New Prius Plug in less than impressive

Not only the driving pattern but also the recharging pattern as well. I though his example shows you can do something more with the smaller battery pack. The result was 62 EV miles in a day. It is not convenient to recharge more often publicly now but the future points to more accessability.

Not much can be done with Volt to increase gas mileage, add a 5th seat, refund the cost of the extra battery, add more cargo volume. Just pointing out the negatives and what you can do (or the lack of) to compansate. I am not attacking the Volt. Feel free to discuss both the positives and negatives.

 

Its easier to increase the Volt gas mileage, just drive slower and more careful. I've already had highway driving days at 50mpg, and with lower speeds one can break 60mpg. Driving slower it is probably easier/faster than the multiple stops Irun needed to get a trip with 62 EV miles. (And with a Volt, getting that 62 EV would have required less mid-day charging time).

I expect that, compared to the Prius PiP, my added cost of the extra battery is recovered in 8 years, but that depends on power rates and driving patterns.


The PiP can be impressive for some, especially dedicated divers like iRun, and for others, like the OP, less so. They say Your Milage May Vary (YMMV), and when it comes to PHEV, I think it better to say Your Milage Will Vary Wildly (YMWVW)


To the OP (machie).. this thread offered you lots of ideas to improve your performance.. have you tried any? Are you more impressed now?

 

Second the motion. :focus:

I think he was waiting until the weekend to get the car from his wife.

 

How does it work where there is a single HOV lane? Can one be ticketed for poking along at the speed limit in an HOV/carpool lane?

 

Given the commute you, and the fact that you can plug in at work it seems like a Volt would have been a far better choice.

 

I think you could be cited for "impeding traffic." Then, if the citation listed your speed and the maximum speed for the location, you could argue the point in front of a judge/traffic commissioner.

 

Just because you're driving in the HOV lane does not give you the right to exceed the legal speed limit. You cannot be ticketed for impeding traffic if you are doing the limit, although if an emergency vehicle was trying to pass, you do have to move to the right. :car:

 

unfortunately, you can be ticketed for anything. it's upto a judge to decide if you were in the right or wrong.

 

Apparently, not true. See my earlier post.

 

So this is my first post on these forums, but wanted to share my experience.

I have about a 10.5 mile each way commute to work. I picked up my PiP about 5 weeks ago. We have a ChargePoint charger at work, but it took me a week before I got the access card so my first week of commuting I was only charging 1 way.

This week I finally had to fill the tank up for the first time... after 800+ miles of driving. This was mostly commuting back and forth from work, but included a couple of 75mi road trips. Now, I think I'm probably the exact demographic for this car. Folks with long commutes would not benefit as much because the battery would run out. But I am averaging about 110mpg for something that i feel is comparable to other mid-sized family sedans. That makes this purchase pretty worthwhile to me.

I do have a few nits to pick about the car. I am sensitive to the torque shifts when the electric or gas motor kick in and out of the HSD. The Eco mode seems to delay pedal response. I find turning it off improves the driving experience and doesn't get me significantly worse or better mileage. This could probably use some tuning. Finally, the throttle and CVT response seem a little non-linear which gives the car a drive-by-wire feel.

Overall, though, I'm ver happy with the car and hope to continue enjoying 100mpg+ for my driving habits.

 

congrats! you do have the perfect commute. re: your nits, i barely feel the engine kick in and out, but i have been driving pri for over 8 years. agreed on the eco, but it probably works well for people who cannot control their lead foot. i prefer not to use it. it's definitely a drive by wire feel, that's what i love about it! what were you driving before, it was probably a lot more responsive.

 

Congratulations! Welcome to the club.

 

I'm probably a little more forgiving, having driven a combined 130K+ miles in an '04 and an '06. But I do notice what feels like a little skip or shudder sometimes. I use ECO mode all the time; in fact have never tried POWER. I do a bit more open freeway driving, so my mileage isn't as good as yours. But still, I'm able to do just about all of my local driving on battery (no regular commute, as I'm mostly retired) and am averaging 80-90 mpg most of the time. I figure I'll probably notice it less and less as time goes on, the way it took some time to get used to the ICE shutting down at stops on the previous cars. Congratulations on your new Prius, and it looks like you are indeed the intended demographic with your short commute.

 

The PHV that saves the same 0.25 Gallons (1 L) per charge, doesn't matter if it's getting 60 MPG on a 110 mile or 100 MPG on a 26 Mile trip. Is that worth the $7,000 bump over a similar Prius for MPG bragging rights? My math, comes to over 9,000 charges at zero cost electricity to break even. But I'm getting 80 MPG, nah nah

 

It's only a $6,500 bump between a Prius 3 and a PiP. Also, the $2,500 federal tax credit reduces that bump down to $4,000. If you live in CA, there's a $1,500 rebate that further reduces the bump. So yes, it is worth it.

 

9000 charges is probably beyond the lifetime of the battery.. But then again , as others pointed out, the price difference is not really 7K.

But the "value" is not just financial.. what's the cost of clean air and keeping your money local? Your power payments are to local companies, your gas is not.

 

I wanted something electric. Knowing that the Tesla was impossible due to pricing and lack of availability, I checked out the various electric-only vehicles, as well as the Volt and the Prius.

I owned two Prius: a 2004 and 2007--both 2nd generation; and being the sole driver, I was ready to ratchet back down to a single vehicle. When I compared the travel ranges of the all-electric models, I found that I would have had to keep a Gen 2 prius--probably the 2007--for trips beyond 30 to 50 miles.

Given the facts, I decided to go with the Plug-In Prius. Sure, an 11-mile electric range isn't anything to brag about really; but I don't commute and a lot of my driving is just short round trips that fit within the 11-mile range. And whenever I drive into the garage, I charge up; sometimes three or four times a day. So the 11-mile range becomes 20 or 30 depending on how many times I go out to run errands.

For my driving style, the PiP is working out and makes good sense. I saved $$$ by dropping the insurance on a 2nd car, I have only one car to maintain, and that one car takes care of short trips as well as long ones when I need to make them.

Will the PiP gain range in the future? Probably. How long will that take? Who knows. Will I upgrade when that happens? Very likely.

BTW...although I got my HOV stickers today, when I made the buy decision I didn't even know there was a new program for the PiP; that was just a nice surprise after I made the purchase!

 

Saarp: if I may ask--what color is yours? You and I share the same city, and I reflexively check every Prius I see for the "Plug-in" badge, but cannot say I've seen one yet. I've seen more Volts thus far (3).

More anecdotal fodder for this thread: my family also "fits the demographic" & are averaging just north of 120mpg after 850 miles. The car certainly isn't perfect, but I wouldn't cut steak with a spoon, as it were. I admit I rarely hit 80 mph, and honestly don't give a lot of thought to being run over due to a lack of speed--that's edge case at best on a multi-lane highway. Lastly, I am a buy-and-hold person and am keenly interested in the whole equation: the embodied energy in producing the car negates fuel consumption for many years.

 

There were no answers to the diagnostic questions about how you're driving that might indicate such a low mile EV drive. There might be some logical answers as to why that might be useful.

I'm just sayin'...

 

Congrats on your PiP Purchase. But any of the BEV's (leaf or iMiEV) would easily handel 70 miles, (though maybe you mend you would need something for longer than 70 not 30-50) . And Volt would do them in Cali most of the year yet still allow you the very long trips. Of course is fine to just prefer the Prius, but the needing a second car for long trips not true if one goes with a Volt. (And the MPG tradeoff will then depend on the balance of trips 50 miles and those over 200. For most people the short miles in EV more than add up to cover the long trips. Medial MPG on voltstats.net is over 170, with more than 70% EV.