1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Is the maximum cargo capacity really 65.5 cu ft?!

Discussion in 'Gen 4 Prius Main Forum' started by SurfersPrius, Jan 18, 2016.

  1. SurfersPrius

    SurfersPrius Junior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 6, 2012
    5
    1
    0
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    So I recently got hold of a 2016 Prius brochure and noticed that it said:
    "With up to 27.4 cu. ft. of cargo space behind the rear seats, Prius lets you bring more of your favorite things along for the ride. Need to carry more stuff? No problem. Fold the 60/40 rear seats down for up to 65.5 cu. ft. of total cargo space."

    Is the maximum cargo capacity really 65.5 cu ft?! That's huge! I'm thinking that's a typo.

    I understand the Two Eco has 27.4 cu ft behind the rear seats, while the other trims have 24.6. So that means the Two Eco has the 65.5 cu ft with the rear seats folded down, and the other trims have 62.7 cu ft. That's still huge!

    My Gen 3 Prius just has a maximum cargo capacity of 39.6 cu ft with the seats down. So that would be like a 65% increase! That's hard to believe.

    The Prius v (lowercase v for the Prius v wagon) has a maximum of 67.3 cu ft. With just a 1.8 cu ft difference, who would want to get a Prius v anymore?

    I think that's a typo and I wonder what the real max cargo capacity is of the 2016 Prius?
     
    #1 SurfersPrius, Jan 18, 2016
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 18, 2016
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    107,775
    48,983
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    agreed. sounds like a typo. gen 3 and 4 are basically the same, with the non spare tyre gaining some extra cubes.
    maybe they are counting the floor area behind the front seats?:p
     
    #2 bisco, Jan 18, 2016
  3. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

    Joined:
    Feb 7, 2006
    21,742
    11,327
    0
    Location:
    eastern Pennsylvania
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Then not all volume is the same. Even if the Prius v only has a couple more cubic feet of space overall. The more vertical hatch makes it easier to actually use all its space.
     
    #3 Trollbait, Jan 18, 2016
  4. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2004
    44,836
    16,072
    41
    Location:
    Canada
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Here's a good article as to why it's so difficult to compare cargo space volume just by numbers.

    Why Cargo Specs Can Stretch the Truth

    From the same article above, here's a comparison photo:
    [​IMG]

    Thanks Toyota.

    My rule of thumb is that if I see a ridiculously large number for "cargo volume, seats up" in a wagon/hatch/SUV, chances are, they're using the entire cargo area right to the ceiling. Therefore, I just cut the number in half and that's the volume below top of the rear seatback (the volume under the tonneau cover). So in the case of the RAV4, it has 19.8 cu ft in my mind as a super rough estimate.

    Because the Prius has a sloped roof, you can cut the 27.4 cu ft by 1/3rd, so it's about 18 cu ft, ~2 cu ft. more than the Gen 3 which is roughly in line with what the Gen 3 had (~15-16 cu ft below the tonneau cover. The Li-Ion model is rated at 502L or 17.7 cu. ft. outside of the U.S. so the 1/3rd rule is fairly close.

    Bottom line? Bring something along on your test drives to visually see it for yourself.
     
    #4 Tideland Prius, Jan 18, 2016
  5. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 19, 2006
    11,314
    3,588
    1
    Location:
    Northern VA (NoVA)
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    I think the real number is closer to 17-ft3.
    The USA EPA Cargo Space quote for Gen4 is 24.6 up to 27.3 without the spare tires (2eco and 4 models). Never heard the 60-ft3 quotes.

    I would like Toyota to explain "EPA Cargo Space" to us, but EPA Cargo Space has become a nonsense spec in the USA. I am thinking EPA Cargo Space is in reference to the volume behind the front seats and below the windows, but I am not sure. If you look at Japan cargo space definition for Gen4, closer to 16-ft3.

    Why Cargo Specs Can Stretch the Truth

    Tideland above discusses it too...basically since Gen2 (16.2-ft3) Toyoya added 1-ft3 for Gen3, and shifted into la-la-land as far as space quote to 21.6-ft3. Gen4 gets further into la la land. I think Leaf has more than Prius (not really but reality has left town a few years ago - around 2010 to be exact). Not sure I agree exactly with Tideland's explanation, but it's the same idea: we do not really have that much space, we just got USA-style la la land cargo specs.
     
    #5 wjtracy, Jan 18, 2016
    Last edited: Jan 19, 2016
    Tideland Prius likes this.
  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    107,775
    48,983
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    i don't play the drums, but i have a set just for this purpose.
     
    #6 bisco, Jan 18, 2016
    mswtoyota likes this.
  7. JamesBurke

    JamesBurke Senior Member

    Joined:
    May 19, 2009
    1,222
    493
    27
    Location:
    Morgantown, WV
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    #7 JamesBurke, Jan 19, 2016
    Last edited: Jan 19, 2016
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)