It’s cheaper than the first generation Prius introduced in the USA back in 2001. It gets better city gas mileage than the latest-generation Prius. Not satisfied with selling more Prii than just about all the other hybrids combined, Toyota offered a super-sized edition last Fall in the form of the Prius v. In March of 2012, the car company covers all bases, with a smaller Prius to be known as the “c†(for city). LA Car received an advanced preview of this latest member of the Prius family... http://www.lacar.com/?p=12203
Sigh. They still don't understand B mode. You use it for long descents down mountain passes. Toyota was just too honest to label it L which would have been less confusing to auto journalists.
We've had a Gen 2 Prius in our fleet since 2003, and we've used the B mode for both long descents down mountain passes and to slow the car down - particularly in stop-and-go rush hour traffic. It's been a well-appreciated feature of the car, and probably contributed to why our original brake pads lasted 135,000 miles.
Regular braking would make it last just as long. Over 22mph, you're "wasting" energy in B by having the engine pump. We have a 170,000km on our 2005 in mostly city driving (West coast) and it's still has 75% brake life left. Only used B on downhill descents from the ski hill. Yeah but L implies Low gear and the Prius has no gears. (well.. you know what I mean).
Most stop-and-go rush hour traffic in Los Angeles is under 22 mph. On the other hand, quite a few of the long downhill descents are significantly over 22 mph. What perplexes me about the Prius c is that it's highway EPA figure is noticeably down from the Prius Liftback. Can it solely be due to aerodynamics?
Nice article. Thanks for posting! Regarding the comments about braking, when you use just the brake pedal, does the dash display have an indicator when you transition from regen only to friction brakes also?
