Newbie

[Santii]

Hi

looking forward to getting my 1st hybrid ! Plugin and all...62 Prius.

slightly peeved that it doesn't have dab so wanted to know if I can get this ?

[Anthony Poli]

Hi

Congratulations on the car.

I'm sure it's no big thing to add it.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[FROSTYBALLS]

See http://blog.toyota.co.uk/switch-on-to-dab-digital-radio

Note the comment made by an owner called Mike on 13.10.16, where the quoted cost was in excess of £400.

[Heidfirst]

it depends how you want to add it & how much you want to spend ...

cheapest option will be via 3rd party http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessories-tyres/88304/best-dab-car-radio-adaptors-2017-group-test

[Santii]

Hi guys!

many thanks for your help, will check with dealer his price otherwise if it's a silly price then the Halfords pure seems good enough?

on another topic, can use the plugin to charge at say, Tesco/ikea/ council spots? The dealer is including a cable adapter on top of the regular one for home...

[aCactus]

The plug in can use some of the "public" charging point, problem is there are a number of different systems so not all are compatible with the Prius if they are working. You can use something like zapmap https://www.zap-map.com/live/ to find suitable charging points.

[johalareewi]

ZAP-MAP is great for finding charging points.  You can set a filter by vehicle type so it only shows ones you can use.  They have an app for Android and iPhone as well.

There is also the Open Charge Map which is handy for finding charge points.

Individual providers also have their own apps. some are better than others.  Check out Charge Your Car (CYC), POD Point, Polar, etc.

Once you get to a charge point you might need a card or an account to use it. Or it might be completely free. You can check on ZAP-MAP before you get there to see what you might require.

You can get a free Ecocity card for their remaining slow chargers (which the Prius plugin can use).  But you can't use the card with their new rapid chargers (but the plugin can't use them either so it's not an issue).

 

[Santii]

Hi guys...re dab... dealer has offered to upgrade the system to include dab for £283... do you think it's worth?

[Heidfirst]

it depends what/how they are doing it.

I am not sure of Prius but for my car afaik Toyota had 2 ways of doing it:

- a completely hidden module that plugged into the back of the head unit, utilised the existing head unit display & which could also be controlled via existing steering wheel controls  - this is the £400+ plus fitting one.

The 2nd, cheaper way (I suspect that this is what they are offering you) used a separate control. I believe similar to http://www.halfords.com/technology/car-audio/dab-car-stereos/connects-2-autodab-connect-dab-digital-radio , in fact I believe that Connects2/Autodab were the oem supplier.

[MEP's Yaris GS]

On 22 January 2017 at 5:07 AM, Santii said:

on another topic, can use the plugin to charge at say, Tesco/ikea/ council spots? The dealer is including a cable adapter on top of the regular one for home...

Yes you can. I regularly charge my PiP using public charging points. Join Polar Plus, free for 6 months and then something like £7 a month from memory and you get unlimited free electricity with most of their charging points.

[johalareewi]

Polar plus can be expensive.  It is cheaper to fill up with petrol unless you can charge more than 7 times a month.  Polar Instant is £1.20 per charge so pointless for the plugin (and the app doesn't work properly either).  Some Polar points charge 9p a unit for the electricity too.

Get the free card from Ecocity (the one for the slow charging points - it is still available for Prius plugin owners), Some networks let you register cards from other networks.  You can use the Ecocity one.  ;)

Look at the Charge Your Car card. £20 a year and pretty much all the points are free electricity.  You can use CYC cards on some other networks too.

If you get a charge point installed at home, there are grants available and there may also be a free RFID card.  Check out the ZAP-MAP website for info.

[MEP's Yaris GS]

11 hours ago, johalareewi said:

Polar plus can be expensive.

Not sure how you've come to that conclusion.

Free for the first 6 months, a few quid a month there after. Or play the system, cancel your membership just prior to the first monthly charge and rejoin for a further free 6 months.

[johalareewi]

The first 6 months free is ok but at £7 a month I would need to charge 7 times a month to make it cost effective.  Otherwise it is cheaper to buy petrol for the miles it gets me. I am not near a Polar charge point that often. I guess I could cancel after 6 months then rejoin.

If you have a handy Polar charger you can use a lot (supermarket, work, etc.) it will pay off.  Same with the CYC card at £20 a year. Same with buying a type2 - type1 cable.

 

[aCactus]

Just looked at the Polar network map, it now seems very biased towards South East England and it currently shows nothing near me, It used to show a couple of points - at Toyota and Nissan/Renault dealers. This lack of local points is why I have not renewed my initial free membership that came with the chargemaster unit. Membership/access fees and aditional cables will only make sense if there are enough charging points where you want to go assuming they are working and someone else has not got there first!

[johalareewi]

"Membership/access fees and aditional cables will only make sense if there are enough charging points where you want to go assuming they are working and someone else has not got there first!"

And if it works out cheaper than using petrol.

[MEP's Yaris GS]

12 hours ago, johalareewi said:

"Membership/access fees and aditional cables will only make sense if there are enough charging points where you want to go assuming they are working and someone else has not got there first!"

And if it works out cheaper than using petrol.

No different really to how a EV or PHEV will only work for someone with the right usage patterns.

Like everything in life, it will work for some and not others.

Thankfully it works for me - yay lucky me!