You’ve probably found out by now that Toyota doesn’t see a future in all-electric vehicles. Simply because they are limited by the technology we have now, mainly the current lithium-ion batteries they are powered by. Although this might change in a few years, Toyota feels the need to remind us that its hybrids are currently better. And it does that by any chance...
For example, let’s take a look at one of the latest commercials for the Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid. To better understand, we’ll remind you that this vehicle is basically the normal Prius Liftback, but you can also plug it in to recharge the battery and run solely on electricity if the 11-mile (17.7 km) EV range is of use to you.
Which is great for short trips around the city. In fact, if you know how to hypermile, you can mostly use it in EV mode for your daily commute. Leave home with the battery charged, drive to work, plug it in again and you’ll have it ready for the trip back.
Relying only on this, Toyota decided it’s good to make fun of standard EV drivers, because they are dependent of a socket, while its Plug-in Hybrid can still go on gasoline after the battery has been depleted. Just take a look at the commercial bellow to see what’s going on, then scroll down to see why this is so bad for them to do.
Well, we tend to disagree with this. Although the Prius Plug-in Hybrid is a great car to have, you simply can’t compare it like that to EVs. First of all, you can’t say plug-in hybrids are greener, thus better, for the future since they still have to burn fuel at some point. And regarding at how only few people know to hypermile, that gasoline engine will kick in pretty fast.
Secondly, if we’re strictly referring to city use, since that 11-mile range won’t get you too far, a standard EV will beat you anytime. Unlike the Prius PHEV, an EV has been engineered to work only with electricity. So it comes with a bigger battery, which in return will let you go further in between charges.
Thirdly, if we combine the two reasons above, you discover that for your daily commute, a Nissan Leaf is way better. It costs about $10,000 less (with incentives) and you can also smash its go pedal from time to time without being afraid the electricity will be depleted and you’ll have to switch to gasoline power.
Oh, and let’s not forget there are other plug-in hybrids out there that will outrun the Prius. Say, the Audi A3 e-tron, which allows you to go up to 31 miles (50 km) on a full battery.
In the end, we think Toyota should mind it’s other greater causes, like putting fuel cells on the map and giving us another Supra. If you’re not good at something (check the not so famous RAV4 EV and the iQ EV), it doesn’t mean you can make fun or ridicule those who did better.
Google News