Gen 3 Plug-in Hybrid

[propnut]

Hi

Does anyone here have one of these or has had and if so what is your opinion. Is it a good buy, how long does the HV LiON Battery last, how much does it cost to replace & what is the realistic range. Official figures state +-15miles.

 

Thanks

[TonyHSD]

Well, it seems there are not many owners here of Priuses phev gen 1, perhaps Uber people forum may answer questions you have. Imo phev are only suitable for specific group of people that can manage their daily drive within ev range and has facilities to charge at home. Also if you don’t do longer trips at least once a week or two weeks then a small bev is better option. ( leaf, zoe , ioniq).  Prius plug in is  slightly different from hv only models and has bigger, heavier and  more expensive Battery. Drive train also has some differences. There are also two plugs to think about and take care off, petrol fills up and Battery charge, after some time if you drive regularly you will feel the burden of having two plugs more than the benefit of it. For me either self charging hybrids or bev. 👍

[johalareewi]

A few of us here have had gen1 prius phv including me.  It is more of a gen3 prius with extra Battery capacity which can be charged up, rather than a proper phv.

EV range is rather limited at around 12 miles and the petrol engine kicks in every now and then.

I moved on to the gen2 prius phv to get proper EV functionality and more EV range.  The downside is the loss of boot space.

 

[propnut]

Thanks for the replies. I was let down by the Toyota agent who was selling the one I was after. I asked if their workshop could do a Battery health check and they clearly weren't interested in doing so. Says a lot really. Anyway I subsequently got an extremely low mileage gen 2. One owner from new and in  immaculate condition. Sure it's not a PHV but she's currently giving 60mpg with my wife at the wheel which is much better than the 35mpg her old car was giving.

[Cyker]

Probably better off TBH - PHEVs are only good if you can charge at home and/or work and your round trip is equalto/less than the EV range, otherwise the extra weight just wastes more fuel; Normally hybrids are generally more efficient than PHEVs once you are out of juice.

 

[QuantumFireball]

I've had a gen 1 Plug-in for six years now, and the car will be 10 years old in September. Battery still works fine, and I still get about 10-11 miles range on a full charge which is more or less what I always got. Battery warranty can be extended up to 15 years with an annual hybrid health check at a Toyota dealer (I believe Toyota GB do the same). Traction batteries are not failing on these in any significant quantities. Even the 12V Battery is still the original in mine.

I'm averaging about 82 MPG. In EV mode it does around 16 kWh/100 km. It makes sense for me as my commute is short and the EV range covers most of my urban/suburban driving. If you can't charge at home I wouldn't bother.

On 7/2/2022 at 5:11 PM, Cyker said:

otherwise the extra weight just wastes more fuel

It's not enough weight to make a substantial difference. Performance and fuel consumption figures are nearly identical to the standard gen 3. Do you notice a difference in fuel consumption if you have one versus three adult passengers in your car?

[Cyker]

Depends on the journey; I'd say overall that'd be a yes tho'. Long motorway runs tend to make the least difference but with lots of stop and start or hill climbing it does make a noticeable difference. I can definitely feel the extra weight when moving off and cornering.

I doubt I could hit 80+mpg with a car full of people!

If you drive yours without charging how do the figures change?

 

[TonyHSD]

Toyota hybrids self charging and phev are different from all other hybrids, and for that reason probably the only plug ins that makes sense. When you not charging it the fuel consumption is exactly the same as hsd ones, ok if perhaps the car is fully loaded it might be slightly less because of the extra weight of the Battery.( +100kg).  That guy who presented his Prius prime in the car care nut show recently that covered 341k miles without issue mentioned something about “recharge mode “ that the car can regenerate and store more power, adding it to the larger Battery when you cruising on motorways and then you can use it as full ev in certain conditions, he also said that he never plug or very rare his Prius. 👍

[johalareewi]

On 7/12/2022 at 8:59 PM, TonyHSD said:

That guy who presented his Prius prime in the car care nut show recently that covered 341k miles without issue mentioned something about “recharge mode “ that the car can regenerate and store more power, adding it to the larger battery when you cruising on motorways and then you can use it as full ev in certain conditions, he also said that he never plug or very rare his Prius. 👍

Note. Recharge mode is on the gen2 plugin prius (prius prime in usa) not gen1 plugin.

[johalareewi]

The gen1 plugin prius vs the gen3 prius. While you would expect the mpg to be the same if you dont ever plugin, drivers in the usa found the plugin got slightly better mpg.

The plugin has a bigger Battery which can take more generated electricity, EV mode is good up to about 53 mph, and regen braking is more efficient.

The plugin is also has heated front seats so in winter you dont have to heat the cabin as much.

When i bought my gen1 plugin (used) they were the same price as a tspirit gen3.