john1701a’s

Personal Log Book

I have tried my best to document as many of my personal thoughts & experiences as possible over the past 13 years 8 months and 59,827 miles of driving a Classic (2001) Prius and 118,185 miles of driving an Iconic (2004) Prius and 55,835 miles of driving a 2010 Prius and finally 41,596 miles of a driving a 2012 Prius PHV (plug-in) and 9,590 miles of a driving a 2017 Prius Prime. All these personal log entries now serve as a historical record of the progress as it occurred. Hybrids like this are not only a major step in automotive design, they are also a key to opening new opportunities. When lots of people witness that it is indeed both possible and realistic to change such a massive and complicated infrastructure, they will wonder what other aspects of all our lives can also be changed.

From: 1-29-2017 to 10-20-2017

Bookmarks:

1-29-2017 / Electric Improvements. There was an article today posted about the Fusion Energi, the plug-in hybrid sedan offered by Ford. The writer reported it taking 6.6 hours for the 19-mile rated 7.6 kWh battery-pack to recharge. That's interesting to read. It only takes 5.5 hours for the 25-mile rated 8.8 kWh battery-pack in Prius Prime. The speed improvement from a gen-1 offering to a gen-2 years later is good news for any of those who will be plugging in at home into an ordinary 120-volt household outlet. I suspect many won't bother with a level-2 charger. Why spend the money for a 240-volt system when what you have already will work just fine for overnight recharging? Improvements like that are great. There's another good electric improvement to highlight though. The EPA continues to tweak rating information. Detail was limited back in November. But now with new vehicles being tested, like Hyundai Ioniq, the rating values are being reviewed... and revised, if necessary. Turns out when looking up the Ford information, I discovered the Prius Prime value had been updated:
35 kWh/100 mi = 97 MPGe = 2017 Ford Fusion Energi
35 kWh/100 mi = 98 MPGe = 2015 Chevy Volt
31 kWh/100 mi = 106 MPGe = 2017 Chevy Volt
30 kWh/100 mi = 114 MPGe = 2016 Nissan Leaf
30 kWh/100 mi = 116 MPGe = 2016 VW e-Golf
29 kWh/100 mi = 111 MPGe = 2017 BMW i3 PHEV
28 kWh/100 mi = 119 MPGe = 2017 Chevy Bolt
27 kWh/100 mi = 124 MPGe = 2017 BMW i3 EV
25 kWh/100 mi = 133 MPGe = 2017 Toyota Prius Prime
1-29-2017 / Whoa! Things are getting quite out of hand. One particular Volt enthusiast very angry with Toyota is attempting to push the fake news theme way further than I have ever witnessed. Rather than post misleading or alternative facts, he's trying to portray the situation as if there is no such thing as Prius Prime. Pretending it doesn't even exist is so desperate, I don't quite know how to react. That's denial to an extreme. Here's my attempt at trying to deal with it:
Pretending Toyota isn't in the process of rolling a new plug-in is truly bizarre. It meets the EREV criteria Volt enthusiasts have held dear for years. So, origin of that denial is easy to understand. But why would you keep chanting "too late" without anything actually having been missed yet?
Consumers are only now learning of plug-in vehicles and very few mainstream shoppers have actually begun considering the purchase of one. Prius Prime is an affordable choice they'll stumble upon. With a MSRP of $27,100 and a full electric driving experience for 25 miles, we can see the beginning of the market for ordinary consumers taking shape. It's the first to break out beyond being a niche.
Claiming "too late" and ignoring new choices can be detrimental. People will notice that behavior and question motive. Keep in mind, GM was once so opposed to EVs that they filed a marketing trademark for "range anxiety". Change does happen. It is ok to accept.
1-29-2017 / Not Seeing The Point. It's really a matter of not wanting to see it: "When is the Prius gonna die already? Sheesh, it was great in it's time, but Toyota just can't let go of ICE. Granted, they make a huge amount off the brand recognition alone, but now with a 240 mile Bolt, I don't see the point??" That's the same type of person who simply dismisses the rest of the market, pretending the vehicles purchased today won't be on the road a decade from now still. All they actually see is what they want, reassuring themselves that if the most possible battery capacity is selling, even in extremely low quantity with the help of subsidies, their work is done. Care about reaching the masses just plain isn't there. It's that engineer-only perspective. If the technology is there, people should be buying it. Things like affordability are totally disregarded or claimed unimportant or justified by total cost of ownership. It's really unfortunate we have to deal with such attitude. That is reality though. So, we do: $27,100 MSRP and overnight recharge with existing ordinary 120-volt household outlets is the point. Toyota wants to reach mainstream consumers right away. Bolt doesn't come even remotely close to fulfilling that criteria. It depends heavily upon the tax-credit subsidy and expects owners to upgrade their garage. Those are business & consumer expenses Prius Prime doesn't require. As for letting go of the ICE, are you implying Volt should be abandoned in favor of Bolt? If not, what is the point of Volt?
1-29-2017 / Revising. Every time a milestone is missing, there's a revision. The resulting spin can be quite compelling to read too. Desperation stirs imagination... but not always. Sometimes, the person just twists the situation around and accuses you of what they are guilty of: "your revisionist history is showing". That comment today didn't stir much though. These blogs contains quotes of the past, documenting the stance they had taken back then... clearly confirming they are the ones revising. I simply responded with some facts to mull over:
I am looking forward to your revised definition of EREV.
Remember how it started, while Volt was still being developed? Back then, the expectation was for the system to be a series hybrid. That meant the gas-engine never directly powered the wheels; instead, it was only used for generating electricity. When that was revealed to not be the case, the definition of EREV was changed to fit what Volt would actually deliver.
Then when C-Max Energi came about, it sent the Volt community into a state of panic. Another plug-in hybrid had fulfilled the same requirement criteria. They got over it though, since Ford was a domestic automaker. But when Prius PHV came along later, renewed panic resulted in a new definition. To be EREV, there was now an arbitrary electric speed & power minimum to deliver... values obviously derived to exclude Toyota's offering and obscure the goal of boosting MPG.
Now, here comes Prius Prime. It fulfills that requirement of more speed & power without any doubt. 84 mph with to-the-floor EV acceleration, along with a very efficient low-temperature electric heater, prevent any debate about satisfying the EREV definition. So, I await revised criteria.
Need I point out that BMW's i3 actually does fulfill the original definition? The gas-engine is nothing but a tiny generator. There is no mechanical connection whatsoever the drive-shaft. There are only wires. And with so much larger of a battery-capacity (97 miles verses Volt's 53 miles), need for the gas-engine is significantly reduced.
In other words, we need to start looking at plug-in hybrids for what they deliver. It's those end results that count, not how they are achieved. That's how we win the fight against traditional vehicles, which is especially important knowing GM is about to push diesel for Equinox.
1-29-2017 / Embarrassing. You can see an end drawing near; the spin is showing signs of desperation: "25 miles of electric range, from the company which made the first popular full hybrid car, is downright embarrassing. It doesn't hold a candle to the new Volt's 53 miles of EPA rated electric range." It's really sad how some don't see that the true competition is traditional vehicles, not other plug-in offerings. The catch is, they have to admit some plug-in choices won't be good ones. Facing that reality of a failure is extremely difficult... and self-inflicted. If you know change is part of the process, acceptance is much easier. That's what made Prius PHV such a problem for some. They recognized it was mid-cycle offering with a very limited scope. Having rolled out to just 15 states and only a small quantity made taking the next step to Prius Prime a simple one. The mess Volt left with gen-1 meant gen-2 would struggle to re-educate. Finding out gen-2 doesn't appeal to mainstream buyers makes the situation even worse. So, enthusiasts turn to emotional appeal, rather than remain constructive. Oh well. All I can do is confront them with facts: Embarrassing? You've totally lost perspective. The goal is to replace traditional vehicles with plug choices. $27,100 MSRP positions the technology to be directly competitive. Prius Prime is configured well in that regard, an accomplishment to be proud of. $33,220 MSRP for Volt is what? It's heavy dependence on tax-credit to subsidize sales and compensate for the smaller rear seating certainly isn’t a bragging point. We want plug-in purchased by the masses. Don't forget how much importance they place on price.
1-29-2017 / Lots Of Potential. What I posted wasn't well received... since it made sense. That was predictable. So, I just kept posting. The next step was to point out the potential and explain reasoning. The catch is you have to be to the point. Losing the bigger picture can happen when you provide detail. Antagonists get hung up on pointless facts, spinning a web of deception simply by misdirecting. So, I summarized instead: We see that same "too little, too late" chant regularly now. It's the result of Toyota having successfully delivered an affordable plug-in hybrid system sooner than GM. No need for the complexity & expense of liquid cooling. Like Nissan, Toyota invested in better chemistry to prevent that need. And to make a Prius into a Prime, all that's basically needed is a clutch, charger, and a larger battery. So, it's easy to see lots of potential.
1-30-2017 / Charge Mode Data. A report from driving around with a Prius Prime. Yeah! The information we get from actual owners is so much better than having to deal with undermining. You have no idea how welcome this is. The a change of pace this hints at is wonderful. We have much to look forward to in the coming months. In the meantime: "Highway driving 12 miles around 65mph for 11 minutes. In CHG mode shows 37.2 MPG while battery charged from 0 to 25% (6.5 mile ev range). 8.9 kw charging rate consistent with..." Others have also observed that aggressive recharging ability. That's a nice new feature few have ever experimented with. Results vary quite a bit though. In this case, the efficiency hit was exactly as you'd expect. There should be a penalty of some sort when using gas to generate electricity. Reports of others witnessing less impact is what peaks my interest. What are the circumstances then? Knowing when to recommend use of the charging feature is very important. It's easy to misuse something like that. It's easy to misinterpret impact to overall efficiency too. Whatever the case, we'll eventually figure that out. For those, we're in the early stages, still sorting out the few details currently available.
1-31-2017 / Fuel Cells. Wow! What a dramatic end to an absolutely desperate attempt to divert focus from Volt. For years, GM supporters have ridiculed Toyota supporters for their diversification effort. They don't spin it that way though. The misleading is to get you to believe all of Toyota's research is devoted to fuel-cell development, that plugging in is looked upon as a wasted effort. Over and over and over again, mention of Volt sales struggle would be rebutted with "hydrogen" anti-propaganda. Some were so dead set against the diversification, they believed that was all they ever needed to mention for Toyota arguments. It was amazing to see such close-mindedness play out. It comes from the one-size-fits-all stance. Fighting an array of choices, rather than just a single solution, is beyond their understanding. So, the approach of fighting anything that doesn't fit your expectation is considered valid. That took a dramatic & permanent turn today though. GM announced an $85 million partnership with Honda to advance their fuel-cell technology. GM embraced hydrogen. The very thing these smug antagonists most feared became a reality. I couldn't have been more delighted. The timing was absolutely perfect. The idiot who had just posted a rant about how terrible fuel-cells were and how thankful he was that GM would never endorse such a technology now had several headlines in major publications stating the very opposite of that. My guess is that he was so angered by the revelation that I'll never hear that line of arguments ever again. And if it does happen, I'll just requote his post. I saved a link to it, just in case.
2-02-2017 / Bittersweet. Monthly sales results often stir new discussion. This was today's quote of interest: "There's some bitter sweetness to the Bolt EV. I think we will see the Bolt EV outsell the Volt." Seeing certain enthusiasts already mulling that perspective is encouraging. Steps forward have to begin somehow. My issue has always been packaging. Choosing such a small vehicle and squishing so much capacity into it was an imbalance too great to overcome. Ordinary consumers wouldn't be willing to accept that tradeoff of cost & comfort. And sure enough, that was indeed the outcome. That's why reaching mainstream buyers has become such a issue of contention now. I expressed that point with: The lack of growth from year-2 of gen-2 Volt does paint that picture. The massive drop from 3,691 in December to just 1,611 in January provides reason for concern. Dropping back to gen-1 levels, despite significant increased support for plug-in vehicles recently, isn't encouraging. The overall goal of replacing traditional vehicles can still be achieved, but there will need to be adjustments along the way. In the case of Voltec, the compact car packaging continues to be a barrier to growth. Choosing to offer it in a small SUV would be a wise next step.
2-02-2017 / Choice. Some people either don't learn or don't want to accept certain outcomes. With one person, who is rather well respected on the big Prius forum, it was using inflation to justify the still too high price of Volt. After arguing in circles, without making any progress, we ended up getting: "Choice is good." I continued to push: A choice of"nicely under $30,000" was the price goal set by GM. The reason for setting that was simple. A configuration able to achieve that with low enough production cost would be both competitive & profitable with other choices available on the dealer's showroom floor. Otherwise, those shoppers will just purchase a different GM vehicle instead. We still don't see that choice ofGM plug-in hybrid yet. True, taking thetax-credit subsidy from the MSRP would achieve that goal. But it limits inventory to well below competitive volume and is extremely short-term... hence the close look at Toyota's design. People want to know how Prius & Prime are able to overcome bothengineering & business obstacles.
2-02-2017 / Acknowledgement. Being quite annoyed by the obvious effort to deflect, I finally lashed out. The constant attempts to change the subject to Toyota are signs of desperation so obvious, it's hard to believe so many enablers are putting up with it. It persist, continuing to post information about GM itself, keeping on topic rather than taking the bait. Sales results bringing out the worst in them is why I end up taking such a terse stance. Today, the response to January sales was to post them... but not cherry-pick only plug-in vehicles. This was showing numbers for the traditional vehicles too. That perspective is quite harsh, especially looking at the entire year. They speak for themselves: It's been nothing but positive news the last 2 months, no matter how you try to spin it. They say the most difficult step to overcoming a problem is acknowledgement… For 2015: Equinox = 277,589; Cruze = 226,602; Malibu = 194,854; Impala = 116,825; Camaro = 77,502; Sonic = 64,775; Trax = 63,030; Corvette = 33,329; Spark = 32,809; Volt = 15,393. For 2016: Equinox = 242,195; Malibu = 227,881; Cruze = 188,876; Impala = 97,006; Trax = 79,016; Camaro = 72,705; Sonic = 55,255; Corvette = 29,995; Spark = 35,511; Volt = 24,739. See the problem now? Growth of sales does not come from pretending all is going well or crying foul. With Bolt now stealing away both the spotlight and tax-credits, it is time to finally get serious about the situation with Volt.
2-02-2017 / Price Points. He responded with the same old pigheaded response: "How am I moving the goal post? Inflation exists." I wasn't even the one who mentioned goal-posts this time. Someone else got annoyed by such a lame excuse, giving me a like and him a scolding. My reply was a simple counter: That's why PRICE POINTS exist. You can't just pick the economic factors you like and disregard the ones you don't. An automaker targets a vehicle for that, than makes adjustments as the years past to retain that positioning. Yes, we've seen a gradual climb over the decades, but being that far off target has proven a barrier to mass acceptance. In fact, that is the very reason why the subsidy exists, to temporarily counter pricing while those adjustments are being made... and time is quickly running out.