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The Toyota Prius transformed the auto industry

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Re: The Toyota Prius transformed the auto industry

#171

Post by philwelch »

syndicatedjelly wrote: post #152
philwelch wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to drive a Prius until the hybrid battery system died, and the quote to replace it was a significant fraction of the value of the entire vehicle. I’ve driven ICE ever since. My goal is usually to drive my vehicle all the way into the ground, and I guess that’s what happened to my Prius except it happened around if not before 150,000 miles.

So when your engine eventually fails in your ICE car and costs many thousands to replace, will you return to EVs?

Depends on how many miles are on it.

Re: The Toyota Prius transformed the auto industry

#172

Post by gadiyar »

nullhole wrote: post #38
celsoazevedo wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The downside of plugins is that it has both systems (more things that can go wrong, added cost, weight) and they're not amazing at being an ICE car (small fuel tank) or electric car (small battery). In your case it seems that a pure EV would be fine? Maybe not one with a small battery, but 300-400 miles of range isn't that uncommon these days. In any case, the important thing is that it works well for you.

Re: being a gas-powered car: they seem fine in terms of tank size, 11 litres for a prius prime vs 13 litres for a gas corolla from the 2010s. You get better fuel efficiency, too, so your effective range is likely at least as good as a regular gasoline car. The added complexity / part count is definitely a downside, though. Edit: er, now I'm not sure about my second statement: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4274…

I think you meant gallons and not litres. At least the Prius prime seems to have a 10.6 gallon tank.

Re: The Toyota Prius transformed the auto industry

#173

Post by [deleted] »

jgilias wrote: post #63
Tade0 wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For the reason you stated in the last paragraph I eventually opted against getting a Hyundai Ioniq in favour of a Toyota. The Hyundai felt like driving a regular automatic, so it would occasionally lunge awkwardly and spin the engine in situations where Toyotas switch to EV mode. Sure it had better fuel economy, but I can't stand having a car not react immediately to my input or make noise when it shouldn't.

To be fair, it did take some time for me to get used to how a hybrid sounds. It’s fine when not driving aggressively. When you floor it though, it does feel weird when the engine jumps to the highest safe revs and stays there. That’s a small price to pay for reliability and smooth power delivery though.

[deleted]

Re: The Toyota Prius transformed the auto industry

#174

Post by hedgehog »

MarkusWandel wrote: post #73
gcanyon wrote: post #19

The new Prius is really good-looking (to my eye at least), especially in person: I don't think the photos (I've seen) do it justice. Fun comparisons to the car Burt Reynolds drove in Smokey and the Bandit: Compared to the 1977 Pontiac Trans Am: - The Prius is as fast 0-60 (~7 seconds) - The Prius has nearly the same top speed (~115 mph) - The Prius is 4x(!) as fuel-efficient (57mpg vs. 12-16mpg) - The Prius has all t…

I wanted to like the 2024+ Prius, I really did. I was in the market for a new car anyway, so I went and test drove one (not that I could have got one right away, at the time). Takeaways... - it drives really nice with plenty of power - the "gearshift" (not that it is one, but that part of the UI) is nonintuitive - the interior looks smaller than it is, due to massive A-pillars and little to no rearward visibility - i…

Was the RAV4 bigger than you wanted? Solves the space issue and the footprint is not much more than the Prius.

Re: The Toyota Prius transformed the auto industry

#175

Post by epolanski »

_yb2s wrote: post #167
jgilias wrote: post #36

I sometimes chuckle that most of the cool Lexuses are now Priuses under the hood! But that’s a good thing. I own a Toyota Corolla hybrid myself, and hybrids are one of those things that I can say I’ve completely changed my mind about. I used to dislike the idea of hybrids, because I assumed that the overall system complexity must be higher than either an ICE, or an EV. And I’m a sucker for simple systems, so I though…

The Prius system is an excellent design, but as someone that loves driving, it just feels and drives awful- little tactile or audible feedback on any of the controls, and really unresponsive to inputs- arguably dangerously so. My regular daily driver is an old Porsche Boxster, and by comparison the Prius feels like I’m driving a dishwasher or playing a cheap arcade game- it will get you there reliably but it’s just n…

It's fine to demand more from a car, but to most of us it has to move us from point a to b.

Re: The Toyota Prius transformed the auto industry

#176

Post by epolanski »

jgilias wrote: post #141
loeg wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish Toyota would make enough Siennas to satisfy demand. Instead, there's are long wait lists at dealers.

I wish they just sold Siennas in Europe… :hide_the_pain:

We don't even get Camry in Italy, it's just Yaris, Corolla, Aygo and suvs

Re: The Toyota Prius transformed the auto industry

#177

Post by [deleted] »

dkarl wrote: post #116
Tade0 wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For the reason you stated in the last paragraph I eventually opted against getting a Hyundai Ioniq in favour of a Toyota. The Hyundai felt like driving a regular automatic, so it would occasionally lunge awkwardly and spin the engine in situations where Toyotas switch to EV mode. Sure it had better fuel economy, but I can't stand having a car not react immediately to my input or make noise when it shouldn't.

> I can't stand having a car not react immediately to my input I'm spoiled from years of Priuses now, and driving gas cars, even fancy and expensive ones, feels bizarrely primitive. The lag between the pedal and the response, and the complex relationship between the input and the response, feels antiquated and arcane.

[deleted]

Re: The Toyota Prius transformed the auto industry

#178

Post by loloquwowndueo »

_yb2s wrote: post #167
jgilias wrote: post #36

I sometimes chuckle that most of the cool Lexuses are now Priuses under the hood! But that’s a good thing. I own a Toyota Corolla hybrid myself, and hybrids are one of those things that I can say I’ve completely changed my mind about. I used to dislike the idea of hybrids, because I assumed that the overall system complexity must be higher than either an ICE, or an EV. And I’m a sucker for simple systems, so I though…

The Prius system is an excellent design, but as someone that loves driving, it just feels and drives awful- little tactile or audible feedback on any of the controls, and really unresponsive to inputs- arguably dangerously so. My regular daily driver is an old Porsche Boxster, and by comparison the Prius feels like I’m driving a dishwasher or playing a cheap arcade game- it will get you there reliably but it’s just n…

> Life is too short for me not to enjoy the time I have to spend driving.

Or, you could reengineer your too-short life so you waste less time driving.

It’s fine if you like driving and want to have a nice car - connoisseurs abound in all fields. But for 99% of people it’s not an issue worth optimizing for.

Re: The Toyota Prius transformed the auto industry

#179

Post by _yb2s »

loloquwowndueo wrote: post #178
_yb2s wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Prius system is an excellent design, but as someone that loves driving, it just feels and drives awful- little tactile or audible feedback on any of the controls, and really unresponsive to inputs- arguably dangerously so. My regular daily driver is an old Porsche Boxster, and by comparison the Prius feels like I’m driving a dishwasher or playing a cheap arcade game- it will get you there reliably but it’s just n…

> Life is too short for me not to enjoy the time I have to spend driving. Or, you could reengineer your too-short life so you waste less time driving. It’s fine if you like driving and want to have a nice car - connoisseurs abound in all fields. But for 99% of people it’s not an issue worth optimizing for.

That’s actually part of it for me- I often work from home and have very little required driving- so I do mostly see driving as a recreational activity. If I’m going to visit a remote beach or mountain lake for fun on the weekend, I want the drive down a long winding road to be fun also.

Re: The Toyota Prius transformed the auto industry

#180

Post by saltcured »

tzs wrote: post #66
CharlieDigital wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm kinda OK with them just dominating hybrids; especially plugins. I own a 2024 Prius Prime (PHEV) and the setup works great. No range anxiety, no special charging infra (I just plug in on a normal 120v overnight). I got the car in Feb 24 and maybe pumped gas a total of 8 times? If I didn't make two longer trips, it would have been 6. But also, the power output is pretty great and an upgrade over the hybrid only mod…

How well do Prius Primes (or other PHEVs) handle long periods where one's daily mileage is well under the EV mode range and one is able to charge at home every night? I think it has been 5+ years since I've driven more than 25 miles in a day and even longer since I was away from home overnight. I've read ICEs can have problems if you go too long without running them. Will the Prime's software automatically run the IC…

Also, have they sorted out the 12V battery management for this low use scenario?

Our family has an older Hybrid Camry from around 2010 and it will destroy 12V batteries with too much local driving and parking. A typical regular ICE does better in the same conditions.

From the behavior, I assume it's because they only charged the 12V via a weak alternator when the ICE runs, rather than also keeping it charged via DC-DC conversion from the larger electric traction power system.

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