Newbie taking delivery of 2017 Prius 2 Eco . . .

Welcome to Prius Chat .

Drove all the way to Eddys in Wichita, eh? We lived there for 3 years and purposefully drove to Midwestern Toyota in Hutch.

But to answer your question, the battery technology is different, the 2 eco employs LiON technology and the standard 2 employs NiMH technology.

Merry Christmas and good luck with your purchase .

 

look in the gen4 main forum for the pinned table of all the differences in the gen 4 models.
all the best!

 

There's a summary of the levels here:

Visual Tables of Gen4 Package Combinations | PriusChat

(See now, @bisco mentioned the above too)

In addition to what's been noted, I believe the Eco nixes the rear wiper and cargo cover?

For some reasons, not completely clear, the Eco's mpg ratings are officially higher. There's debate (unresolved?) as to why. The car is lighter, but maybe there's also some tweaks??

 

The Eco also has a higher recommended tire pressure even though the tires are the same as the Two
I believe the windshield is supposed to shield better from the sun’s heat.
The Eco also has automatic wipers.

 

I don't get that higher tire pressure, seems like smoke and mirrors.

 

Many people have seen improved mpg with higher tire pressures. They are just using that in their marketing.

 

If you want high mpg, why not go for the Prime as that has LiON technology ?

There is not much difference stated in the EPA estimates between the NiMH and LiON technology, unless going plug in .

We have had our 2010 Prius II now for over 8.5 years and 170 k miles which runs on the NiMH platform (a proven toyota technology that was so successful it was patented and sold to Ford).

That is a shame about Eddys: they have a monopoly and can’t capitalize on it. We were underwhelmed by their service and attention to detail.

Good luck with your purchase.

 

we're still trying to figure out if and how the eco gets better mpg's than the 2.

 

With the Prime you don’t t have to plug it in, it’s an option. It has a bigger battery pack than the standard liftback, so more bang for your buck.

And there are plenty of rebates that actually make the Prime cheaper than the liftback .

This wouldn’t be Enid, OK by chance? Sheldon Cooper strike a chord ?

Good luck at Eddys’s .

 

The pack on the Prime is 4x the size of the liftback.

So you can go longer on a charge.

 

Someone posted a battery tear down video link here, and IIRC, the regular Prius (it was an Eco, with the Lith Ion). IIRC the guy doing the tear-down, said something along the lines of "this battery has 2 banks, the Prime has 5".

I'll see if I can find, post a link, and check that.

Addendum: here's link to that video thread:

Video: Prius LiOn Battery Dissected and Discussed | PriusChat

I couldn't find the comment about how many banks, Prius vs Prime, pretty sure it's in there somewhere though.

 

If it were me, I would consider a Prius 1 as an option. With Toyota running end of year sales, you can probably get one of around $20-22k and be in a similar mpg position.

The difference in mpg between the eco and base Prius will take ALOT of miles to make up the difference in cost.

Have fun with your purchase decision .

 

It's funny, I just notice in that video I linked, he drops a bit of an easter egg, maybe: saying (again, paraphrasing): The Lith Ion battery gains you about 4 mpg, over the Nickel metal hydrid.

This is contrary to the official mpg ratings, which rate all at the same mpg except the Eco, regardless of some being Nickel metal hydrid and some being Lith Ion.

But maybe he has inside info??

(I'm probably mangling the battery type names, too lazy to check.)