Prius Prime hit piece on electrek.co

brutal. it's almost as if he has no knowledge regarding the field he is writing about.

he calls the heat pump an electric heater. well i guess it is, if misguiding your audience is your intention.

he does make some good points though, even if negative, but he fails to mention price, when offering up alternatives.

it is unfortunate that toyota didn't follow up with him, as we have a member here with the same problem of the ice coming on in cold weather.

 

The article is...unfortunate.

But I didn't pick the Prime because I wanted an EV. And a 24 mile range hardly makes it a Tesla.
No, I just wanted a battery assist on the Hybrid. A step up from the regular Prius.
That, and the fancy-shmancy 11.6" tablet front and center.
It's the reason I went with the Prime Premium over the base model So, thank you Tesla for pushing the bar

Also, in my entire driving experience, from my first '91 Ford T-Bird to my current '17 Prime, I have never, ever considered the rear "hump seat" to be a "very necessary seat". Who in their right mind would try to fit 5 people in a compact?

But, that said, the reduction of "trunk" space is a minor problem for me, but not a deal breaker. 60/40 split fold down rear seats do nicely when necessary

 

I'm not so sure.

The Prime and the Prius can be about the same price if you don't get sucked into buying up-optioned models, and if you live in a state that ads a little to the federal kick back money.....so the Prime >Prius message is still valid.

Also valid is the fact that the Prime is a four seater with a much smaller cargo bay than the hatch.
Being a four-seater wasn't a big deal (pun almost unintended) when Volts had four seats and Pips had five.....and it's still not that big a deal now that Prius fans have to suffer the same slings and arrows now that the number of seat belts have reversed themselves.
Or?
How do you like me NOW?

Most commuters are 1+0, so this is an issue that's mostly not.

Pips used to be challenging to drive in EV only, and Primes made improvements on that - but they're STILL a PHEV and not an EV.

Range is range.
10 is 10 and 25 is 25.
Both values will vary with age and the environment.
If you live where there is no weather, then this will be less of a problem.

The one aspect of Primedom that the article DID mention is that the Prime doesn't look like the hatch.....er........exactly, even though the pictures did illustrate the unfortunate porcelain interior.
The only aspect of Primedom that the article DID NOT mention is the fact that, warts and all, the hatch and the PHEV are both remarkably efficient in gasser mode, and improvements have been made to the G4's seats (some say) and handling that also apply to the Prime.


If you have your mind made up to buy a Prime, or already own one then no "hit piece" will dissuade you from getting one or enjoying the one that you already have, and if INFORMATION keeps a Prime buyer from becoming a disgruntled Prius owner, then I'd say give us more hit pieces, please!!!!


YMMV

 

In one respect the article 'manages user expectations' but one photo of snow is not enough. I suspect it was frightfully cold to this 'son of the South' and that may have had a lot to do with the engine springing into life unexpectedly. It would have been nice to have more details about the weather during his test period.

Bob Wilson

 

The hybrid is the future of the auto industry. The article does not even attempt to discuss mileage. 25 miles of EV is almost good enough, and I expect it to increase with future models. The engine issue is, at best, murky. It comes on for reasons which can be obscure. I am guessing it was to keep the coolant temperature up. It does this whether you are using the heat or not. No discussion of reliability or expected life of the car. Generally a waste of publication time.

 

And then there's this, the complete opposite.
With the Prius Prime, Toyota delivers nearly the perfect tech car

 

the elephant in the room is price. no mention made in tharticle. sure, go buy an i-3 instead. oh what, twice as much? that doesn't matter to anyone, does it?

he even recommends an ionique over prime. great, where can i buy one?

and finally, the toilet paper comment shows his true agenda.

 

Sad article. I am up in the northeast, I get cold weather. I had to laugh at the snow in the charge port picture. I have done that when I wasn't thinking and pulled the plug without first brushing off the snow. I have never had snow get under the cover when the port is closed. That looks like he let snow get in then pulled out the charge cable to make it look bad. It was amusing having played with my car in 2 feet of snowfall. The only area I know of that I have complained about the ICE coming on is down hill and up hill climbs that are a little too much for the EV system. Otherwise I have had great experience with EV staying pure EV. All winter I have used the defroster twice and knew what was going to happen when I did. Otherwise I tell the car to defrost front and back each morning before I go outside.

I would respond but you can't really convince someone who is so set that something isn't for them that it isn't as bad as they make it out to be. I don't like to waste my time in general.

 

This guy was only trying to make the Prime look bad !
The video isn't of very good quality but one can clearly see that he was driving in either Hybrid- or EV-Auto mode as the Primes does not show an EV-mode as a drive mode on the display because it's the Primes standard mode !
The gas engine will start in EV-Auto and of course in Hybrid-Mode if the Primes programming thinks it's more efficient.
The guy has no idea what he is talking about !

 

So I couldn't resist and responded. I tried but I am not good at behaving myself .

 

Poor thing. The weather, the snow, the shopping, must have driven this guy to the brink of a mass shooting murderer. My condolences. Move to California. He won't need the pills he is currently and will be taking rest of his life. California is that good.

 

My Advanced shows a little green "EV" in a box at turn on. That vanishes if I run the Traction Battery down to 0 EV miles or press the EV <-> HV switch to put it into HV. The "nothing displayed mode" is HV, at least for my car and what my manual says.

 

Not sure why the author had the ICE coming on all the time. Mine never does when in EV mode. Maybe he doesn't know how to drive properly and has his foot to the floor all the time. Maybe he's driving in EV Auto mode.

 

mike, can you change your car data, or add to your signature if you own multiple prius?

 

Yes sure.


iPhone ? Pro

 

thanks, it helps when reading advice.

 

D*mn it, made me look:

I ran it in 1/4 speed, full screen, YouTube, and it clearly shows he was on the steepest part going up a hill:

• lat 41.226755 lon -73.871907
• intersection of E Mt Airy Rd & Joseph Wallace Drive
• New York Topographic Maps by Topo Zone - shows climbing at least 50 ft (i.e., 5 stories) when 'event occurs'
  
• car is under MANUAL not cruise control which is off
• the driver accelerates from 36 to 42 mph climbing a steep grade when the engine comes on
• cell phone(?) or camera was manually held which reveals the truth of this lie

The guy is 'alternate news' and you made me look!

Bob Wilson

 

None of which should matter. It shouldn't come out of EV unless you hit the 200 mile engine start interval. Or, if something is wrong with the car.