Planning my next Prius, plug-in or no?

What about the traditional cars that don't come with a spare? This certainly isn't new to PiP.

 

As bisco has done, many of us buy some sort of spare. Some have bought a salvaged donut from a parts recycler. I bought mine for around $50 and don't really miss the space it takes in the cargo area. It's strapped down with the strap that comes with the car. At least the PiP comes with a jack, so you're good there.

 

I use my 2010 Gen3 Prius as the spare. Four out of my last four flat tires have been via a nail or screw in a tire and a slow leak. I wake up and have a flat. So I can use my other car if DW doesn't need it. Else I can use the spare in that car and replace if I don't want to call AAA. If I'm out somewhere and get a flat then I'll have to call AAA or Toyota roadside assistance. Based on my last 25+ years of driving, it might happen once. But it might not. I'm good with 99.99% chance I won't need it.

Mike

 

Not sure what I'd do right now. If I had a job where the commute was less than 12 miles and the job end had a way to recharge, I'd be much more inclined to do it again. My mpge is less than 70. That's a 30 mile daily (one way) commute at freeway speeds, with mixed stop and go driving at times (which tends to raise the mpge). The dollars and cents don't ever work out. It's an expensive car. With our electricity rates, gas has to cost more than $4/gal to make a difference. While it's been hovering there for the past several years, it's not now. So EV actually costs more than HV right now. Oh well. As others mentioned, the price point for gas won't stay down forever. I think if I had to do it again for the longer haul right now, I'd probably look into a Tesla experience.

 

i don't know of a way to find out how many, but certainly quite a few. but many have just made sure they have a good plugging kit and the right tools, good jack and etc., while others feel their cell phone and toyota roadside or AAA are all they need.

 

Get the PiP. If you can swing it and find a PiP Advanced, try that one.

 

Yep get the PiP! Has better long term capability if ever you should need it. You'll have many more options in any future energy scenario.


iPad ? HD

 

My only comment is that the Li-Ion batteries in the PiP explicitly have a disclaimer regarding degradation. I know that my previous '04 (now with my son) has 280,000 miles and still gets >42mpg. We need about seven more years of data to definitively prove the Li-Ion batteries will hold up as well.

 

I seem to remember reading that the Li-Ion battery is rated 600 or 700 or maybe 1000 charge cycles. I'm past two years and don't seem to notice any lost capacity...just the way I drive reduces the amount of EV I have. I don't know the cost of a replacement battery pack but it should be similar to the older style and just need replaced sooner...maybe 100k instead of 200k; HOWEVER this only affects the charging capability, NOT the PiP's standard HV operation like the standard Prius. It is my understanding that they are two separate parts of the pack.

 

2 charges per day times 2 1/2 years? that can't be right. 10,000 maybe. there is only one pack, and it's expensive.

 

I usually only have one charge per day but sometimes have two. I think it's 6-700 cycles They're rated how many cycles until you lose a certain % of capacity, normally half but not certain of the number Toyota uses.

Right now I have 9 miles capacity on a full charge according to the HSI. I forget when it dropped to 9 but it was gradual and its hovered there for as long as I can remember.

 

i'm at 13, down from 15.5 in summer. should hover close to that until spring. 17,000 ev miles, not too much discernible degradation.

 

When I started driving it, my style was a little crazy so I was at 12.x in the beginning

 

ya, that'll do it. mine was little old ladyish.

 

Are you sure the charge cycles are not referring to complete charge and discharge cycles? Since each charge of the PIP battery neither fully charges or discharges the battery it should last quite a bit longer.

 

I believe that's exactly what it refers to. That's why it hasn't drastically reduced in capacity so far

 

well, since you can never have a complete cycle, it should last forever.

 

Haha. I would hope that Toyota comes up with an increased capacity battery retrofit by the time it needs replaced. Although, they would be more likely to put that into a new model.

 

85% is what Toyota deems "full", stopping there rather than going to 100% for the sake of prolonging the life of the battery.

23.5% is cutoff for EV. Below that, high draw is prevented for the sake of longevity.

18% is the limitation for HV, for the sake of the battery preservation too.

It's well thought out approach, avoiding stress from charge-level extremes. There's also a timer to allow "cold soak" time for the battery (letting it rest before recharging).