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 thought it’s either EV, or nothing.
Then I looked into how hybrids work. Specifically Toyota hybrids. And came away totally amazed. It’s an amazing system, and much simpler than a traditional ICE car. It doesn’t really have a gearbox, or a clutch, or a starter. The engine is a normal atmospheric engine, so no turbines, overcompression, and the issues that come with it. Furthermore, the engine is typically configured to use the Atkinson cycle, which puts less stress on it. And, the engine has a chain drive, so no belts to change, and by design gets stressed a lot less than in a traditional ICE, because the stop-start load is carried by the electric motor. Also, it can’t really have trouble starting in cold weather, much like an EV. All of that boils down to crazy reliability.
I’m at a point where if I’m looking for a car that uses fuel, it’s only cars that use the Toyota hybrid tech (or similar) that I’m looking at. At the moment it’s just Toyota, Lexus, most Ford hybrids (but not all).
Other companies have hybrids that are liable to my original concerns about massively increased complexity. As an example, VW hybrids have an electric motor within their DSG gearbox. So you have all the complexity of their modern ICEs (turbines, DSG, whatnot) plus additional hybrid related complexity.
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 not any fun. Life is too short for me not to enjoy the time I have to spend driving. My sister has an Audi A3 e-tron hybrid (basically an upscale VW Golf) that is extremely fun to drive, but also a very complex drivetrain and engine.
I think a pure EV with a small range extender not connected to the drivetrain mechanically- like the BMW i3 REX is the way to go. It’s even simpler and lighter than the Prius system, allowing for a much larger battery and more powerful electric motor.
>I’m at a point where if I’m looking for a car that uses fuel, it’s only cars that use the Toyota hybrid tech (or similar) that I’m looking at. At the moment it’s just Toyota, Lexus, most Ford hybrids (but not all).
Don't forget the Mazda CX-50 Hybrid that was just released. Using the Toyota Hybrid from the RAV4 with the elegance and beauty of Mazda design.
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.
Not a challenge, but a plea: where's your source(s) for this? I'm about where you were, but would love to know more about the internals so I can make an informed choice when my current (ICE) car dies.
I had an Accord hybrid and it did not have a transmission at all. There was a clutch and a single gear, which engaged over about 45 mph. Otherwise, the vehicle was propelled by an electric motor. The design, as far as I know, is significantly different than what Toyota uses. Having no transmission plus very little brake wear due to regen breaking felt like a good tradeoff.
Can't agree more, I can't understand why any car person would not be excited about THS II system anymore ever since its executive summary finally clicked, other than because that Prius as a product used to be so badly designed until Tesla started seriously threatening Toyota.
If only Toyota made bunch of toy models for THS and built couple 2-door hybrids so that more people would get it. I suppose it's a case of innovator's dilemma, but it's so unfortunate.
Naive question: aren't belts lower maintenance than chains, and don't let last longer? Why doesn't a engine with a chain drive require equal or more replacements?
I was also worried about my wrong perception of hybrids being too complex. I recommend people to check on how e-CVT transmissions work, they are quite amazing and simple.
I also have now an hybrid Corolla (the station wagon version the US does not get. Because we all now Station wagons are the superior form of car.)
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.
I would not call a CVT "not a gearbox". Were Audis equipped with their multitronic option (not in any way related to hybrid or BEV) "cars without a gearbox"?
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 the modern stuff: air conditioning, antilock brakes, airbags, crumple zones, information display screen, backup camera, proximity alerts, etc. etc.
- Adjusted for inflation, the Prius costs almost exactly the same
The new Prius looks good, but I love my old Prius’s spacious hatchback. With the backseat down we can stick 3 giant dogs back there. I don’t know if there’s a hybrid with similar internal space.
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
- it looks much better than past Priuses, but the rear door handles single-handedly put back the "dork factor"
None of that would have mattered that much, but the dealbreaker: Trunk space. I mean, space to load stuff when there are already 4 people in the car so you can't just fold down the back seat. That trunk floor is high. Folded it up and what's underneath? A styrofoam spacer matrix! WTF? Why not a spare tire instead (you don't get one)? I can imagine an ugly hack, tearing all that out, just to get a bit more trunk space but really? My only guess is that the Prius Prime's extra battery goes here, and they don't want to have it have less trunk space than the regular Prius.
We are (by choice) a one-car family and we have two kids. When we travel we need a certain amount of trunk space, and the Prius doesn't have it. Aside from that, the Prime would have been lovely - enough battery to do your around-town driving entirely electrically! I never even thought of the "no heat" angle.
- Terrible in snow and ice
- No way to defrost your windshield, unless you're already driving
- Poor rear window visibility
If not for those things it would be great, but unfortunately they've made zero progress on fixing any of the core issues for the last 25 years. The new models definitely do look cooler, and I appreciate that they accelerate faster, but I personally care much more about the stuff that could potentially kill me when I'm driving.
The Trans Am also had simple analogue controls - including for the heat & AC - while the new Prius has evidently succumbed to the overcomplicated "let's take away buttons" phenomenon.
Also, you're not getting a bride to leave her husband at the altar if you pull up alongside in a Prius. Just sayin'.
Amen to that though! I agree that the new gen Prius looks really sleek! I tried EVs but the range and lack of after-market parts was really limiting, so I've been fairly happy with the Prius Prime.
I love my Prius. What amazes me about the car is how “idiot-proof” or “smart” it is. I try my best to hypermile and squeeze out every last MPG, while my wife doesn’t make any effort to baby it—and yet, we both consistently get about 57 MPG combined. The car adapts to how you drive it, which is really impressive.
I think Toyota deserves as much credit as Apple for its “it just works” ethos. The way they design the technology to be seamless and work so well behind the scenes is remarkable. Additionally, many Toyota mechanics consider the Prius to be the most reliable car Toyota makes. This often surprises people because of the perceived complexity of hybrids, but in reality, they are elegantly engineered and surprisingly simple.
I would go even further and say comparing Apple to Toyota is a high praise for Apple. Toyota, one of the world's largest manufacturers of any product, created its own management and engineering style (e.g. TPS) that continue to edify engineers to this day. Toyota survived and thrived this long in a highly competitive field, especially on a global stage -- a rare instance for a Japanese company. Steve Jobs in his peak had great admiration for Japanese manufacturers like Toyota and wanted to emulate them.
I recently bought the 2012 Prius and at least in Europe it has features that not many 2024 cars have here. HUD, backup camera, regen breaking, automatic transmission, multiple digital displays, Bluetooth, stop-start at lights, EV drive mode on the tiny battery for a few minutes..
I know all cars can’t be perfect but as a 2010 Prius owner (I probably shouldn’t complain given it’s 15 years old) it has had several well documented issues that never prompted a recall.
I was hit with a bad oil gasket that causes the engine to burn oil. It’s so much work to replace their solution is to replace the entire engine. My solution is to keep putting oil in it. I was told by the dealer this is common over 70k miles.
The steering controls (heat, volume, cruise) stopped working pretty early on. It was well over $1k to fix, mostly labor. Apparently the connection they use is prone to failure.
Leaves me wondering if my next car will be a Toyota. Maybe if they adopted Apple CarPlay.
That being said, batteries are still good and I’ve been pretty impressed how low the maintenance has been.
Another 2010 owner here. I'm at 280,000km, and other than burning some oil everything still works fine. Usually by this age cars here are pretty rusty, but so far my Prius has held up well. There's a few spots of surface rust in places, but nothing serious.
We had to replace the inverter a few years ago (apparently there was a software update to prevent this failure, but we didn't have it), but even when that broke the car was still driveable, just the ICE engine was running all the time.
The biggest issue I've had is with brakes. Three times now the rear pads have got rusty and I've had to replace both the pads and rotors. My theory is that as they are hardly used, they don't get hot enough to dry out any moisture. Last year I rebuild the rear calipers, so let's see if that fairs any better.
FWIW they have adopted carplay. I have a 2019 prius prime, which was I think the last year before they swapped over. My neighbor has a 2024 model, and it has resolved my two main complaints about my car, in that it has carplay and they have three seats in the back now instead of two.
Absolutely love my 2014 PHEV Prius, will do about 7 miles on battery which will get me to the shops and back. Never had a problem with it, about to hit 200k miles and still pretty much perfect
Honestly, I think it’s actually the second generation Prius that transformed the auto industry. The first generation was quirky, had poor crash test ratings, and was full of compromises.
The second generation showed that they could produce a sedan with high reliability, a decent sized passenger cabin, high crash test ratings, and very little compromises over a regular car except speed and sell it at a massive scale with incredible gas mileage, lower maintenance costs and great reliability.
I think it also showed that you could build a smaller car, throw in all the technology features and young people would buy it where previously, manufacturers would only put the latest and greatest features on their largest vehicles. For example, if you wanted the latest and greatest features from Mercedes, you would have to buy the S class, so even if you wanted a smaller more efficient car, if you were an early adopter, you had to buy the largest model. I think the Prius was a point where people realized that the youngest people wanted these tech features but they didn’t want a giant car.
I'm almost 40 and never had a car in my life. But recently I'm thinking about buying one and probably it will be a Toyota hybrid (Lexus if I get a windfall lol)
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 model.
It feels like the sweet spot for most Americans and doesn't require any real lifestyle change.
Big shame is that dealers aren't necessarily charging them on the lot. So if you test drive one, you might only feel the hybrid and not the EV mode.
The Sienna is a great hybrid if you are wanting something larger for families or hauling stuff. Tons of space, really nice cabin, and far more practical for 90% of uses than a huge pickup or any of the large SUVs. I can haul groceries and my large dog in the back cargo area w/ the 3rd row down, or put the row up for seating seven.
Oh, and mileage is 30-34 mpg, at least when its not the middle of midwest winter.
It's difficult to overstate how ground breaking Prius was when it came out; arguably more surprising than Tesla's success and paradigm shift. Before Prius came out, people questioned whether it was even physically possible to have a any working hybrid system in a commercial car, let alone a non-serial hybrid system. At least Tesla had seen working prior art in commercial EVs (albeit far less famed than Tesla).
Toyota was mocked in recent years for not going head-first into EVs. As the EVs are becoming less popular and the geopolitics of battery and raw materials escalates, Toyota is having the last laugh.
I needed a new car in 2015. A difficult decision for me, since basically every manufacturer sells cars that have four wheels and an engine, and I wasn't sure what I wanted / needed beyond that.
A friend had bought a used Prius and loved it, so I did some research and decided it would be a good choice. Thus I ended up with a car that has four wheels and two engines.
(It only has around 48K miles, have replaced brakes once and regular battery twice, otherwise no problems. And routinely get at least 40mpg.)
My aunt bought one of the first ones. It was the first time I experienced a car driving fully silent, creeping up the driveway. Was pretty surreal at the time.
I hated the original Prius. It had no right to call itself a "hybrid". It had one source of power: gasoline. This seriously confused the market and the press when the Volt -- a true Hybrid with electric and gas -- came out. I wish regulators defined the word "Hybrid" and limitied its use in marketing.
Family Guy got the meaning of "Prius--and the type of self-righteous person who drove it--exactly right.
The Toyota Camry Hybrid transfored the way I automobile.
A brother recently transferred title of "most dangerous driver in the family" from me to somebody else... so I've got that going for me (plus: have never been pulled over in my re-vamped hybrid lifestyle).
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 thought it’s either EV, or nothing.
Then I looked into how hybrids work. Specifically Toyota hybrids. And came away totally amazed. It’s an amazing system, and much simpler than a traditional ICE car. It doesn’t really have a gearbox, or a clutch, or a starter. The engine is a normal atmospheric engine, so no turbines, overcompression, and the issues that come with it. Furthermore, the engine is typically configured to use the Atkinson cycle, which puts less stress on it. And, the engine has a chain drive, so no belts to change, and by design gets stressed a lot less than in a traditional ICE, because the stop-start load is carried by the electric motor. Also, it can’t really have trouble starting in cold weather, much like an EV. All of that boils down to crazy reliability.
I’m at a point where if I’m looking for a car that uses fuel, it’s only cars that use the Toyota hybrid tech (or similar) that I’m looking at. At the moment it’s just Toyota, Lexus, most Ford hybrids (but not all).
Other companies have hybrids that are liable to my original concerns about massively increased complexity. As an example, VW hybrids have an electric motor within their DSG gearbox. So you have all the complexity of their modern ICEs (turbines, DSG, whatnot) plus additional hybrid related complexity.
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 not any fun. Life is too short for me not to enjoy the time I have to spend driving. My sister has an Audi A3 e-tron hybrid (basically an upscale VW Golf) that is extremely fun to drive, but also a very complex drivetrain and engine.
I think a pure EV with a small range extender not connected to the drivetrain mechanically- like the BMW i3 REX is the way to go. It’s even simpler and lighter than the Prius system, allowing for a much larger battery and more powerful electric motor.
>I’m at a point where if I’m looking for a car that uses fuel, it’s only cars that use the Toyota hybrid tech (or similar) that I’m looking at. At the moment it’s just Toyota, Lexus, most Ford hybrids (but not all).
Don't forget the Mazda CX-50 Hybrid that was just released. Using the Toyota Hybrid from the RAV4 with the elegance and beauty of Mazda design.
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.
Not a challenge, but a plea: where's your source(s) for this? I'm about where you were, but would love to know more about the internals so I can make an informed choice when my current (ICE) car dies.
I had an Accord hybrid and it did not have a transmission at all. There was a clutch and a single gear, which engaged over about 45 mph. Otherwise, the vehicle was propelled by an electric motor. The design, as far as I know, is significantly different than what Toyota uses. Having no transmission plus very little brake wear due to regen breaking felt like a good tradeoff.
https://www.autoweek.com/news/green-cars/a34667856/the-updat...
https://hondanews.com/en-US/honda-automobiles/releases/relea...
Can't agree more, I can't understand why any car person would not be excited about THS II system anymore ever since its executive summary finally clicked, other than because that Prius as a product used to be so badly designed until Tesla started seriously threatening Toyota.
If only Toyota made bunch of toy models for THS and built couple 2-door hybrids so that more people would get it. I suppose it's a case of innovator's dilemma, but it's so unfortunate.
Naive question: aren't belts lower maintenance than chains, and don't let last longer? Why doesn't a engine with a chain drive require equal or more replacements?
I was also worried about my wrong perception of hybrids being too complex. I recommend people to check on how e-CVT transmissions work, they are quite amazing and simple.
I also have now an hybrid Corolla (the station wagon version the US does not get. Because we all now Station wagons are the superior form of car.)
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.
I wish Toyota would make enough Siennas to satisfy demand. Instead, there's are long wait lists at dealers.
See here for a counterpoint on hybrids putting less stress on their engines:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eC5FFoCq4s ("It Turns Out, Hybrids Are Really Hard On Engines")
I would not call a CVT "not a gearbox". Were Audis equipped with their multitronic option (not in any way related to hybrid or BEV) "cars without a gearbox"?
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 new Prius looks good, but I love my old Prius’s spacious hatchback. With the backseat down we can stick 3 giant dogs back there. I don’t know if there’s a hybrid with similar internal space.
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
- it looks much better than past Priuses, but the rear door handles single-handedly put back the "dork factor"
None of that would have mattered that much, but the dealbreaker: Trunk space. I mean, space to load stuff when there are already 4 people in the car so you can't just fold down the back seat. That trunk floor is high. Folded it up and what's underneath? A styrofoam spacer matrix! WTF? Why not a spare tire instead (you don't get one)? I can imagine an ugly hack, tearing all that out, just to get a bit more trunk space but really? My only guess is that the Prius Prime's extra battery goes here, and they don't want to have it have less trunk space than the regular Prius.
We are (by choice) a one-car family and we have two kids. When we travel we need a certain amount of trunk space, and the Prius doesn't have it. Aside from that, the Prime would have been lovely - enough battery to do your around-town driving entirely electrically! I never even thought of the "no heat" angle.
Doesn’t sound as cool though. Maybe the Mustang team was onto something when they were playing supplementary fake engine sounds in the cabin speakers
The problems with the Prius are basically:
If not for those things it would be great, but unfortunately they've made zero progress on fixing any of the core issues for the last 25 years. The new models definitely do look cooler, and I appreciate that they accelerate faster, but I personally care much more about the stuff that could potentially kill me when I'm driving.> The Prius has all the modern stuff
Hilarious to think this is modern stuff. This stuff is 2-3 decades old.
I rode in one when I called an Uber once and was über amazed... it's so spacious too! Pics really don't do it justice
The Trans Am also had simple analogue controls - including for the heat & AC - while the new Prius has evidently succumbed to the overcomplicated "let's take away buttons" phenomenon.
Also, you're not getting a bride to leave her husband at the altar if you pull up alongside in a Prius. Just sayin'.
I'll toast a Coors Banquet to that!
---------
Amen to that though! I agree that the new gen Prius looks really sleek! I tried EVs but the range and lack of after-market parts was really limiting, so I've been fairly happy with the Prius Prime.
But
- Does not look as cool
I love my Prius. What amazes me about the car is how “idiot-proof” or “smart” it is. I try my best to hypermile and squeeze out every last MPG, while my wife doesn’t make any effort to baby it—and yet, we both consistently get about 57 MPG combined. The car adapts to how you drive it, which is really impressive.
I think Toyota deserves as much credit as Apple for its “it just works” ethos. The way they design the technology to be seamless and work so well behind the scenes is remarkable. Additionally, many Toyota mechanics consider the Prius to be the most reliable car Toyota makes. This often surprises people because of the perceived complexity of hybrids, but in reality, they are elegantly engineered and surprisingly simple.
I love to hypermile my accord hybrid, but when my wife pulls the exact same mileage without doing anything special, it makes me feel so goofy.
I’ll continue to hypermile for fun anyway lol
I would go even further and say comparing Apple to Toyota is a high praise for Apple. Toyota, one of the world's largest manufacturers of any product, created its own management and engineering style (e.g. TPS) that continue to edify engineers to this day. Toyota survived and thrived this long in a highly competitive field, especially on a global stage -- a rare instance for a Japanese company. Steve Jobs in his peak had great admiration for Japanese manufacturers like Toyota and wanted to emulate them.
I recently bought the 2012 Prius and at least in Europe it has features that not many 2024 cars have here. HUD, backup camera, regen breaking, automatic transmission, multiple digital displays, Bluetooth, stop-start at lights, EV drive mode on the tiny battery for a few minutes..
I know all cars can’t be perfect but as a 2010 Prius owner (I probably shouldn’t complain given it’s 15 years old) it has had several well documented issues that never prompted a recall.
I was hit with a bad oil gasket that causes the engine to burn oil. It’s so much work to replace their solution is to replace the entire engine. My solution is to keep putting oil in it. I was told by the dealer this is common over 70k miles.
The steering controls (heat, volume, cruise) stopped working pretty early on. It was well over $1k to fix, mostly labor. Apparently the connection they use is prone to failure.
Leaves me wondering if my next car will be a Toyota. Maybe if they adopted Apple CarPlay.
That being said, batteries are still good and I’ve been pretty impressed how low the maintenance has been.
Another 2010 owner here. I'm at 280,000km, and other than burning some oil everything still works fine. Usually by this age cars here are pretty rusty, but so far my Prius has held up well. There's a few spots of surface rust in places, but nothing serious.
We had to replace the inverter a few years ago (apparently there was a software update to prevent this failure, but we didn't have it), but even when that broke the car was still driveable, just the ICE engine was running all the time.
The biggest issue I've had is with brakes. Three times now the rear pads have got rusty and I've had to replace both the pads and rotors. My theory is that as they are hardly used, they don't get hot enough to dry out any moisture. Last year I rebuild the rear calipers, so let's see if that fairs any better.
FWIW they have adopted carplay. I have a 2019 prius prime, which was I think the last year before they swapped over. My neighbor has a 2024 model, and it has resolved my two main complaints about my car, in that it has carplay and they have three seats in the back now instead of two.
All Toyotas have CarPlay for years now
My 2024 Corolla supports Apple CarPlay.
Good news! They have CarPlay on all their vehicles now
Absolutely love my 2014 PHEV Prius, will do about 7 miles on battery which will get me to the shops and back. Never had a problem with it, about to hit 200k miles and still pretty much perfect
Honestly, I think it’s actually the second generation Prius that transformed the auto industry. The first generation was quirky, had poor crash test ratings, and was full of compromises.
The second generation showed that they could produce a sedan with high reliability, a decent sized passenger cabin, high crash test ratings, and very little compromises over a regular car except speed and sell it at a massive scale with incredible gas mileage, lower maintenance costs and great reliability.
I think it also showed that you could build a smaller car, throw in all the technology features and young people would buy it where previously, manufacturers would only put the latest and greatest features on their largest vehicles. For example, if you wanted the latest and greatest features from Mercedes, you would have to buy the S class, so even if you wanted a smaller more efficient car, if you were an early adopter, you had to buy the largest model. I think the Prius was a point where people realized that the youngest people wanted these tech features but they didn’t want a giant car.
I'm almost 40 and never had a car in my life. But recently I'm thinking about buying one and probably it will be a Toyota hybrid (Lexus if I get a windfall lol)
Hope Toyota get their mojo back for EVs.
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 model.
It feels like the sweet spot for most Americans and doesn't require any real lifestyle change.
Big shame is that dealers aren't necessarily charging them on the lot. So if you test drive one, you might only feel the hybrid and not the EV mode.
The Sienna is a great hybrid if you are wanting something larger for families or hauling stuff. Tons of space, really nice cabin, and far more practical for 90% of uses than a huge pickup or any of the large SUVs. I can haul groceries and my large dog in the back cargo area w/ the 3rd row down, or put the row up for seating seven.
Oh, and mileage is 30-34 mpg, at least when its not the middle of midwest winter.
I do wish they'd release their PHEV vans over here (https://global.toyota/en/newsroom/toyota/41970489.html), which also look like something out of Blade Runner.
“Hope <the number two by sales in the US vehicle manufacturer> gets their mojo back” is certainly a take.
Kind of tangential TIL: Toyota sells 3x more bZ4X in US(18k/yr) than all Tesla models combined in Japan(6k/yr), before counting in Subaru Solterra.
Probably the most influential vehicle in the last century along the Model S.
Toyota explicitly stated that the hybrid strategy spreads the lithium out to more cars, increasing fuel economy across the fleet.
Tesla's 800hp super cars aren't green and never were. They consume lithium to such a degree that they are, maybe even worse in the long run.
Using 800 horses to transport one human never could be efficient, no matter the technology.
It's difficult to overstate how ground breaking Prius was when it came out; arguably more surprising than Tesla's success and paradigm shift. Before Prius came out, people questioned whether it was even physically possible to have a any working hybrid system in a commercial car, let alone a non-serial hybrid system. At least Tesla had seen working prior art in commercial EVs (albeit far less famed than Tesla).
Toyota was mocked in recent years for not going head-first into EVs. As the EVs are becoming less popular and the geopolitics of battery and raw materials escalates, Toyota is having the last laugh.
I needed a new car in 2015. A difficult decision for me, since basically every manufacturer sells cars that have four wheels and an engine, and I wasn't sure what I wanted / needed beyond that.
A friend had bought a used Prius and loved it, so I did some research and decided it would be a good choice. Thus I ended up with a car that has four wheels and two engines.
(It only has around 48K miles, have replaced brakes once and regular battery twice, otherwise no problems. And routinely get at least 40mpg.)
My aunt bought one of the first ones. It was the first time I experienced a car driving fully silent, creeping up the driveway. Was pretty surreal at the time.
I hated the original Prius. It had no right to call itself a "hybrid". It had one source of power: gasoline. This seriously confused the market and the press when the Volt -- a true Hybrid with electric and gas -- came out. I wish regulators defined the word "Hybrid" and limitied its use in marketing.
Family Guy got the meaning of "Prius--and the type of self-righteous person who drove it--exactly right.
The Toyota Camry Hybrid transfored the way I automobile.
A brother recently transferred title of "most dangerous driver in the family" from me to somebody else... so I've got that going for me (plus: have never been pulled over in my re-vamped hybrid lifestyle).
Can you smell the 50mpg+ smug?
> A driver not employing such techniques still can expect fuel economy as high as 4.06 L per 100 km from the latest generation of Prius models.
I think they meant "as low as".
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