Why the Prime and not the regular Prius?

got the Prime for bumper2bumber commute. I didn't want to have the motor doing a lot of start and stop, just charge batt in fast part of commute.

I asked several dealers if that was possible and they all swore up and down the batt could ONLY be charged with plug-in. These were their "Prius experts" who had worked at dealer for 5-10-15yrs.

I hear the JDM Primes have household power outlet feature for main batt. Maybe that is 220 but 220 to 110 not hard. Maybe mod after warranty expires. Maybe mod with 1 month left in case something go wrong I remove and go crying to Toyota. heh, heh.

 

Many Japanese homes are something like 100v and lower than 15amp at the outlets.

There is an optional widget for the Prime that plugs into the charge port to run a small appliance or two.
Every EV with CHAdeMO charging capability, which the Prime has in Japan, can be used to supply emergency power to the home. It requires a special home charger. They were around $8000 when the Prime came out.

 

I had a 2011 Prius that I loved, so I wasn't concerned about the underpowered hybrid driving experience. But it really bugged me that I had to waste gas warming up the engine, even for a 5-minute drive mostly downhill! And now that I'm retired, most of my driving was short runs.
When I bought my Prime in New York this summer, I drove it back on the highway for about an hour in "Charge" mode to get a feel for recharging the battery without a plug-in- that cost about 10mpg. The rest of the trip in HV mode, I averaged 62mpg!

I'd characterize electric driving as "zippy", and it kicks into HV mode seamlessly while driving. The car also learns your electric driving habits, so after two months I'm getting about 31 miles on a charge before the gas engine kicks in. I recharge from AC 2-3 times per week, using solar energy from our utility at about 80 cents per full charge. Great commuter car, great road car!

 

The virus lockdown has essentially reduced our gasoline usage to zero for the year. I work from home, and I normally visited "the office" once a month or so for face-to-face meetings, for a 100 mile each way trip. "The office" has been closed since March, and everyone works from home and meets with zoom. Occasionally a trip around the area will kick in the gasoline engine for a couple of minutes, but not nearly enough to make a dent in the gasoline level in the tank.

 

My first Prius was a 2011, and I passed that along to my daughter - loved that car. But what made me want the Prime was the need to warm up the gas engine on the old Prius for at least 5 minutes every time you drive- my commute as a schoolteacher was only 8 blocks mostly downhill, so the morning warmup every day felt like a waste of gas. Now that I'm retired, I wanted one car for everything from city trips to road trips. I'm writing a blog page now so I can pass along my experience with the car in more detail...

 

I hope you'll give us a link to the blog when you're done writing it. I'd enjoy reading your impressions.

 

Here's a link to the 3-part series: Hybrids – EdTechGuy Opinions Only

 

I will not purchase a vw because off how they polluted our air with cheating.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Same here!!

 

I might make an exception for a ID dune buggy.

 

Yes, maybe a buggy with a Prime drive train!

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

When I purchased, there was a $4,500 federal incentive, $1,100 INSTANT state incentive (time of purchase), and $3,000 toyota cash (at time of purchase) that was not offered on the "regular" Prius. So literally $8,600 in incentives that were not applicable for a regular Prius. After playing 4ish dealerships against each other I was able to buy a 2020 Prime XLE (without tax/title, no trade in) for about $20,200 after calculating all incentives. Even if I were NEVER to use the electric, I don't think I could have gotten into a "normal" Prius for this price.

Averaging 93 mpg summer driving with 50/50 electric and gas

Feels cool driving on electric!

edit: fwiw I have never bought a new car and never thought I would, but it appeared cheaper and wiser to buy new than 1-2 years old.

 

That is one excellent buy. You did well!

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Did you place a preorder for the ID.4? From the website looks like the 1st Edition is sold out? 250miles EPA range is a bit less than the 300 miles target, though still respectable. I'm curious to know how the degradation of the ID.4 battery fares compared to that of Tesla Model 3/Y.