Prius reviews coming in

[Laconian]

Hey, it's on a road and not a Lazy Susan. Let's watch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rl-QKRvZm-M

Sounds great! But oh no, more numb steering!

[GoCougs]

Haha. Love that channel - that intro had me rolling, and dat motif throughout. Brilliant.

Upon closer inspection, it's still very much cut from Prius cloth, esp. those ultra skinny wheels/tires, but it does look much more desirable over all.

[Laconian]

I was thinking that it looks like a contender for Mike's commuter duties, but the low roofline makes me wonder if this is yet another car that's bad for the talls.

[Morris Minor]

Did you catch the label under the hood? Oil - SAE 0W-16. Never seen this until now.

[cawimmer430]

I have not watched the video but I'm just thinking that that design must be awful for interior space. The design actually looks sporty and edgy for a Prius - but at what I assume must be at the cost of interior space. Look at at angle of that front windshield and how the rear roofline just dips downward.

[MrH]

I was thinking that it looks like a contender for Mike's commuter duties, but the low roofline makes me wonder if this is yet another car that's bad for the talls.

I've been watching all these reviews.  General consensus seems to be they gave up some passenger and cargo space for a much more attractive design, which is fine?  I might fit in it. What's interesting: I think this totally kills the Toyota Crown.  It's not significantly smaller inside, but it's 700 lbs lighter, more attractive, 25% more fuel efficient.  Interior is very similar between the two.  Only thing the Crown really provides is a higher H-point for the boomers I guess.

It's always so hard to figure out trim differences.  I thought I was going to be forced to go Limited for a heated steering wheel, but I guess that comes on XLE.

Jumping to Limited from XLE for $3500 gets you:
- Power lift back
- Ventilated front seats
- Driver seat memory
- Big infotainment screen
- 2 small sunroofs that don't open
- Upgraded sound system with 2 more speakers
- The ability add $1635 for a 360 degree camera, heated rear seats, some auto parking feature, and a digital rear view mirror

I think I would just get an AWD XLE with the bigger screen added.  I don't really care about anything else it offers?  That would be around $34k.  My expensive than I had hoped, but it's not awful.  Current outback is worth $30k-$32k. 

There's some strange little cost cutting in it though.  No rear air outlets.  Single zone climate control.  But as solely a commuter car, it doesn't matter

[MrH]

Then again, they're only planning on 35k units/yr.  And you can't order anything from Toyota, so this is all for nothing anyways   They will all be way over sticker, and you won't be able to get one optioned or in the color you want.  The car industry is a mess.

[Morris Minor]

All those things are nice - but not really 3½k-nice, especially if it's just as a commuting appliance. In the climate here, if I were to pick one, it would be vented seats; I've grown to love them. (My wife would choose the liftgate)

[Morris Minor]

Then again, they're only planning on 35k units/yr.  And you can't order anything from Toyota, so this is all for nothing anyways   They will all be way over sticker, and you won't be able to get one optioned or in the color you want.  The car industry is a mess.

I bet you could get a deal on the outgoing '22 model though. Ugly but still a super commuting appliance. And you don't need much power in slow traffic. 

[MrH]

I bet you could get a deal on the outgoing '22 model though. Ugly but still a super commuting appliance. And you don't need much power in slow traffic. 

Hell no.  Not touching that thing with a 10 foot pole.

[r0tor]

It's better than the old one... Still not saying much

[GoCougs]

I'm slowly dying inside with my song still in me, so fuck no for me there's no such thing as a "commuting appliance." Maximum car all the time for me, even just commuting!

[Morris Minor]

What's interesting about Toyota is that it's conspicuously absent from the Pure-EVs-or-Nothing bandwagon.

[GoCougs]

What's interesting about Toyota is that it's conspicuously absent from the Pure-EVs-or-Nothing bandwagon.

Same with Honda too. EVs are still largely powered and enabled by fossil fuels and it will always be so esp. if/when China, India, and eventually Africa ramp up. In the now, the attractiveness is it's NIMBY. My strong hunch is the Japanese understood this and that the optimal macro solution is plug-in regenerative hybrids with modest EV-only range. I think they're probably about right, and that's even a maybe. A $20k Civic or Corolla is an extremely attractive environmental solution all told.

FWIW, just recently Toyota announced a retooling of its EV strategy. Not sure the mix of EV-only vs. hybrids or whatever, but I think Toyota is scared to be on the wrong side of legislative hegemony.

[Laconian]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WFDANFUKqQ

[cawimmer430]

What's interesting about Toyota is that it's conspicuously absent from the Pure-EVs-or-Nothing bandwagon.

AFAIK Toyota along with the Korean brands are also investing heavily in Fuel-Cell cars.

BMW in Germany has stated that EVs are "what politicians want, not the engineers", so basically the Green Ideology found in the heads of virtue signaling idiot Western wannabe greenie politicians. BMW has said that the internal combustion engine still has a future for decades to come, especially if it is being run on carbon neutral fuels. EVs won't work for the masses according to BMW. But that seems to be the plan anyway - take away the individual mobility of people and force them into public transportation thanks in part to EVs which will never offer the flexibility and endurance of ICE cars.

[MrH]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WFDANFUKqQ

Topher did another one with the AWD too.

I really dig the interior.  The small digital cluster above the steering wheel seems ideal.  Not sure why more OEMs don't try things like this.

[r0tor]

A traditional gauge cluster isn't done by most OEMs?

[Laconian]

The steering wheel has a LOT going on though.

[Laconian]

A salesman at a Toyota dealer told my mom that the Prime/PHEV won't be sold in WA state. I can't find any information confirming or denying that assertion. I wonder if he's full of shit.

[AutobahnSHO]

A salesman at a Toyota dealer told my mom that the Prime/PHEV won't be sold in WA state. I can't find any information confirming or denying that assertion. I wonder if he's full of shit.

I swear car salesmen know less about the cars in their brand than the average consumer who spent 15 minutes online.....

[Soup DeVille]

The steering wheel has a LOT going on though.

Grand Prix? 95 or so?

[MrH]

A salesman at a Toyota dealer told my mom that the Prime/PHEV won't be sold in WA state. I can't find any information confirming or denying that assertion. I wonder if he's full of shit.

Pretty sure he's full of shit.

[Laconian]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hm8CXLsrNGM

[Laconian]

Pretty sure he's full of shit.

My parents emailed their state senator who then talked to Toyota. WA state doesn't deal with trading emission credits so Toyota is allocating all its PHEV production to states which do.

[MrH]

My parents emailed their state senator who then talked to Toyota. WA state doesn't deal with trading emission credits so Toyota is allocating all its PHEV production to states which do.

Wow!  I would not have guessed that.  I know they usually prioritize rollouts of EVs and PHEV based on state emission rules.  I would have figured Washington would have been one of the fast tracked ones (maybe Washington is much less crunchy than I imagine in my mind )

Did the previous Prius Prime sell there?  If it did, that tells me the new one is going to be REALLY supply constrained.