POWDER, try it in 2 inches of slush snow. Stuck on off ramp
Not worth the cost nor the complexity....just really good winter tires on the reg prius, imo
CAN YOU 50 PLUS MPGS WHEN THE AWD IS NOT IN USE
Pointless exercise - only boy-racers want the wheels to spin. Traction is what is required by the rest of us to get moving, especially on slippery inclines.
Try driving up an icy hill.
That's... literally... what he did in this video...
no prol'em??