2020 Prime XLE - must know/have's ?

Not sure I should weigh in, not having a Prime, but I recall reading the car is punchier in pure electric mode?

 

Definitely.

 

Thanks, I thought I read something like that in a past post somewhere, there's just so much various info to absorb that occasionally it's hard to remember every detail

…….so - put it in EV mode on the "on ramp" until you reach the expressway speed THEN switch to back to HV mode.

Some "on ramps" are not that long and it's best if you can speed up fast enough to merge into traffic immediately and not get stuck having to wait for an extended gap in the traffic to merge onto the expressway.

 

Depending on the total distance of my trip, I switch to HV mode PRIOR to the on ramp.

I am waiting at a stop light prior to the ramp, so I kick the engine on manually 5-10 seconds before the light changes.

Better than at 70 mph when you wake it up and say "I need you now".

 

Is it that do-or-die? Just pretend you're an old codger in a beat-up, couldn't-care-less pickup?

 

Okay, so I am guessing you are meaning if the engine had been unused that day and still cold that you feel it is better to have the engine warmed up before needing to use it on the expressway.

Since we have a very long stretch of a 55mph road we have to travel just to get to the expressway we might likely will have used the hybrid mode for at least part of that road so the engine will have already been warmed up, but from other posters I got the idea that the car would have more "punch" as far as quicker acceleration in EV mode so I should switch it back to EV mode JUST from the point of getting on the "on ramp" until I reach expressway speed merging into traffic THEN switch back to HV mode.

Only thing is, on that 70mph expressway there can be some drivers going easily 10-15 over the speed limit so you'd prefer to not be so casually building up speed that you'd still be at 40mph when merging into traffic

 

For my on ramp (either to or from work) it is 1/10 of a mile from a dead stop to 70 mph and the gas engine in hv mode does just fine.

Once you get your Prime, experiment a bit.

But I came from a 2010 gen3 with a drinking problem.

While the engine design has improved, I'm taking easy on the engine when I can.

 

Okay, we can test how the HV mode does for us on the expressway ramp acceleration, I'm probably overly concerned having never owned anything other than an ICE car before

Then I could try it the next time in EV mode just for comparison to see if there is a noticeable difference.

 

It's a car at the end of the day.

But a very energy efficient one .

Once you have it, as @Coast Cruiser used to say: Just Drive It .

 

…...maybe having to wait 90-120 days for it to be delivered gives me a lot of time to over-think some things about it

 

You're not the first, and certainly won't be the last.

As Tom Petty said: The Waiting is the Hardest Part.

 

…….yeah, Amazon Prime's 2 day delivery has a lot of us spoiled

Toyota Prime delivery is definitely longer than Amazon Prime delivery

 

It does sound like they've employed the Pony Express for your Prime.

Unfortunate that has to be the case in certain geographies.

But soon enough you'll enjoy your new purchase.

 

I guess pony express is about the speed of a slow boat from Japan

I understand, and I'm not intending to sound too complaining because after all I knew up front before ordering it would take that long, but it's still fun to joke about it

 

Anticipation!!! Yup that's hard. I still remember one childhood Christmas Eve when I was having a tough time getting to sleep. Mom came in and suggested that I think about all the stuff Santa was going to bring me in the morning. I said, "Yeah, that's what I'm doing and that's why I can't sleep."

Anyhow, on the EH/HV freeway stuff, don't sweat it. Play with it and see what you like best. You won't hurt the car. Like you said earlier, they would have all sorts of litigation issues if the thing was that fragile. I'm a little like Ray though in that if I know I'm going to be on the freeway soon, I'll go ahead and put it HV early so I'm playing with a warmed up ICE. It works a little better that way and if the ICE runs at idle, it'll add a few tenths of a mile to the EV range so it's not a total waste.

 

….yep, I remember trying to get to sleep faster on Christmas eve so the morning would seem to get here faster

Yeah, not going to sweat it, I guess simply gleaning current Prime owner's opinions from their actual driving experiences not only helps me be ready ahead of time before ours gets delivered, it also helps with the waiting

It would be neat if the Toyota factory where the Primes are built had live web cams so people waiting on delivery could watch and wonder if one of the Primes going down the assembly line might be theirs

The closest thing I could find so far was a youtube video over 2 years old but I think it's of regular Prius cars being made, still really neat to watch though !