Hybrid / EV technology

[MetManMark]

All

We love our hybrid auris TS that we bought a few months ago. We like the economy aspect but also the driving experience.it is smooth quiet and takes some of the stress out of driving.the only thing that I find is that sometimes I wish it were a full EV.sometimes you want to keep a bit of Battery in reserve as you know that in a mile or so you are going to be in stop start traffic etc.

 

Questions are

At what point will there be a reasonably priced EV that has 250 miles range,is as practical as our TS in having a decent sized boot and a spare tyre. 10 years?

At what point can we expect Toyota to really enter the frame.i know they are busy making all their cars hybrid and also have the mirai but I'd love to see a bottom up EV Prius.

 

Thoughts?

[Anthony Poli]

When the batteries cheaper and have better capacity, then we will see the tsunami of the electric only cars.

Like with most things, it's either a technological or financial barrier, that stops us living in world out of the sci-fi films.

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[PeteB]

never mind the range, boot etc.   -   I want an EV that can also fly!  

[Duffryn]

49 minutes ago, PeteB said:

never mind the range, boot etc.   -   I want an EV that can also fly!  

That would take a lot of hot air Pete........and you won't find any on this forum.....

[barrycoll]

Sounds like a call for some more of my words of wisdom ( or pearl before swine?)

 

The gen 4 Prius has the 'almost EV' type drive that you are looking for Mark

 

[FROSTYBALLS]

Carlos Ghosn has confirmed the next generation Nissan Leaf is in development. According to Autocar, that may have a range of approx 340 miles - http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/motor-shows-ces/next-nissan-leaf-confirmed-be-development?utm_medium=EMAIL&utm_campaign=Enews bulletins&utm_content=ACAR Enews bulletin - new - 7 stories (07.01.2017)::story5headline&utm_source=20170107

[kithmo]

12 hours ago, MetManMark said:

All

We love our hybrid auris TS that we bought a few months ago. We like the economy aspect but also the driving experience.it is smooth quiet and takes some of the stress out of driving.the only thing that I find is that sometimes I wish it were a full EV.sometimes you want to keep a bit of battery in reserve as you know that in a mile or so you are going to be in stop start traffic etc.

 

Questions are

At what point will there be a reasonably priced EV that has 250 miles range,is as practical as our TS in having a decent sized boot and a spare tyre. 10 years?

At what point can we expect Toyota to really enter the frame.i know they are busy making all their cars hybrid and also have the mirai but I'd love to see a bottom up EV Prius.

 

Thoughts?

When pigs fly.

Toyota mentioned producing a full EV in a few years time, can't remember when.

[Joseph D]

On 07/01/2017 at 9:11 PM, MetManMark said:

At what point can we expect Toyota to really enter the frame

From what I've read, never. Toyota changed their focus from Battery technology to fuel cells–hence the Mirai.

[Anthony Poli]

The market will decide and Toyota can follow it or try to go against it.

However good their technology is, I doubt it goes as far as a crystal ball ;-)

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[FROSTYBALLS]

There were media reports in November that suggest Toyota are re-considering their position as regards EV's, and that they may have an EV by 2020. They have recently set up an EV division - see  http://www.autonews.com/article/20161130/COPY01/311309962/akio-toyoda-will-head-toyotas-ev-division

[Anthony Poli]

2 hours ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

There were media reports in November that suggest Toyota are re-considering their position as regards EV's, and that they may have an EV by 2020. They have recently set up an EV division - see  http://www.autonews.com/article/20161130/COPY01/311309962/akio-toyoda-will-head-toyotas-ev-division

Strange how they had the RAV4 EV's all those years ago in the states, then abandoned it. Like GM did in the 90's with the ev 1. Only created to get round the law and then killed off after the laws changed again. 

If both companies had kept up the development of their EV's, they could have been ahead of the game and not playing catch up.

[PeteB]

4 hours ago, Anthony Poli said:

Strange how they had the RAV4 EV's all those years ago in the states, then abandoned it...

They had some on Jersey too, available to hire from a hotel or two from around 1997 to some time after 2000.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Have a look at http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/toyota/rav4/59637/toyota-rav4-ev

[Anthony Poli]

Hopefully the promised / mythical graphene super capacitors will materialise without doc brown 

Then we all can have lightweight energy storage and rapid charging.

[Anthony Poli]

6 minutes ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

Have a look at http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/toyota/rav4/59637/toyota-rav4-ev

Only in California though, unless the demand is very high. 

[Konrad C]

I 

On 1/7/2017 at 8:11 AM, MetManMark said:

All

We love our hybrid auris TS that we bought a few months ago. We like the economy aspect but also the driving experience.it is smooth quiet and takes some of the stress out of driving.the only thing that I find is that sometimes I wish it were a full EV.sometimes you want to keep a bit of battery in reserve as you know that in a mile or so you are going to be in stop start traffic etc.

 

Questions are

At what point will there be a reasonably priced EV that has 250 miles range,is as practical as our TS in having a decent sized boot and a spare tyre. 10 years?

At what point can we expect Toyota to really enter the frame.i know they are busy making all their cars hybrid and also have the mirai but I'd love to see a bottom up EV Prius.

 

Thoughts?

This is a good question. 

I follow the following on YouTube - James and Kate, James Cooke, Bjorn Nyland, fullychargedshow with Robert Llewellyn, Transport Evolved, 8-bit Guy and watch a few others. Copy and paste the names in YouTube search to find there channels.

Most are UK or in Bjorns case Norway, and the others are in the US. There are lots of road trips and personal views on the cars. They also report any problems. The best so far is when James Cooke's Tesla Model S broke down a few days ago! The cause was the main ECU shorted out. You need to see the episodes - 

 

 

and the best

I have followed James Cooke since last year and he is very interesting.

Robert Llewellyn's fullychargedshow is top notch - Look at the Hyundai Ioniq

Whilst on the subject, The Hyundai Ioniq has had a great review. It has a longer range. Bjorn Nyland used one on a road trip in Norway in winter. 

The EV goalpost set by Tesla is being closed by the other companies like Hyundai, Nissan and Renault. The Battery density and motor efficiency are increasing. 

Chevrolet Bolt has been released in left-hand drive only form, so the UK will not get this car. Even German companies like VW and Mercedes have EV's. The Tesla model 3 has a long waiting list (with deposit) and not available until 2018. 

The charging infrastructure is improving and is led by Tesla again.  

I would love to have an EV in the future when everything is a bit more affordable.

Toyota need to take the full EV route and catch up. The technology for EV has moved on greatly in recent years, after along time getting nowhere. With diesel being demonised, and along with petrol cars given the name "fossil burner", EV are being given a new status. But remember, some (may be lot) of the power stations are "fossil burners"!

If I was to change my car now, it would be an Auris TS Hybrid (secondhand). But new, then the Hyundai Ioniq if I could afford it. If I won the lottery it would be a Tesla.   

I hope my reply was not too long, and added something useful.  

[johalareewi]

sometimes you want to keep a bit of battery in reserve as you know that in a mile or so you are going to be in stop start traffic 

After thousands of miles in my gen3 prius I was thinking the same and took the opportunity to change to a plug in Prius.

As an EV, the Prius plugin hasn't got much of an EV range but as a PHEV it works really well.  Having a larger HV Battery that you can charge yourself, and being able to go up to (almost) 60mph in EV does just what you suggest.  Even when the HV Battery has run down (or you switch to Hybrid (HV) mode, the plugin prius is a better prius than the gen3.

[Anthony Poli]

Just a shame i couldn't have made use of all the scrap 18650 cells from work

I think for the weight of the spare wheel, I could have had double the range.

[MetManMark]

Thanks for the comments. I have been watching fully charged since a friend of mine put me onto it before Christmas. Since then I have been hooked. Still seems to me as though the tech and infrastructure isn't quite there yet, let alone the price. Happy with the auris TS hybrid for the next 10 years :)

[Anthony Poli]

Thanks for the comments. I have been watching fully charged since a friend of mine put me onto it before Christmas. Since then I have been hooked. Still seems to me as though the tech and infrastructure isn't quite there yet, let alone the price. Happy with the auris TS hybrid for the next 10 years :)

I went for a hybrid for the same reason, cost and practically. Couldn't afford a tesla and that would be the only car to get me o Germany on a single charge.

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[johalareewi]

23 hours ago, Anthony Poli said:

Just a shame i couldn't have made use of all the scrap 18650 cells from work

I think for the weight of the spare wheel, I could have had double the range.

In the days of the gen2 and early gen3 prius it was possible to do just that.  Plenty of info over on Prius Chat and there was a member of this forum in the UK who did it to his gen3 prius.  And you could top up from the mains electricity supply.

[PeteB]

1 minute ago, johalareewi said:

In the days of the gen2 and early gen3 prius it was possible to do just that.  Plenty of info over on Prius Chat and there was a member of this forum in the UK who did it to his gen3 prius.  And you could top up from the mains electricity supply.

Some 14-15 years ago there was an Austrian original Gen 1 Prius owner on the Yahoo Prius-UK group who wrote off his first one and bought a second.  He rescued the HV Battery and installed it on top of the Battery in the boot of his new one, and although not plug-in capable it increased mpg quite a bit (probably helped because his part of Austria was quite hilly and he could recover a lot more energy going downhill before it maxed out).  He sold some of the other parts on eBay.

[Konrad C]

Wheeler Dealers had a Maserati Bi-Turbo converted converted to electric on their latest show last night. They upgraded the system to the latest EV components. Their first EV and Ed and Mike seemed to be into it. 

[Anthony Poli]

3 hours ago, johalareewi said:

In the days of the gen2 and early gen3 prius it was possible to do just that.  Plenty of info over on Prius Chat and there was a member of this forum in the UK who did it to his gen3 prius.  And you could top up from the mains electricity supply.

I just read the one the teacher did, just a shame it wasn't quite right.

[PeteB]

17 hours ago, Anthony Poli said:

I went for a hybrid for the same reason, cost and practically. Couldn't afford a tesla and that would be the only car to get me o Germany on a single charge.

I very seriously considered a Tesla Model S before deciding on my Gen 4 Prius.  With the longer range Battery (about £4k extra!), 4 wheel drive, air suspension and one or two other goodies it would have cost over £80k, but even with a claimed range of over 300 miles (not actually achievable unless you kept below 55 mph, used very moderate acceleration and no heating or A/C - and no open windows either!) it would not have managed some of my UK journeys.

If there had been a serious number of very fast charging points in the East of England at the time it might have been a different story, but 20-30 hours charging requirement for a day trip rather defeated things (always assuming I could find anywhere to charge).

I had thought my Gen 3 Prius would be my last Toyota, especially when they announced 4WD for the Gen 4 and then didn't give it to anyone outside Japan, but there are so many other good things about the Gen 4 that for now it's cured my desire for an EV.