2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In: 15 mile EV range, 87 MPGe, $32,000

I had a 2005 and now a 2010.
The question about the plugin.

Assuming a fully charged battery and starting on a cold morning, and going on a 4 mile trip.
When does the EV mode start?
The 2010 needs a certain amount of running time before EV kicks in.

 

The plug-in does not start the warm up cycle until shortly before charge depletion. So you can do 3 to 4 of those trips without lighting the ICE.

 

Heavy? The heat pump uses the same parts as the Air Conditioner, save for a small refrigerant reversing valve. Complex, this at least has some truth, but it can't be that hard to do, as they've been doing it since the mid 1800's!!!

The real reason is probably cost. It's probably not as much an issue on a PHEV with this short of range, but it stinks that Toyota went through all the trouble to engineer it, then scrapped it. If you preheat, the Thermal mass of the Cabin, Coolant Loop, Heater core, Engine (assuming it gets heated too), etc. Is probably enough to get the car to where it's going in All-Electric mode before the cold sets in.

It would have been nice to have as an option though, maybe for people that are considering adding electric range. =)

-Phil

 

There's a couple more reasons not to use a heat-pump for heat in an EV:

1. You still need resistance backup heat for when it gets too cold (heat pump efficiency drops at low temperatures) and when you have to run it in reverse anyway to de-ice the condenser (when it's cold out it will freeze).
2. Very often when it's cold you need to run the A/C AND heat to dehumidify the air. Can't do this with just one heat-pump system, so you might want 2 systems, anyway.

So it's not as easy as it sounds to use a heat-pump for heat in an EV - I still want it, though!

 

EV1 - Innovate

Not sure how well it worked, but my guess is the prius phv has a less expensive system.

 

I meant production 2012 phv has a less expensive system than the ev1 and demo phv. I would be surprised if the added expense of the unit in the demo cars added all that much to efficiency, but would love to hear if there is data.

 

Does anyone know how strong a supplementary electric heater is?
Is it sames as regular Prius or stronger than it?
If it is stronger, how much kW heating power?

Ken@Japan

 

It takes a lot of kw to run the heater in the Volt. I don't think this will be any different for the PiP. Can run the A/C with no issues, but the heater decreases overall range like you wouldn't believe. Is why I am finally breaking down and doing the 240V charger so I can pre-condition the car on the house power before going to work when it gets really cold.

 

It gets cold enough for a heater in Florida ???

Mike ound:

 

He needs to update his profile. Virginia can be quite colder.

 

LOL.. I do need to update my profile. Thanks for the reminder Trollbait. I am cold sensitive anyway by nature so yes I do use the heater quite a lot in Jacksonville. Sometimes it does get down into the 20's and 30's... Not to mention when it is over 100 all summer, and then it goes into the 60's it does seem extremely cold. Virginia is a lot colder though, and that is why I am finally getting the 240V charger as I want to pre-heat the car.