Poor decisions on Prime by Toyota

You’d be surprised at how many prime owners really think they are getting 199.9mpg.

 

Good list. I agree with them. I especially hate the continuous pop-ups from the cruise control and LDA. Should be able to limit the time to 1-2 seconds or turn them off completely.

 

Totally agree on the designing from a PHEV platform first.
I think we'll see that coming from Ford.

What level EVSE are you charging on? A level 1 can't supply enough power to do both the same time. Gen1 Volts only allowed cabin conditioning on level 2. The Prime can do it once the battery is charged.

The rest of the world uses blue for Eco trims and such. That's why the the Toyota emblem on hybrids has that blue highlighting.

As mentioned, there is also the fact that the Prime is a modified Prius. Make the minimal changes to the starting point needed, and they keep costs down.

I think you are seeing the limits of air temperature control.

A more powerful resistance heater has issues besides the added cost of the hardware. A more powerful heater could heat part of the pack quicker than the heat can diffuse through the cell, leading to hot spots that could damage the battery.

That leaves using the cabin climate control for heating the pack. Which could work, but would be very inefficient since the heat pump is working harder to gather outside heat to put into the cabin, and the airflow goes from the cabin, to the battery, and then outside of the car.

 

@Lee Jay you bring up some great points. Two of my biggest issues are the HUD not being totally in my view, as others have pointed out the right most digit disappears unless i move my head to the left, and the Hill Top charging mode. I'd love to have it charge only to a certain percentage, something in between 80-100%. You don't know how many times especially when it's cold it seems just driving from my house to the freeway, the engine would kick on while trying to get to my office.. My other car, the Chevy Bolt has a Hill Top charging mode that's set by GPS. It knows when I'm home and will only charge to 87% or so, When I drive to my office 20 miles away, it has more charge than when I start!

I've griped too many times about driving to my daughters, that happens all the time, no matter the weather or time of day and no matter what I do I can't stop the engine from kicking on. The solution of starting with a lower charge would help tremendously, though I still would be short of EV range coming back because of the constant incline driving back.

 

The current heater is meant to keep the battery temperature above 0C/32F. Yes, it could warm up the battery given more time or a higher starting temperature. If the intention is preconditioning the battery to an efficient charge and discharge temperature in such a time frame, it needs to be sized to do so from freezing temperatures and lower. Toyota likely didn't do so for the same reason they didn't use a faster onboard charger, cost.

Hot spots can be an issue even with low power.

 

Adding a few of mine:
1. Outdated maps, no free software/satellite map updates as with Tesla
2. Incorrect speed limits on HUD (as a result of point #1)
3. HUD not bright enough especially at night
4. On 11.6" screen models, you have to wait 15 seconds for boot sequence to finish before you can turn on the A/C or heat
5. All-electric torque is a bit boring past 20 mph
6. Missing a sunroof
7. Auto-back-in parking (i.e., into a parking lot between two vehicles) on Advanced is not very accurate, sometimes it just gets it completely wrong and nearly hits a parked truck
8. A bit annoying in hybrid mode when I want to cruise on electric only but the engine stays on at 992 RPM for 15 seconds wasting fuel for apparently no logical reason
*sigh*

 

A 32A charger would lock out charging from the majority of existing home 240V circuits and breakers, requiring a heavier duty circuit.

76kW is greater than the gasoline engine power, and would requite a more robust (higher current, heavier, more expensive) battery system. Those M/G power ratings are set by other operation modes, not this EV mode. I think one should simply be happy that the ICE has a sprag clutch so that MG1 can add to EV propulsion power, no longer limiting max EV to just the MG2 power rating.

 

What about the rock hard middle arm rest ? Could they have not added a little padding?

 

Yes, it will be a problem. This is one of those things where safety means not handing common non-experts a choice, because many of them will botch it.

Electrical codes require a 32A appliance to have a 40A circuit and breaker, but many existing home circuits are built for just 20A or 30A. The circuit branch has no auto-detect available, and numerous users on such circuits will still be pushing that "quick charge" button to see if it works. Those on 20A circuits should reliably blow the breaker, but those on 30A may not. Some will trip promptly, others will work for a while then trip, prompting users to restart and push it again, while some simply won't blow at all, running too close to the margin.

The legal NEC solution is that a device with an operating mode to draw 32A, is built with a plug incompatible with 20 and 30A circuit sockets, or comes with no plug at all, encouraging hardwiring. Customers would have to add a plug to the charger cord themselves before being able to recharge at all.

 

Great job, I don't agree 100% to some (i.e. I like "B" mode behaviour) but probably it depends of the different use I make of the car.

I would add to the list the missing air conditioning vents in the back and of course the missing fifth seat (come on is empty down there) but overall most of the issues are spot on....
Question: does the US Prime have the speed limiter like the EU one? Instead of the ACC, it may be used where low speeds are stricly enforrced, like schools adjacency.

 

This is a load capacity (i.e. weight) issue, not a space issue.

 

How many of them using existing home 20-30A circuits for recharging, without calling out an electrician for a special charger installation or wiring upgrade to accommodate a Level 2 charging station?

At 16A, a Prime does not force such an upgrade.

 

*shrug*
I want it brighter.
Actually what I really wished they had done was make the display window wider, because what happens is, if I lean slightly left or right, then the left or right edge of the picture on the HUD gets clipped.

 

Indeed. Agree with the front sensors not detecting curbs... my biggest issue with the car. And rear sensors not working sporadically when raining. I get the “clean parking sensors warning”