3 ms·

I'm kind of confused by the direction they've chosen to go here. Was anyone asking for a bigger ice in their Prius? The whole point of hybrid is that you can

I'm kind of confused by the direction they've chosen to go here. Was anyone asking for a bigger ice in their Prius? The whole point of hybrid is that you can get away with a smaller ice, why didn't they give it a bigger electric motor and battery instead?

jjtheblunt 4y ago
i think they're just making purposefully differentiated combinations of ice vs battery size, since there's a pure electric joint effort with Subaru, for instance? i guess time will tell though.
TheLoafOfBread 4y ago
Why would they shoot themselves in a foot like that? Estimated pricing is 26k - 34k USD [0] with range of BEVs for 80k+ USD and convenience of filling up (charging) in few minutes instead of 1 hour and more. It might be more complex but it brings to a user price and convenience of ICE. And before you will pull out that people can charge at home, 50% of people in EU are living in apartments and thus can't charge at home. [0] https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/hybrids-evs/2023-toyota-prius-review-a1192095682/ https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/hybrids-evs/2023-toyota...
- benj111 4y ago
  This a a plug in hybrid though, so if you can't charge it why are you buying a plug in hybrid? So that point is moot, although I disagree with it for other reasons. Plus, your position seems to preclude any kind of electrification, so why build a Prius to start with? Ultimately. Compared to the previous Prius, they've increase engine size. That increases weight and cost. Assuming batteries have come down in price they can use that saving either (broadly) to lower the price of the car, increase electric range, or increase the IC power. They chose to spend some of this saving on a bigger engine. Why? Smaller engine would equal less weight, increasing electric range, so would spending the money on a bigger battery. I kind of see your point that batteries are expensive, X% of journeys are less than X miles so it makes sense to decarbonise that first X%, even if it's not cost effective to decarbonise them all. but as batteries get cheaper, the range of hybrids should be increasing, as the break even point changes.

jjtheblunt 4y ago

i think they're just making purposefully differentiated combinations of ice vs battery size, since there's a pure electric joint effort with Subaru, for instance? i guess time will tell though.

TheLoafOfBread 4y ago

Why would they shoot themselves in a foot like that? Estimated pricing is 26k - 34k USD [0] with range of BEVs for 80k+ USD and convenience of filling up (charging) in few minutes instead of 1 hour and more. It might be more complex but it brings to a user price and convenience of ICE. And before you will pull out that people can charge at home, 50% of people in EU are living in apartments and thus can't charge at home. [0] https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/hybrids-evs/2023-toyota-prius-review-a1192095682/ https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/hybrids-evs/2023-toyota...

benj111 4y ago
This a a plug in hybrid though, so if you can't charge it why are you buying a plug in hybrid? So that point is moot, although I disagree with it for other reasons. Plus, your position seems to preclude any kind of electrification, so why build a Prius to start with? Ultimately. Compared to the previous Prius, they've increase engine size. That increases weight and cost. Assuming batteries have come down in price they can use that saving either (broadly) to lower the price of the car, increase electric range, or increase the IC power. They chose to spend some of this saving on a bigger engine. Why? Smaller engine would equal less weight, increasing electric range, so would spending the money on a bigger battery. I kind of see your point that batteries are expensive, X% of journeys are less than X miles so it makes sense to decarbonise that first X%, even if it's not cost effective to decarbonise them all. but as batteries get cheaper, the range of hybrids should be increasing, as the break even point changes.