If you don't want to use the ICE, then buy a full BEV

but where to get a full bev that will take you 600 miles on a charge occasionally for 20-25k?

it's a conundrum.

 

I think that he's missed out on the very real possibility that the engineers at Toyota understood that a PHEV will often be driven for days, weeks or months on battery alone. Some thought had to be given to it since the car will occasionally run the ICE in circumstances where you'd not otherwise expect it. And then there's the warning that pops up about freshening the gas. So there is evidence that the engineers are on top of this.

As for the thread title... I'm with Bisco on this. They don't make an affordable BEV that can do what my car does. I have all the benefits of a BEV 27 days a month, and the benefits of a ICE touring car the 4 days a month that I travel out of state.

 

And...: with a 5 minute gas station stop, have you on your way for another 600.

 

more conumdrums here too.
Thanks Marine for another great topic.
Ever since I got behind the wheel of a hybrid, I've been adjusting my driving style to take advantage of the added electrification. Early on in my journey with hybrid cars I did not have to think at all about how often I used the ICE, it was almost always running while driving.

With the Prime there are new dynamics involved.
1: How often is the ICE (ie: engine) needed?
2: When are the best times to call up the engine to assist?
3: When is it best to ask the engine to take the lead?
4: Data History - How does the data history effect the cars general use.
4a: How much difference is there in data history of engine
4b: How much difference is there in data history of motor (ie: Electric)
4c: Where does the history data merge for both engine and motor use.
5: What and where to look out for issues that can change the engine and/or motor optimized defaults

Although it's a near futile task to try to digest the million of so lines of code in the Primes computers (as I read in a comment here at PC yesterday) in trying to second guess the way the engineers setup the Primes systems to work, anyone can, in my opinion, study the way the Prime behaves while they drive and try to make adjustments to our normal routines to see if that helps the car to give the driver more of what the driver is asking the car to do.
Keeping in mind that each Prime will not always behave the same as another Prime due to many reasons or if you prefer variables, most drivers never get the chance to observe.

I still remember one of @bwilson4web posts that asked who would be the first Prime driver to break the 50 miles in EV only mark (paraphrased). I'm still wondering if that is actually possible...

I on rare occasions use the engine, so rare that I often wonder if I've messed up the engine history data at some point. Because I still struggle to understand how and when to use the engine for my overall yearly use case.

 

I think that I've done that. All it takes is a full battery and a very long downslope. By long I mean 30 or 40 miles coming down out of a real mountain range. US-50 west bound from Lake Tahoe has a stretch like that. I'm pretty sure that I-80 west bound from Reno has a similar stretch. I know about these long downhill runs because I have pictures of the energy screen in my 2002 Prius showing 100 MPG in every 5 minute column except (I think) the last.

 

The easiest way would be not to think so much about EV or HV, and just drive it. The great thing about PP is that it can be driven as a regular hybrid without charging, unlike pure BEV. I have done that plenty of times when charging the car was not practical nor cost-effective.

 

The key "in my opinion again" is EV only. ie: no engine allowed for the trip. But yes, one could drive up in HV and still have 80 or 90% at the top, pull over and shut off the Prime, than go READY mode and drive down the mountain. One could even use @PiPLosAngeles method of switching between EV and HV to achieve the same goal of 50+ miles EV, but they are not, again in my opinion, EV only. Just depends on what one considers EV only.... since there is no standard definition of what it actually is and even if there were a standard we'd still get 10 different definitions from 10 individuals most of the time.

 

i'm at 53,000 miles of ev, and 21,000 miles of hv on my 9 year old pip. i drive ev whenever possible and hv when not. i don't understand what the issue is. my biggest issue is having to burn off old gas unnecessarily.

 

not the whole hour and a half

ps: i think this guy is clueless, and just spewing out youtube stuff, but i will fess up if my piston rings seize up

 

oh, yes, i did watch that much

 

i have had 50, but must confess, only 9 with a plug in.

and i have sen many 'barn finds' that clean out the old fuel and fire right up

i have no clue what anything on the inside of my engine looks like currently, but it seems to run fine on the off chance that i need it, and doesn't visually use any oil between yearly changes.

 

In order to speak authoritatively about how a PHEV will work if used primarily in EV mode, you really need to study the design to see what steps have been taken to avoid the problems normally associated with storing an engine for a season or two. If you have not done that, all the experience in the world just means that more appropriate jargon will be used to talk about your guesses and assumptions.

 

i can't speak authoritatively, but i don't think the video guy is either

 

I can't speak authoritatively either. I stopped wrenching on my cars, motorcycles and computers a while back. I have barely looked at the online maintenance manual. All I can attest to is a) my car still runs and b) there are not a lot of reports of seized primes on this forum and c) Toyota has included mention of how often the engine should run... and that's quite infrequent.

 

Well OK, but how often do you really need a 600-mile range? For me at least, that’s “maybe once every 5 years.”

Plus of course, I don’t think you’ll find too many PHEVs, even a Prius Prime, for 20-25K (new at least).

 

incorrect on both accounts. of course, i can't speak for you, but i'm sure many people either travel more frequently than every 5 years, or at least like knowing they can, and also not have to worry during a severe power outage.
and again, prime are cheap in the northeast, and have been, on and off, since they first came out.
but the rest of the country, not so much.

imagine if californians could fly to the northeast and drive home a tesla for 5-10k off?

and here's one more: some prime owners buy a new one every year or two, and make money on the deal