Will the Plug In Prius Save You Any Money vs. the Regular Prius?

42mpg was the Gen 2's highway rating. 48mpg is the Gen 3's highway rating. The PIP is a Gen 3, but with 110lbs more weight and a larger, better battery. The weight won't be as much of a factor on the highway so the rating should be fairly consistent with the HEV.

The 87mpge is combined driving. That means "typical" daily use starting with a full charge. Y(AEE)MM(MLW)V*.

* Your (and everybody else's) mileage may (more like will) vary.

 

I believe they are doing one of two things to achieve the mpg rating:

1. Using all of your EV only juice then reverting to normal hybrid mode for the rest of a trip.

2. Using a blended mode when above 62mph. For example. You get on the freeway imediately after start up and drive above 62mph. In this case the extra battery capacity is going to provide more assist than it does when the battery is depleted of extra juice (or a standard Prius). When this extra juice runs out then you drop back into regular hybrid mode. Blended mode in aftermarket PHEV kits can provide the same kind of assist at high speeds and your mpg jumps to 80+ while there is still juice available. After the pack is depleted you go back to regular hybrid mode and get approx. 47-53mpg.

 

It is 87 MPGe. Since Toyota said it is for combined driving, it must for the blend of electricity + gasoline. See the sample label. Instead of 65 MPGe, it should say 87 MPGe.

You probably got mixed up with Prius V. It is rated at 42 MPG.

 

Nope, it is 45 MPG highway and 48 MPG city with a 46 MPG combined.

 

I totally agree with you for Northeast, but OP is in California.
California is trying to control smog which is a geography issue.
Also CA imports some electric. CA would not even think of coal, however, they do buy it from outside states. Therefore CA provides extra $$ incentives and car pool stickers to buy Prius Plug-in. Also many plug-in ports. For the rest of us, there is less incentive vs. conventional Prius. We can however be early adopters or wait and see (they say 2014 plug-in may be standard for Prius). Also at the moment, elec is cheap compared to gaso, not clear if this situation will continue.

 

Politely disagree, yes a car is not an investment, but you want to get the best bang for your buck. You don't want to pay more money just to get better MPG.

 

I pay extra to get mostly wind power. There's deregulation down here so you have lots of choices, though I suppose they mostly come from the same sources.

 

Even as folks debate pip 'cost-savings' - Toyota (and Japan as a whole) struggles to continue, due to earthquate/tsunami damage, and the continuing scarcity of electricity. I'm beginning to wonder what kind of production there will be. If you can't even get one due to low production ... and fuel costs continue to spiral upward, the pip costs may very well soar. In that case, the folks who purely look at a pip purchase as a cost savings will be doing a double take.

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Or city and highway combined on just electric.

 

Manufacturer-estimated miles per gallon equivalent. Estimate includes consumption of electricity and gasoline energy in combined EV and hybrid mode. MPGe value is based on Toyota internal testing. Actual fuel economy will vary depending on driving conditions and frequency of charging.​

Source - Click on the footnote [5]

 

The regular Prius is certaintly bad for short journeys. I think the PiP will make a difference for people who can plug in at both home/work. Granted I think the PiP will also have an option of when you use full EV mode vs Super Prius (only way I think to describe it) mode. I think that will help over come a lot with the shorter range as the Prius is far more efficient in hybrid mode than the Volt in gas mode.. I know when driving our Prius the worst times on my 11 mile drive is leaving our complex due to the low speeds/speed bumps, and waiting in base traffic/driving on base also due to the low speeds involved.

For the the MPGe is a pretty weird rating that I have yet to figure out.. With the Volt I average about 5.8kwh for my 24 mile round trip journey that I do daily. How you convert that into MPGe is anyones guess. Hopefully the PiP has some more useful fuel usage information. As I only get total kwh used, and overall MPG which is not a true gauge of anything since it is still using some form of energy. Anyone looking to buy a plug in just to save money I think is in for a rude awakening as far as costs go. The vehicles will not make out in that sense in the long run unless there is a large run up in fuel prices. Saving the environment really does not make sense either unless you have solar panels on your roof so that you know 100% the car is being charged with renewable energy... I am just trying to support America with the Volt, and using domestic energy sources. To me it is worth the additional costs to do so. Not to mention do not want to see a repeat of when the EV1's and all were rounded up and taken off the roads.. Hopefully this time plug ins are here to stay.

 

OK, 87 mpg in a mode that combines Hybrid and electric, sorry, give the mode a better description Toyota.
Hybrid- combination of ICE and Traction battery = 49mpg
87 mpg mode, combination of Hybrid and Electric, sorry electric is already taken in Hybrid mode, there's only one electric, something is becoming smoke and mirrors here, what am I missing?

 

^^ the plug-in part ?

The mode description is all EPA, get used to it.

 

87 MPGe includes depletion of charge from the battery and also uses gas. Both electricity and gas consumption are counted toward the miles you drive. EPA uses 33.7 kWh of electricity = 1 gallon of gas. That's how the combined overall MPGe is calculated.

49 MPG is when the charge is sustained like regular Prius with 60% SOC being the target.

 

I think it is considering normal hybrid mode to be ICE and electric.

In hybrid mode the electric system is more or less just trying to maintain a State of Charge and store recouped energy which would be wasted in a normal ICE, any electrical assist you get is really rooted in gas as the original energy source. I.E. the electricity you get from regen braking for instance is coming from the gas that got the car moving in the first place, same with long downhills, etc...Its like a regular prius, 100% gas powered.

I know we don't generally think of it that way to differentiate between a hybrid and a conventional ICE, but all non-grid rechargeable cars are 100% gas cars. The traction battery and related hybrid equipment just does an incredible job of making it a super efficient gas car.

In the blended mode on the PHV, you are blending grid power with gas power to the best effect. Its the first true hybrid because you are combining two different energy sources.

 

That seems really high, whats the source for the 60% figure?

 

I think USB was referring to the non-plugin variety.
Read it this way:
49 MPG is when the charge is sustained (like regular Prius with 60% SOC being the target)
Not this way:
49 MPG is when the charge is sustained (like regular Prius) with 60% SOC being the target

 

Very well said.

 

I would disagree with the "regular Prius is certainly bad for short journeys". The Prius is not designed for high miles per gallon. It is designed for low pollution. The efficiency is just a bonus. You will be hard pressed to find another vehicle that is better than the Prius with a cold engine in particulate emissions and actual fuel economy. All engines suffer a blow, and when the Prius is operating in hungry beast mode of 0.6gal/hr (warmup) it will still net you 30-35mpg regular driving. That's higher than what 90%+ of the vehicles out there will do on the best days even on a flat highway with a tailwind.

 

From a strictly financial standpoint, with $3.60 gas and assuming 200k miles life, The Prius Plug-in is cheaper for those with electricity less than $0.14 and commutes less than 15 miles. For every cent cheaper than 14 per kWh, you can add another mile of commute.

Assumptions: $3.60 per gallon gasoline, 200,000 miles life of car.
Prius: $22,120 - 50 MPG.
Prius Plug-in: $28,500 - 50 MPG - 14 miles EV range - 0.30 kWh / mile.