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Prime vs Prius vs tesla 3

Discussion in 'Prime Main Forum (2017-2022)' started by Prius775, Mar 15, 2020.

  1. Rmay635703

    Rmay635703 Senior Member

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    I would not get a Tesla for that commute.

    even with excellent public charging coverage you may run into a great deal of frustration .


    if occasionally having a failed charge, extra time waiting somewhere or a cab is an adventure go for it.



    personally if you are talking brand new and you are willing to drive for the car take the Prime, it’s usually cheaper than a standard lift back.
     
  2. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    True for the old Model S, but the Model 3 standard range is one of the most efficient plug ins available. The Prime might be 10% better than the long range one. The performance models get worse, but 30kW/100 mi to the Prime's 25.
     
  3. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Another car for consideration is the Camry Hybrid LE. Specifically the LE as it has higher mpg than the SE and XLE models. A Camry is nicer to drive on the highway.

    The regular Prius is still the cheapest option to buy and to maintain.

    I chose the Prime because the overall purchase price was significantly lower than an TM3 LR AWD and still a decent chunk cheaper than the SR RWD. Plus I still get the electric efficiency (11kWh/100km in the summer and 15kWh/100km in the winter). My daily travel is within the range and even on days where I exceed that, there are enough free chargers at malls and places I frequent than I still remain in EV mode. I’m still have slightly over half a tank of gas from Nov 2’s refuel. I expect to refuel in May or June.

    When I’m in HV mode, it’s ridiculously efficient. 60mpg is easy.
     
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  4. hans1

    hans1 Member

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    For my daily 40 miles roundtrip, and occasional long trip, the Prime is 'almost' ideal. Fun in EV mode and great mpg otherwise.

    If I drove as much as you though, I would seriously consider a RAV4 hybrid or (if you can wait, and have access to a dealer where you can actually get one at a decent price when they're out later this year) RAV4 Prime.

    If you haven't driven an SUV with the higher seating and better visibility in traffic, it seems to be less stressful and a RAV4 hybrid or Prime has good acceleration, and might be a better overall experience for long drives?
     
  5. Rmay635703

    Rmay635703 Senior Member

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    If money is no object (still cheaper than Tesla)
    and he only keeps a car until warranty expiration the newer 2017+ BMW I3 REX will do his commute if he codes hold mode. It has a higher more upright seating position and if he has difficulty charging he can limp home on the gas burner.

    further out of the PHEV options he would get the most battery range.
     
  6. benagi

    benagi Active Member

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    I got what he was saying in his reply above. I was just letting him know that mine was $.50 a day before I got solar.
     
  7. evpv

    evpv Active Member

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    Base model Prime can be under $20k after Toyota discounts, dealer discounts, utility discounts, and state & fed tax breaks.

    Here’s a handy tool that finds incentives in your zip code:

    PlugStar Shopping Assistant
     
  8. hill

    hill High Fiber Member

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    sauce for the goose. Switch two words around from your sentence and it makes the same logic;

    Remember, some of these older used Tesla's come with lifetime supercharging.
    2013 Tesla Model S | eBay
    It's really whatever works best for the purchaser. There are getting to be a lot more plugins with longer-range which - if you seek to run mostly Electric, one might search a few other models.
    .
     
  9. Rmay635703

    Rmay635703 Senior Member

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  10. Jon Bloom

    Jon Bloom Member

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    Maybe. One has to do the math in either case, but even used Teslas are much more expensive than a used Prius, so I suspect the math still works in the Prius' favor. And he still likely has to pay for some electricity for home charging with either car, but more for the Tesla.
     
  11. Prius775

    Prius775 Junior Member

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    Thanks all for the input. To clarify some questions this would be a LONG TERM commute I am moving my career to California and would need to stay there for retirement purposes. Eventually I may move there but not for at least 18 months. I love the mountain area of South Lake Tahoe etc / Reno so that will be home for now.

    Ive decided to go with the Model 3. Its just too much fun and with the auto-pilot feature its going to make driving a lot less stressful let alone a lot safer.
     
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  12. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i would have a tesla now except:

    i'm waiting on a model y

    i'm waiting for the $30,000. version after all incentives

    i'm waiting for more superchargers

    i'm waiting for more range

    i'm waiting for faster charging
     
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  13. CraigCSJ

    CraigCSJ Active Member

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    For $1200 a Prius Prime and many Prius can be equipped with OpenPilot and have most of the capabilities of Tesla auto-pilot.
     
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  14. E-GINO

    E-GINO Active Member

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    Even if I have a full EV battery, I always drive HV mode on the highway: the car is much more pleasant to drive than with a depleted battery (i.e. like a regular-but-heavier Prius) overtaking is a breeze and the fuel economy excellent (around 60 MPG@ 80 Mph).
    So, in terms of driving pleasure, I would definitevely say Prius Prime.
     
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  15. Prius775

    Prius775 Junior Member

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    I understand that it can have similar capabilities, however when it comes to "fun" the prius doesn't come close to performance or acceleration of the tesla.
     
  16. hill

    hill High Fiber Member

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    there are several cars that have DIY instructions for openpilot. I wonder if there are any shops that install it in Calif.
    .

    curious - how so?
    The Gen 2 Chevy Volt has the same feature, called "Hill hold" though for the life of me, who can figure why they would rather run their electric only going up a hill. 50+ ev miles - and the (discontinued) 2019 can charge @ 7.2kW's which is pretty dang sweet.
    .
     
    #36 hill, Mar 24, 2020
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 25, 2020
  17. MTN

    MTN Active Member

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    Heck no! Can you imagine the liability!?!
    I'm all for semi and fully autonomous vehicles, but this whole DIY-openpilot thing is insane. People should not be modifying their personal vehicles for use on public roadways like that. If they get in an accident, I hope the injured is able to subpoena their device records and bankrupt them for their little experimenting. Playing around with other people's lives isn't cool.
     
  18. E-GINO

    E-GINO Active Member

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    Even regular Prius, when the SOC is above the 60%, is more reactive to the accelerator inputs, however, this "state of grace" lasts just until the SOC is down to 60% or below.
    When the EV portion of the traction battery is depleted, the Prius Prime behaves in similar way.
    When the the EV portion of the TB is full, the Prime behaves in a similar way of the regular Prius with TB SOC > 60%, except that this state of grace lasts a lot longer.
    Such exuberance in HV mode is more evident with stronger accelerator inputs, I think because the DCL (discharge current limit) of the Prime is well above the DCL of the regular Prius; in other words, we have more power available.
    With the regular Prius (I had a Gen 3), on highways I always switched on Power Mode, as this made overtaking easier; with the Prime in HV mode and a full TB, this is not anymore necessary.
     
  19. Rmay635703

    Rmay635703 Senior Member

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    hill hold is a parking brake feature that keeps you from rolling backwards when you stop on a hill.


    The thing you are referring to is called mountain mode and it targets a specific battery SOC so if you drive in actual mountains you don’t have a 15mph BMW I3 experience. And It’s a holdover from the Gen 1 Volt and it’s sometimes anemic generator tune.


    Hold Mode is just a set it and forget it engage the engine while neither charging or discharging the battery. (Aka hybrid now)
    This is the most useful mode because you can use up all your EV power in the city and at lower speeds and engage the engine exactly when you want it on long steady highway trips. This increases overall efficiency.

    mthat s how I do this

    3AA93844-4F1B-403F-B243-9ED82F358FD8.jpeg
     
  20. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    Also, the Prime uses a oneway clutch to allow MG1 to add its torque to that of MG2 which gives a nice power boost in EV mode.