2012 Prius Plug-In Product Info (pdf)

I have emailed you in the past about each of my two Priuses, the last being the 2010IV. I am interested in the PIP, standard model. For me, the extra $7500 is not worth it. What do think?

i think it depends on the kind of driving you do, unless you're an absolute electric geek like some of us. btw, it's only 3-4000. after rebates. tell us about your commute and other driving.

Most of it are a few 8 mi round trips.I somehow average about 28 mi/day.
I really like the added tech stuff, but I don't see the need for the HUD or radar. I would miss the Homelink.
Here is a question. During weather extremes, how long before pure EV mode kicks in? Can you leave it in EV and it will go out and come back without you hitting the EV button as the current Prius has you do?
Hopefully, during the course of a day I can utilize the 10-13 EV miles.

Thanks

not sure i understand your question. describe 'weather extremes'. ev mode does not 'kick in'. if you set it for hv, engine will warm up right away and shut down when you don't need it. it won't use much of your wall charged ev unless you press ev. then, it will stay in ev unless you need heat, press on the gas pedal really hard or run out of wall charge.

I am not sure what hv is. "weather extremes" being below 32 or above 80. I really want to know is how can I maximize the use of the EV mode or the 10-13 mi gas free driving. I hopefully would get a lot of EV driving as compared to my present Prius.

nhalber, you can pick up a new HomeLink mirror for around $160 on Amazon, eBay, etc. Your dealer will likely charge more.

there's a ton of info here if you care to peruse some of the threads. look through the older ones because these issues were discussed quite a bit in the spring and early summer when pips were first being delivered. 'hv' is hybrid vehicle operating like a standard prius with ice and battery. when weather is cold ev will be reduced a bit, no one knows how much yet since they haven't seen a winter. but if you want heat, ice is going to run anyway. we do have heated seats, which will take a bit of juice. when weather is hot, range is similar unless you want a/c which will reduce it a bit as well. also, there is quite a bit of variation in ev range amongst users, anywhere from 6-20 miles it seems.

Taking the time to make observations like that, you'll discover the lack of a driving pattern for most people. The demands of real-world takes us all over the place.

Both are great. I really enjoy mine, but could never could up with a reason to call them a need. There is a small aspect of safety benefit though.

130°F is the initial warm-up threshold for the coolant. 114°F is all that's needed to run the heater in ECO mode. It takes a few minutes to reach that in the extremes... Minnesota that is, where my car sits outside all day in temperatures well below freezing while I work.

Not only can you leave it in EV, that is actually the default mode. You have to push the button to override. But even then, it will still shut off the engine. The difference is how much you want to draw from the battery-pack. EV is the maximum (known as EV-BOOST when the engine runs). HV is like the regular model Prius.

If you're hoping for 10-13 miles of EV during winter, that misunderstanding about efficiency will lead you astray. Whether or not the miles are labeled as "EV" has nothing to do with the resulting MPG. The capacity of the battery-pack will be utilized regardless.

Thanks, everyone. I am getting ready to buy/lease the standard PIP.

all the best!