If I'm going to drive 100% electric and pay the prices they want for the thing then I want to be

You need about 3.2 kWh from a "depleted pack" (no more EV range, although still enough juice to drive like a regular Prius).

Depending on your driving style and environment (geography/terrain/high or low speed, etc), you can get anywhere from 9 to 16+ miles on a full charge.

I don't believe Toyota, or anyone else here, has any illusions that the PiP can live as a pure EV. As a baby step into the world of EV driving with the dependability and efficiency of the Prius hybrid system, I think this car fits the bill perfectly.

I'm not sure the car you're looking for exists at least not at the PiP's base price of $32k. You could come close in a Nissan Leaf though.

 

Toyota chose the label "Plug-in Hybrid" carefully. The PiP is fundamentally a very good hybrid with a larger battery that you can plug in to get some energy from the grid, and you use the larger battery capacity for more regeneration.

Similarly, Chevrolet carefully chose the label "Extended Range EV" for the Volt. The Volt is an EV with a range-extending gasoline engine. It is not particularly efficient as a hybrid (compared to the Prius).

It is fully expected that many people could have a Volt and never or rarely use the gasoline engine. That is not true for the PiP.

 

Your expectations for this vehicle are unreasonable. You need to do research.

Go buy a Tesla (and try to get enough juice to your house to charge it under 24 hours)

 

I have a 2010 Prius, am interested in the plug-in. Can you drive at cold startup in winter weather in pure EV mode?
Thanks

 

The defroster probably would kick in the ICE, SO.....NO

 

I look at the vehicle differently. For the 11 miles I drive it in pure EV (12 miles with the A/C off), roughly 40% of my driving, it is the most practical electric vehicle on the planet. For the remaining 60% of miles driven in HV mode, it is the most practical gas vehicle on the planet.

Put the two together, and nothing else comes close.

Numbers wise, a full charge costs $.30 (at peak, less at night) around here, roughly a third of what it costs in gasoline to drive the same distance in HV mode.

 

I'm not sure why you think getting 100+mpg, as most PIP owners do, is a small step? Just because you can't go 100miles on a charge and have a 500+ miles range doesn't mean the car is not advanced.

The fact is, the PIP is not designed to be a pseudo EV. It is designed to save fuel. It does this very well. Even people like me with a 50mile (1way) freeway commute could save a significant amount of fuel with a PIP once you learn how to take advantage of the limited EV power. It's like a hypermilers dream!

 

tonite, i went to work, made a side trip to lowe's and came home. 16.1 miles and 1.5 left of ev range. it's not a hundred miles, but it sure feels like it. i love this car more each day, kinda like my wife!

 

Mine charges from empty in less than 2 1/2 hours on regular household current. Costs less than $.40 per charge, which will usually take me 15 miles, a little less with the A/C on if I go out in the heat of the day. On my longer trips I still get excellent mileage, 60+ mpg in traffic. I would love to have an EV if I could get one with a reliable range of 250 miles or more for the price of a Prius Plug-in. Maybe some day; in the meanwhile, I'm very happy with what Toyota has done.

 

The way I look at this car is the overal MPG, not just the EV range or HV MPG.....

Ive only had mine for 430 miles so far....its only 6 days old. But for my normal week where my day consists of approx 30% EV I am at a overal MPG in 430 miles distance of 85mpg. Now I know that will keep going up since the first 79 miles were all HV due to getting car brought in from another dealer which was all HV.

Moral of story....almost bought a regular prius, but paid 8 bucks more per month and got a PIP instead, would have got about 50mpg on reg prius....PiP im at 85mpg. How can you not see how great these PiPs are!

Dan

 

To the Op etobia, Can you better explain what you are trying to achieve. Saying if you plug in it has to go 100miles is just a desire, not a reason why. We'd all like our cars to go 100miles on EV, for free, but that unrealistic.

I see you have a 2010 Prius.. in which case I'd say you should just keep it for8-10 more years and the market will advance and maybe you'll be able to get your 100miles with low cost by then. Note that if you want to be green you should keep cars a long time (lots of pollution, energy and CO2 in building a new one). If you want to save money, you should keep your car a long time. If you want to have new shinny toys, then buying/leasing every few years is your choice, but then fuel economy is not your priority.

You say you don't want a volt because you drive long trips.. what does that mean to you. How many miles per day/ week commuting? How many long trips? How long? Only with that can people comment on the overall MPG you might expect. For some, like ultraturtle, the PiP seems the ideal car. For others they can reduce their gas usage more with a longer-range. But without out data on your needs/commute, people cannot provide feed back. (And FYI, to just make the same somewhat agressive/attacking comment on two different threads, is somewhat trollish. )

Also you just want to look at data on PiP performance, might want to check out this thread and its associated spreadsheet.
PIP & MPG Spreadsheet | PriusChat

 

Hey etobia... You live in New York State like I do, and you own a 2010 Model III Prius now. How would you like to own a brand new 2012 Prius Plug-in for almost the exact same net capitalized cost as a new 2012 Gen III Prius Model Three? That's what I did. Your dealer (I am not a dealer, just a very happy Prius Plug-in buyer) is not doing you any favors not telling you about this deal (see picture attachments). Get the Federal Government's $3,150 OFF Subvention Lease Agreement PLUS $2,500 Federal Income Tax Credit deal that I did two weeks ago. Pay almost 0% interest (.024%) on your lease payments (.00001 money factor - $17,600 residual). It is only good until September 4, 2012. You will have to hurry to remove ALL OF YOUR worries about paying too much for a Plug-in. Forget paying $32,000! You can have your cake and eat it too! When the lease is up in three years, check out what new hybrid/EV vehicles are out with even better battery technology to give you the 100+ miles you crave in EV mode. Start enjoying the 11 or so EV miles you do have on your daily commute. That's what we are doing right now. My wife and I are really, really enjoying the Plug-in ($.107 average cost/KWh times 3 hours to charge = about $.32 to $.35 / day). You could be too. Good luck....

 

this is what I did.....As i said above I only payed 8 dollars more per month then i was about to for a reg prius. Same amt deposit, same term, everything else was same. So 8x36 payments is only 288 dollars more I paid over a reg prius.

I was all set to be reg prius....my sales guy called me two days before i was about to buy and he told me the new programs came from toyota on august 1st. I thought he was trying to get me for a bigger deal but when he told me 8 bucks more only, I was like NO BRAINER!

Dan

 

To the OP, don't let perfect be the enemy of good.
When you are ready for a new car, look at which one gives you the most of what you want compared to what else is available. If it isn't enough of an improvement for you, stick with what you have. No one is forcing you to buy.

 

Are you implying that charging a Tesla at home overnight is somehow hard?

The cheapest Model S charged on a dryer outlet (240v, 24 amps) will recharge its entire 160 mile range in a bit over 8 hours. With a 40 amp outlet, a full 300 mile range Model S could be charged in 9 and a half hours. If one's house doesn't have a large enough electric panel to run a dryer, one might need to upgrade to the twentieth century. Most houses built after 1950, have at least 100 amp (240 volt) service. Modern houses are more likely to have 200 amp service. Perhaps you need to do research.

 

I think it's about 10 hours to fully charge a Tesla on a 240. But, that said, with the range it offers, one would not expect to have to do a full charge, but rather constantly top off.