Hello Prius PHV owners !

Hello from Stockholm,

I just traded in my 2017 gen4 for a 2020 PHV Executive
We installed charging stations in the apartment building garage and I just had to jump ship

Felt like a kid again when I charged the battery for the first time

I kept my alarm and the eFlexFuel ethanol kit from my old gen4. This plug-in will run on ethanol and mostly electricity

Pics :

 

@Sarge The mirrors are folding automatically, just like in my previous gen4.

@Salamander_King Yes you are correct, the same is stated in the manual here in the EU.
A flex fuel kit uses a sensor on the fuel line to read the ethanol percentage in the tank, and transmits it to an electronic box which re-programs the injectors to operate for E10 to E85.
More tech details here : The new incomers of the eFlexFuel product family

E100 is only in Brazil where as you might know Toyota launched the Prius Gen4 and now the Corolla 2019 running on pure ethanol E100. Crazy Toyota

In Sweden, our E85 ethanol is in reality E70 in the winter and E80 in the summer. ( Data from the phone app connecting via Bluetooth with the electronic kit ).

I had the kit installed in my previous gen4 for 3 years, ran without any issues.
The prime has the same 1,8L engine and the same injectors as the gen4.

In Europe these E85 conversion kits are widespread mostly in France ( the produce their ethanol from beetroot ). In Sweden and Finland, etahol is produced from what remains from the forestry industry and imported corn. The company that made my eFlexFuel kit is Finnish.
In the EU the ethanol price is lower than the gasoline price. For that reason for example taxi fleets in France have equipped their prii with these kits. From Gen3 upwards ( Toyota Auris, prius V, gen4, prime ).

The millions of kilometres those taxi companies have driven with this kit without issues was the only reason I decided to try it.
I prefer someone else to destroy their engine first before I start experimenting

There's also lower pollution. Half the NOX, lower CO2 ( -30% ).
And there's higher fuel consumption. On my Gen4 on gasoline my average was 3,8L/100km, on E85 my average was 4,6L/100 km. So there's no financial gain from choosing E85, just lower emissions.

The Toyota dealership and service guys said I am crazy but they still serviced my gen4 and after 3 years they were pleasantly surprised that nothing stand out compared to a gasoline gen4. Maybe the time was to short to see any obvious wear in the fuel pump and the evap chamber. They still think I am crazy, but I don't really care

Will let you know how it goes in the first year with E85 on the prime.

To date I don't think there is a better eco solution ( battery + ethanol) for a plug-in vehicle in terms of how little can you polute and still use the car normally to its expected parameters. ( Or there is one, the Mirai )

All the best !