I'm driving a 2018 Prius Prime (plug-in). What do you want to know about it?

[MetroMPG]

I've got the Prime again for a few days, and have really been enjoying it.

If I decided my budget could afford one of these, I'd be sorely tempted.

And one of my earlier criticisms of the car has gone away:


Worst thing so far: grabby friction brakes

The friction brakes truly suck at very low speeds. They're extremely sensitive & grabby.

If you make a habit of driving smoothly ("Limo stop" anybody?), this car will frustrate you.

Whatever the problem was with the brakes, it is no longer.

[vskid3]

How many miles have they put on it? Does it track lifetime MPGs or EV miles?

[redpoint5]

I've got 30% EV utilization on my plug-in Prius which has about a 10 mile range now. That's about 25,000 EV miles. The Prime is closer to the ideal range, though I always say Toyota is foolish to not select the minimum size battery that qualifies for the full $7,500 federal tax credit. That's money left on the table, and it would give the Prius somewhere around a 50 mile EV range.

[Vman455]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

I've got 30% EV utilization on my plug-in Prius which has about a 10 mile range now. That's about 25,000 EV miles. The Prime is closer to the ideal range, though I always say Toyota is foolish to not select the minimum size battery that qualifies for the full $7,500 federal tax credit. That's money left on the table, and it would give the Prius somewhere around a 50 mile EV range.

They didn't have room to do that; what I don't understand is why they didn't design a platform that could accommodate a larger battery from the outset. Shoehorning the 8.8 kWh battery into the TNGA-based Prius already compromises more hatch space than I would want to live with.

Hyundai did it right with the Ioniq and Niro; their plug-in versions don't compromise any space compared to the conventional hybrids, with the battery sitting in a deep well over where the rear axle would be.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

I've got 30% EV utilization on my plug-in Prius

Is that data available in your display? I'll have to hunt around for it.

Originally Posted by vskid3

How many miles have they put on it? Does it track lifetime MPGs or EV miles?

It just turned 25,000 km in my hands this week. That's 15.5k miles.



It does track lifetime MPG, currently showing 4.9 L/100 km (48 mpg US). Reason that's so bad: My friends have been living in an apartment where they can't plug in. I have probably put more EV miles on their car in ~10 total days of using it than they have since they got it last year. That will change soon - they just bought a house.

[MetroMPG]

I managed a 54 km (34 mile) EV-only round trip last evening to go kayaking on a nearby lake I haven't been on before. The car's official EV range is 40 km / 25 miles.

I babied it, but that's not bad considering the aero is wrecked by having the hatch open. Further wrecked by windows open too. No AC use.



Weather: hot... 29 C / 84 F. Light breeze.

Roads: ~10 km of sub/urban driving (eg. stop signs, lights, light traffic), the rest on rural roads with a mix of 70 km/h (44 mph) and 80 (50) speed limits.



Mods: elevated PSI; eco mode


From what little I've read on Prius Chat, getting 30-40 EV miles from a Prime isn't uncommon in favourable conditions.



Oh, and a Tesla Model S showed up to see me off! (No idea whose it is. I've never seen one parked in this area before.)

[redpoint5]

Yeah, one of my screens shows a green/red bar graph representing EV vs gas usage, along with actual percents and miles driven.

One thing concerning me is that when I first owned the vehicle, a full charge would be somewhere around 3.2 kWh. Now I'm only able to put in about 2.8 kWh. Appears to have degraded a bit, but that's to be expected.

I'm loaning mine to a friend that can't charge it, even though they are in a house. The wiring is old and the circuits are at max capacity as it is. I told her it wouldn't hurt to try an outlet and see if it trips the breaker.

[MetroMPG]

I checked - the car does have EV % for the A/B trip meters and current (just driven) trip, but I don't see one for "lifetime".

[MetroMPG]

Image above: check the distance in the range-o-meter in the heads-up display (projected onto pure beauty).

51 km = 32 miles.

It learns! And from what I'm seeing, it's fairly accurate, too.


I'm just heading out to return the car -- fully charged, of course. And washed!

One down side to having this car available: I'm much less reluctant to take an EV on short trips than an ICE vehicle. It's eating into my bicycle miles! So much for environmentally friendly.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

.
One down side to having this car available: I'm much less reluctant to take an EV on short trips than an ICE vehicle. It's eating into my bicycle miles! So much for environmentally friendly.

Yes, exactly. On days when I could make my commute in EV only, I was more likely to take the Prius than bike. On the colder days where I couldn't quite make the trip in EV, the bike was a little more appealing.

...and I bought a mini-Segway. I sometimes don't even walk around my house. I've folded and put away clothes, done the dishes, etc all on a Segway.

I'm 1-step away from a Wall-E world.