Toyota is comparing the Prius PHV to the Chevy Volt

Prius interior room beats all of these cars, not just in numbers but occupant seating -

Corolla/Matrix
Yaris
Honda Fit
Civic
Insight II
Accord Coupe
Mazda2
Mazda3
Ford Fiesta
Ford Focus sedan and hatchback
Volt
Cruze
Chevy Sonic
Hyundai Accent
Elantra sedan
Veloster

The only small, non SUV/CUV hatchbacks I've seen with good, all around front/ back interior and cargo room and a skosh extra front room for bigger folks are ...

Hyundai Elantra Touring, Jetta Sportwagen, and maybe Scion xB

.... otherwise, one is saddled with Rav4, CR-V, highlander, and all the 24 MPG CUV/SUVs.

 

For those questioning the fairness of TMS's presentation please consider that this is a SALES presentation. It's meant to generate SALES. It's an aid for the SALES department.

For those wishing a more balanced engineering analysis.....

Having been in sales my entire career one never admits that the competition has an advantage. By doing so that simply gives the client an opportunity to say NO. This doesn't mean knocking the competition it means showing all the ways MY product is better than HIS product. It's a modification of the classic 'Ben Franklin close'.

Simply put TMS's presentation was never intended to be fair .... sales are not fair they are a zero-sum game on every transaction. I win, He loses.

 

For those that brought up the Volt's apparent EV advantage... consider how little of an advantage it really has on average ( YPDSMV ) in terms of fuel usage. Break it down in steps.

For the first 14+ miles both vehicles can run on grid power alone
For the next 22+ miles ...
... the Volt runs on grid power
... the PHV uses ~.45 gal of liquid fuel
For every 50 miles thereafter ...
... the Volt uses 1.39 gal of liquid fuel
... the PHV uses 1.00 gal of liquid fuel

The Volt has a slight advantage in terms of less liquid petro-fuel used for a narrow band of ~22-24 miles on average (YPDSMV). That's quickly erased as the length of the trip is extended. If Your Driving Personal Situation happens to fall consistently in the 15-38 mile range then the Volt meets your needs, otherwise it's a wash ( short trips ) or the PHV has a significant advantage ( long trips ).

 

Please note, I am using the Prius v as the comparison... I don't want to step from a Prius v back down to a standard Prius interior as I like the Prius v interior over the Prius.

 

Your numbers are a bit off. If a PiP drives 14 miles on battery and then drives further on gas then a Volt would drive about 50 miles on battery, not 36. You gotta use consistent range estimates for both cars. In this case, you could use the European NEDC test cycle since Toyota has self-estimated 14 miles of range and the official Volt range on the same test is 50+ (14.3 vs. 51.6). If you are driving further distances you are also probably doing almost all highway miles so the EPA highway estimates are more appropriate (49 vs. 40).

For the first 14+ miles both vehicles can run on grid power alone
For the next 36+ miles ...
... the Volt runs on grid power
... the PHV uses ~.73 gal of liquid fuel
For every 50 miles thereafter ...
... the Volt uses 1.25 gal of liquid fuel
... the PHV uses 1.02 gal of liquid fuel

 

i have a feeling that PiP will do 14/15 miles a lot easier than Volt will do 50, just like PiP will do hybrid mode at 49 mpg a lot easier than Volt will do 40.

 

The Volt and PiP charge at about the same rate of 12A at 120V. At 240V, the Volt charges at 16A and the PiP perhaps a bit less (has anyone measured this yet?). If you fully charge a PiP it will charge at a reduced rate as the battery nears full while the Volt battery will be less than half full and will continue charging for another 2+ hours at the full rate. The fact that the PiP battery stops charging after 1.5 or 3 hours is really a disadvantage for the PiP.

 

his point was that it is much easier to drive PiP to its full potential vs Volt.

 

Sure, because the PiP's potential is a lot smaller than the Volt.

I'm not sure why that's a good thing.....

 

Totally agree. The reason being the flexibility of the blended design. Electricity consumption will be lower due to optimal power and speed parameters.

 

Yes its exactly the same reason a 2 seat car is better than a 4 seat car, you don't waste that extra space in back when you don't need it.

The advantage of a smaller battery is lower price and weight, although they don't necessarily always work out that way. You can always recharge a battery 3 times as big 1/3 up if you want to do it faster

 

Less is more. The way I see it, Prius PHV has more potential.

 

How much seat time do you have in a Volt?

 

I'd agree with that, in the sense that Volt drivers are more likely to drive the Volt more normally since the 50miles is beyond their daily needs but Prius PHV drivers will want go slow and hyper-mile it to to get to 15 avoiding ice. So Prius PHV Drivers may try harder to milk it.

The hybrid 49 vs 40 on ICE I doubt as that is the EPA estimates, and hence are near normal driving.

 

It's completely normal that a marketing poster from Toyota would put the best spin on the PiP, that's kinda the point! I think the fact that the Prius can utilize a standard 110 outlet to charge the car in three hours or less is also a selling point, a large battery pack really requires an expensive 220 charging installation to be fairly practical, IMHO!

 

Once the engine goes through the warm-up cycle, using it again becomes trivial... because it shuts off so rapidly afterward and replenishs a little EV whiles it running.

In other words, those of us driving PHV on a regular basis have quickly discovered some of the pre-rollout assumptions didn't reflect the actual design.

You'd be surprised how well Toyota studied everyday driving behavior. That early rollout program really paid off. They certainly did their homework to yield high returns for those consumers who simply get behind the wheel and drive.

And for those who do want to game the system, PHV offers lots of opportunity using the Eco-Meter and HV/EV button.
.

 

There is no need for standardized EPA or NEDC tests when your gut knows better.

[ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truthiness]Truthiness - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

 

Like the Volt, the Prius uses an effective fixed ratio between 0 and 62 mph when it is driven only by its large electric motor -- the gas engine doesn't spin, the smaller motor free spins, and the large motor is directly connected to the wheels using a fixed gear.

The difference is that the Volt mechanically switches between using only the large electric motor and blending in the other motor and/or engine whereas the Prius switches electrically. They are both CVT because they can choose a smooth variation of effective gear ratios whereas a conventional automatic or manual transmission can only shift between a small number of different fixed gear ratios.

 

Plug a PiP and a Volt with empty battery packs into a 120V charge cord until the PiP finishes charging. Unplug both. Drive both side by side under the same conditions. If the PiP goes 11 miles before the battery hits empty then the Volt will probably do 10+ miles. That's not much of a selling point. Same or better for the Volt at 240V.

A large battery does not require a 240V charging installation. I charge at 120V at home only during the 7 hour overnight off-peak charge window (midnight to 7am). If I start with an empty battery, I will end up with 8+ bars out of 10 on the battery charge icon or 7 * 1.44 kW = 10+ kWh. I typically drive 20-30 miles each commute day so after a couple of days my battery is fully charged from empty.

If I had a LEAF with twice the usable battery range as the Volt I could nearly empty the battery on the weekend and then have it fully recharged by the following weekend without ever using a 240V charge cord (although I could certainly use them for opportunity charging away from home when needed).

This is why I haven't bothered to install a 240V charge station at home while I've been using the Volt 15 months and over 12,000 miles on battery.

 

Sorry, meant 120 - 240, 70's high school education showing! I speak from a consumer's point of view, a full charge from a standard wall outlet in a couple of hours is far more promotable by Toyota! While the Volt and Leaf may be able to provide the same range on an equivalent charge, it just doesn't take advantage of their capabilities and certainly not the higher initial cost of those cars! Seriously, while some like you may be able to get by on 120v, most will want the faster charging option! 3 hours or so is the maximum charging time an average EV consumer will tolerate.