I live in a town-home that has a single car garage. We are not allowed to park on the street overnight. And the parking lots are for visitors. Therefore with two cars one is always in the garage that rarely gets used and the other in the driveway gets most of the use. (Otherwise we would be always moving cars around) I currently have a 2010 Prius that stays in the driveway and my 2004 corolla stays in the garage. I am wondering if I replaced the Corolla with the PIP; would it be too inconvenient. My thinking would be that I would use the PIP most and would then want to keep it outside. I am not familiar with the charger and dont know if there is an extension that can be used to charge the car outside. My circuit breaker panel is in the garage on the passenger side, so I would assume whatever charger I get would get installed in that area. Will I have problems charging due to weather conditions or charging outside with the charger installed inside about 25 feet from the vehicle? edit: By the way I live in NJ where we can have Hot summers and Cold Winters
Depends on your financial situation. Do you need two cars? Do you need two Prius'? With a relatively new 2010 Prius, you're already getting great fuel mileage and saving money. Wants vs needs. Do you really need a Prius Plug-In, or do you just want it? Goes back to your financial situation. Good luck in a sound decision.
Sounds like charging is going to be a real pain for you. I would pass on the PiP unless you could get it at or about the same price as a regular prius. In that case, the ability to charge is there for you in case your circumstances change and you're able to more conveniently take advantage of it.
The supplied charging cable is fairly lengthy and you can use it outside in rain or snow. Using an extension cord is not recommended but PC members have had success using 12 gauge cords of about 25 feet. I'm not an electrician so don't take my word for it. I charge outside at work using an extension cord and have not had problems the last 5 months. It sounds like if you barely use the 04 Corolla, it doesn't make financial sense to park a 3 year old car in the garage. Also the 11 EV miles on the PiP may not be pure EV especially in cold winters. The heater in the PiP is not electric meaning the engine may turn on to supply heat even if you are in EV mode.
You can purchase chargers that are rated for outside mounting and use (NEMA 4 classification) and most of them come with a 20 or 25 ft cable. My Leviton includes a hole (see arrow) in the release button of the connection handle for the use of a small padlock if security is an issue. I installed mine right by my garage sub-panel for simplicity and costs ($30 DIY) but it's certainly not mandatory. The black bracket is for the OEM 120V charger (now stored in the car). You can have wiring run and install the unit pretty much anywhere. Some places even offer free or subsidized installation.
How much does each vehicle get driven on a daily basis? I would be tempted to see if a EV would work as the daily driver, something like a Leaf or RAV4 EV with the 2010 Prius as the backup occasional drive that can do your extended range travels. Installing the charger in the garage and running the charge cable outside under the garage door is a pretty common setup. The Leaf's charging port is at the front of the car.
He is in NJ though, so the RAV would be a bit of a challenge to acquire and also quite a bit more expensive.
if you love the thought of electric driving for all those round trips within 10-15 miles, and an upgraded prius battery beyond that as much as i do, charging outside is no big deal, you just have to make accomodations. many here use heavy duty extension cords without a problem. all the best!
Thank you all for the advice. Our driving is pretty much local and I love the idea of driving without the dependency on gasoline. I work from home most days and my wife works about 5 miles from our home. As suggested above, I would like something EV for every day use and the Prius for Longer distances. My wife would probably love the Rav4 EV. I had not looked into this so if this is something not available in NJ then maybe Leaf is something to consider. However I am a Toyota fan.
the only issue with all ev is the thought process of leaving on a trip that will push the ev range and trying to decide if you need to take the prius, if your better half isn't already using it. and nj winters will have a serious effect on range, alleviated by pip with prius back up. how can you beat 60-70mpg when your ev runs out?
i think an EV would probably be your best bet for a Corolla replacement. the 2013 Leafs are very reasonable price-wise. Also, if you're into that sort of thing, the Smart ED will become available soon and will be even cheaper than the Leaf. The 2010 Prius is already a great car for fuel economy, I don't think the pip really makes sense for you honestly.
Besides the hassle of having to transport the Rav4 EV to NJ (~$800) I think the only thing you would lose is the $2500 California rebate. I think the $7000 TFS discount (0% financing) and the $7500 Federal Tax credit would still apply even if you ship the Rav4 EV to NJ. There might even be a NJ incentive on EVs that might replace the CA rebate. The RAV4 EV drivetrain is from Tesla, and the RAV4 EV is probably the least expensive way to get a Tesla drivetrain today.
sure, but don't forget how expensive the RAV is to begin with. you have $50k MSRP+taxes=$55k shipped. Take out the TFS discount and IRS rebate and you're down to $40,500. NJ doesn't have any incentives, unfortunately. Compare that to a Leaf @ $31k or a Smart ED @ $19.5k (both after taxes). That's a pretty huge differential. Obviously, you get different things for that money, but you can't ignore it entirely either.
Another HUGE consideration is the lack of RAV4EV dealership support outside of California. Epete, you may also not know that Toyota, for the immediate future, has given up on bringing an EV to market.
a liquid cooled/heated 41.8kWh battery in the RAV4 EV versus an air cooled 24kWh battery in the Leaf. 9.6kW charging in the RAV4 EV versus 3.3kW standard in the Leaf.
I priced the most expensive Leaf trim – S would be cheaper by about $9k. So this has the 6.6 charger as well as the QC port.
Was looking up data on Smart ED. There are no photos of trunk space. I assume that means there is none. Therefore I am wondering if it is even usable to go to the grocery store with.
