Two battery choices for Gen4

My educated guess is that it will be bundled with various trim options.

I can see a eco option with lithium and led head lights and lower rolling resistant tires. You get 1 or 2 mpg more ;-) It will also probably come with the loaded trims. By 2018, I would expect lithium to cost less than nimh, but right now perhaps nimh costs are lower, and some people just want to use the nimh technology.

Toyota doesn't even allow a different tire choice except on trim.

 

Anyone noticed that Toyota people talks about next gen Prius and hint on surprises... Elon Musk comes out about Model 3 with delivery time frame, price and EV range projections.

 

I'd go further and add Nissan to the mix

Nissan - announces new Leaf with no range or efficiency changes, just fixes heat degradation issue. But at least they are in the EV game with at least one foot.

Toyota - leaks details about a car that will have efficiency improvements just doesn't detail the exact changes yet. Still avoiding the EV market like it would kill their business model.

Tesla - leaks details about a car that will have major ramifications on the entire auto industry, will likely come through enough to make those interested in their cars happy, will likely miss on one or two details leaving room for naysayers to complain about a home run hit knocked out of the park. Clearly the leader of the EV movement.

 

How is either Ford or GM or Honda any different?

None of them are pushing EV either. The only mainstream automaker reaching out beyond a minimum presence is Nissan with a rather strong push with respect to sales...and possibly Mitsubishi with very slow sales but still advancing their tech.

 

Ok I read and reread the article. I think this is just a reflection on what's available now. You can get the Prius Liftback with the NiMH battery or spring for the Plug-In Prius with the Lithium battery. Its essentially the same car on the outside and inside, except for the Plug and some software changes. They are even made on the same line. I think they are just pulling the Plug-In toward the rest of the Prius Liftback models as an extra model like such as Prius Six or start with One (for real) this time and make the Plug-In the Prius Five.

 

GM created a plug in hybrid with 3x the battery capacity of the Plug in Prius. If only they could have made it as reliable as a Prius it would be significant. As is I wouldn't touch one unless it cost half as much as a Plug in Prius.

I'm not sure how to pithily sum up Ford or Honda in the same way but if you think my comment about Toyota was just bashing for bashings sake you've got me wrong.

I still drive my Prius daily and happy to know it is the most reliable car I've ever owned.

I just want a pure EV that is just as reliable or more so and costs less per mile to own/use. Until I can afford such a beast I'll be driving the Prius.

 

dhanson865. Are you saying that the Volt is piece of junk? I wonder where did you get that info from? From what I have heard, it is the best GM car people have owned. They are only returning their leased car because of Ally Bank taking back the government $7500 credit when you buy off the lease.

 

I would have thought the lease company got the $7500 credit. Is it 'deferred' somehow?

Perhaps you could explain what is going on?

Bob Wilson

 

Toyota did the same with the Rav4EV originally with leases. They are now letting people have the $7500 after the lease end purchase. So this is a great deal for families that cannot get the $7500 IRS credit.

Look at Dianne's Rav4EV deal thread. The residual is around $20k at the end of 36 months lease.

 

Volt vs. Prius Reliability
Volt vs. LEAF Reliability
LEAF vs. Prius Reliability

2013 Chevrolet Volt 45
2013 Nissan Leaf 42
2013 Toyota Prius 4

2012 Chevrolet Volt 41
2012 Nissan LEAF 6
2012 Toyota Prius 8

2011 Nissan LEAF 7
2011 Toyota Prius 19

2010 to 2005 prius look reliable as well but there are no Leaf or Volt to compare against in those years.

To be clear I'd avoid the 2013 and 2014 Leaf as well but I consider the Prius and the early Leafs to be good safe choices. Sign up for an account on truedelta (its free) and read through the repair histories on some of those Volts, it's not the kind of issues I want to deal with in a car.

Imagine trying to repair a Volt that has 150,000 miles on it when it's out of warranty and half its systems are failing.

or put another way "best GM car I've ever owned" isn't as good as best Toyota I've ever owned.

 

AWD would be relatively easy to add-The new Lexus NX Hybrid that is coming out offers optional AWD, simply by adding another electric motor in the rear. When wheelspin is detected on the front tires, electric power is transferred away from the main traction motor to the rear one. The RX450h works the same way.