Well, the search is over for my 2023 LE replacement! It's a brand new 2026 SE PHEV in gorgeous Supersonic Red! I tried to drive something else, I really did. I couldn't stand the emasculated look of the RAV4 Prime - let's not even talk about the price. I absolutely, positively wanted a PHEV as I felt that was the best way to win the BEV depreciation game. Speaking of that, I drove my 2023 for 3 years and sold it for 90% of the purchase price. Zero maintenance cost. Not even windshield wipers... Okay, I did pay for one oil change, but only after Toyota gave me a coupon. That kind of resale value Is the equivalent of golden handcuffs. You just can't, not, buy another Toyota. I did even better when I sold my 2019 Prius - selling it for the exact same price I paid. But there was a bit more inflation going on at the time. And we also had the car supply crunch. I did my due diligence and tried not to drive the exact same car again. I checked out every PHEV on the planet. Nothing compares to the Prius, except for the RAV4. Thankfully, I was going for the plug-in hybrid so there would be some differences. And I remembered a member on here displaying their beautiful Hypersonic Red Prius, which I stated at the time, was the second best color to Wind Chill Pearl IMO. So here we are today! Back in the family after being out of it for only a couple weeks (sold my car prior). I'm excited to see what the Prime can do and learn some of its quirks. I only have 200 mi on her and have yet to extract the maximum thrill from the pedal. As far as finding peak efficiency, I don't know if I have the same motivation as I did with my LE (you'll remember my clocking over 700 miles on one tank). So far it definitely seems more "luxurious" than my LE - quieter for sure! Does the SE have better glass? Or maybe they added a bit more sound-deadening. I immediately noticed the camera on the steering wheel and it's already barked at me several times. I didn't know that was on the base trim. I will be disabling anything that is persistently annoying. I got a bunch of stuff disabled on the LE. I'm already getting some very nice numbers on EV mode. I haven't changed any settings yet so it's still on percentage remaining. What's the record EV range on a charge? Maybe I'll try to break it... (random photo in red)
She's gonna be in "storage" for about a month until my lease runs out on the EV9. I've already remote started her once to keep the 12v happy. There's a boat load of EV9's about to hit the market. They are about as luxurious as you can imagine and quieter than anything else on the road IMO. Incredibly efficient for a 3 ton truck. 3.6 m/kwh in the city is easy. Fast as hell stock, but you can pay for the "boost" and embarrass Mustang GT's on the street. 0-60 in 4.3-4.5 secs. *Edit* The EV9'S are gonna be cheeeeeap! The Land trim will be at least 50% discounted from original price ($75k).
I think the EV9 is sensational. The Land trim is a huge jump over the Wind, so definitely go with that if you get serious. The white on black pops so hard. Almost blinding. And they aren't using Toyota paint. My truck hasn't a chip on it! My style ^^^
