Third fastest selling car in America

Toyota Prius Plug-In third fastest-selling car in America

Of course they are not aware that we all per-ordered these cars last October, and have been waiting for them. This has people all worried on the "MyNissanLeaf" forum, that we are going to take up all of their J-1772 public chargers. Only if the PiP continuous brisk sales would this continue be true, but we all know Toyota only plans to make 15-20K PiPs this year, amazing how little most know about what they "report" on.

If you want to see the MNL thread, I have been replying to it, since I have been a member there for the last 2 years:

My Nissan Leaf Forum • View topic - An Argument That We Need To Kill

I think immediate sales numbers on any new vehicle can be misleading.

You only get real feel, once the vehicle is readily available, and been on the market a while.

For example, I'll be more interested how the Prius c, is selling a year from now, as opposed to right now.

There can be a "New Thing" Dud Thud....

But most often there is a "New Thing" bounce....

And I think a world where Prius and Leaf owners are worried about running out of public chargers.....is a great, great step in the right direction.

Better concern about lack of charging stations...than debates about lines at gas stations.

I only read the first page of the MNL thread referenced and its good to see that there are logical and level headed Leaf owners/enthusiasts in the discussion.

I do agree that charging stations (yes yes, EVSEs) are more critical for Leafs/BEVs. And although I'm of the belief that if you drove beyond your range, it should not be our (the rest of society's) problem. To me, this is akin to running a bank or corporation into the ground and asking for government/taxpayer assistance.

However, I also understand "crap happens". If a Leaf or BEV needs to charge, it needs to charge. Its like giving up your seat on the bus for a pregnant lady.

What I do have a problem with is when people feel it is their RIGHT to have privileged access to these resources as if its based on some kind of EV class structure.

What I find ridiculous about these discussions is, we're talking about an open space, right? I pull up to the shopping center, I see an open charging station. Am I expected to NOT use it because a Leaf/BEV MIGHT come to the shopping center at the same time I'm there? What if there are 2 charging spots. Should I not use one because there may be 2 Leafs/BEVs that may come to shop at the same time? What if there are 4 spots? When is it OK for a PHV to utilize an unused resource?

What many of the whiners are basically saying is that these charging resources should either be used by Leafs'BEVs or unused, period. Seems like a waste of resources to me. If I was a business owner who paid to install a charging station, I would like to see maximum utility/maximum benefit.

Handicapped parking spaces have been around forever. Should there be signs that say a person on crutches should move their car if a person with a wheelchair needs the handicapped space?

Wait, but lets not stop there. How about single toilet restrooms? Should there be a sign that says if someone needs to pee really really really bad (yeah, must be 3x really, no less) that you should defer your use of the bathroom until the person who needs to pee 3x really bad is done. Or even better, you just shouldn't use the bathroom at all because there might be a guy who needs to pee really really really bad that is going to need it soon.

With that said, I have no issue sharing. I will use a placard or card on my dash that lets other people know that they can call me (I will move). Yes, I know that I may be potentially towed because of the poorly written law, but that's why I would rather the person just call me, not unplug me. That's a pain in the ass, right? Right.. thats why I wont even be plugging in at places where I think I may need to move my car.. why bother (like a single charger at the mall.. not a good idea).

Ultimately, if we follow some kind of protocol and just not be dicks to each other, the ones who dont really need the charge will quickly realize its not always in their interest to plug in just because they can.

Well said

wow, there are some real idiots over there, but you see that on all car forums.

No car has a right over the other, thats just absurd. Common courtesy does need to be exercised though, make no mistake. I wont plug in my car if I am going to be in an establishment for over 45 minutes. In fact I see little need to plug in at any place other than home or office for the most part.

I do love the car vs. car arguments though about which one is better than the other etc. Such a time suck for all those involved. Buy what you want and enjoy it! Move on.

I posted on the blog, explaining to the author that the vast majority of cars delived in April, and also March, were pre-ordered, and that's why they only sat at dealers until customers could arrange to take delivery.

What is a business owner to think when he can collect only $2/hour for a PiP charge vs. $4/hour for a Leaf or Tesla? Yes, the owner wants 100% utilization, but he doesn't want the PiP to crowd out higher-paying EVs. If everyone pays the same flat rate, $4/hr, then most PiP owners won't use it, as many have already gone on record saying.

I agree it is a tough issue. It is not necessarily EV class warfare, but having separate charging spots for PiP and other 110V capable PHVs vs. higher capacity charging spots for other EVs makes a lot more sense. I trust the market to sort this out, but in the meantime it could be painful for both sides.

My problem has always been with non EVs parking where they were clearly marked for EV Charging only. I think they should add a warning for towing or moved the chargers further away from the main entrance to make them less convenient for anyone but EVs to park

This pic was taken at Walmart ( Lakewood, CA)

Yeah, I see that a lot too. I just seems most people dont give a crap about what the sign says unless it says something about towing or a fine. Whether its EV parking only, Restaurants-on-the-Run only, To-Go Order Pick Up only, Expectant Mother Parking only, or Family Parking only.. I always see people "breaking the rules".

With all the examples I listed above, I can almost understand how someone would think they could get away with parking in those designated spots since its hard to verify. But EV parking only?

Leaf/BEV owners should be directing their anger and frustration towards those people. If they even spent half their time complaining about ICE'd EV spots as they do sitting on forums whining about PHEV owners potentially using EV chargers, maybe they would actually make some progress.

:focus:

Notice that it doesn't say third best-selling (as in number of cars sold). It's the third fastest - that is, third shortest average number of days that the car spends on the dealer's lot.

And since they were all pre-sold, of course they moved fast.

Well, all of them except the languishing PHEVs at Dianne's shop…

Green Car Reports echoing the same sentiments...

2012 Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid: 3rd Fastest-Selling Car In U.S.?

Just finished reading the mnl thread about the EV/PiP charger spot issue. I certainly understand their perspective as they genuinely have no other choice. More important, I'm glad I went with a PiP. Last thing I need is to worry about finding a charging station.

If I pull into a parking lot with an EV space, I'll use it to park and charge my PHEV. If I get there before a needy Leaf, there's nothing I can do about it. I'm not going to start carrying around placards.

However, I see that happening about once every couple of years at this point.

When I had knee surgery, I didn't worry about parking in handicapped spots that might be wanted by others with handicap stickers. First come, first served.

One other thought: if I were a Leaf owner, I doubt I'd rely on public charging station access--which is one of the reasons I didn't consider buying a Leaf, as much as I'd love to have an EV instead of a PHEV. I'll just have to wait for a 250-mile-range EV--maybe the 2016 Prius EV.

longterm, very well put!

It would be nice to have 250-mile-range in 2016... but it sure is nice to have what we have NOW. Other people don't know what they're missing. I just love my Prius Plug-In Hybrid (PiP / PHEV, whatever you want to call it).

This car is awesome!

I think it's important to have courtesy and to leave a placard/contact info/directions (like unplug me, if you really need the charge) in case there is a needy EV. You said it right there, the Leaf could be needy.

He might not be able to get home or to his next destination w/o charging. Your PiP charges quickly and doesn't need electricity to get home.

Unfortunately, there's no mandate/law about etiquette... I plan to get get a Leaf (don't have one yet, long story), but if I ever do you public charging, I do plan to follow charging etiquette.

Maybe in your area would you "see that happening about once every couple of years at this point", but in other areas w/lots of EVs, I'm sure it'd happen way more often.

Leaf owners who need the electricity are welcome to unplug the charger from my car. I unplugged one from a charged Leaf last week. The chargers say whether charging has stopped or not, and the Leaf has a row of blue lights on the dash that indicate whether it's charging.

Public charging is a need to Leaf owners. It's only a "nice-to-have" to us. As far as I'm concerned, they have the priority.

well, it's nice to see some PiP owners having a good attitude toward BEVs. i'm not sure why so many here have said that leaf owners should not drive beyond their range. i have to ask then, why is there any public charging infrastructure at all? if everyone is using public chargers just to top off or for opportunity's sake, there's not much point in building out all this public infrastructure. everyone, be they PHEV or BEV owners, should just charge at home and that's that.

Thought of analogy:
Maybe we can think of it like standing in line to use a public bathroom. Hahaha. Some may have a very urgent need and can't wait. Usually I will let the person who needs it more the place ahead of me. Sometimes my own need isn't so urgent but I will use it because I don't want to deal with the potential situation of a desperate need.

Oh well this is probably off topic and maybe TMI (too much information). But in response to the discussion of Public EV charging stations.

You obviously don't see a difference between enabling and convenience.

You chose to buy a Prius Plug-in in part because you wouldn't want to be caught out needing a public charger that's occupied yet think nothing of occupying one.

Of course, that attitude doesn't surprise me and selfish opportunistic charging is in fact my main concern with short-range plug-ins.