JAPAN HAS ITS OWN REASONS FOR NOT TRANSITIONING TO ELECTRIC VEHICLES

[Luke42]

I pushed my underpowered CUV for 2 years to its limits. I done things most people would say could cause internal issues and premature failures. After doing a ton of research (i.e.: pushing said vehicle to its limits), it became clear: The Toyota Prius is totally pointless. We now have mid-sized sedans, CUVS, SUVs, that are becoming Hybrids and now EVs. This means not that the Prius is ugly, but also its so small and compact, where larger vehicles, such as the CRV Hybrid, Rav4 Prime/Hybrid, RX 450h, etc., attains better range, and MPGs, while having better cargo capacity.

If larger vehicles couldn't achieve such range with great MPGs and weren't Hybridized or electrified, then I do see the need and existence of the Toyota Prius. We live in a different world now, and the Prius honestly needs to die off sooner than later.

Making the Prius obsolete is a great thing. But it's a pretty high bar, though, in my experience.

What you're missing is that the Prius is an excellent vehicle for those of us who depend on our vehicles for our economic survival. We don't care how it looks, or how fast it goes. It needs to start every morning and get us to work on time every day for a decade -- while keeping the fuel bills, repair bills, and unplanned downtime to a minimum. The Prius excels at this workload.

This is why the car is so popular. It certainly helped keep my family afloat during the economically vulnerable time we faced during Early Parenthood -- it was a time when any unexpected expenses could have easily have left us homeless.

As an engineer, I find that matching the right tool to the right job is a key part of what I do. It's not the car's fault that it's not optimized to your taste or perceived needs. It's also a safe bet that none of the Prius drivers are seeking your approval. The Prius solves a problem, and it solves it well.

P.S. I do hope the Prius is made obsolete because any car which does so will be absolutely fantastic in terms of daily economic utility. There are some cars that are competitive with it (such as the Honda Civic), but I have yet to find one which doesn't trade off *something*. Until something beats it toe-to-toe, the Prius will continue to be a successful consumer product with millions of satisfied owners. Nobody's asking you to be one of those satisfied owners, but do need to understand why it's such an excellent vehicle for people-who-are-not-you.

 

[FutureBoy]

Making the Prius obsolete is a great thing. But it's a pretty high bar, though, in my experience.

What you're missing is that the Prius is an excellent vehicle for those of us who depend on our vehicles for our economic survival. We don't care how it looks, or how fast it goes. It needs to start every morning and get us to work on time every day for a decade -- while keeping the fuel bills, repair bills, and unplanned downtime to a minimum. The Prius excels at this workload.

This is why the car is so popular. It certainly helped keep my family afloat during the economically vulnerable time we faced during Early Parenthood -- it was a time when any unexpected expenses could have easily have left us homeless.

As an engineer, I find that matching the right tool to the right job is a key part of what I do. It's not the car's fault that it's not optimized to your taste or perceived needs. It's also a safe bet that none of the Prius drivers are seeking your approval. The Prius solves a problem, and it solves it well.

P.S. I do hope the Prius is made obsolete because any car which does so will be absolutely fantastic in terms of daily economic utility. There are some cars that are competitive with it (such as the Honda Civic), but I have yet to find one which doesn't trade off *something*. Until something beats it toe-to-toe, the Prius will continue to be a successful consumer product with millions of satisfied owners. Nobody's asking you to be one of those satisfied owners, but do need to understand why it's such an excellent vehicle for people-who-are-not-you.

I agree.

As for a candidate vehicle to make the Prius obsolete, I'm betting on the new 25k Tesla. That's assuming that they decide to sell it to the public though.

I also drove a Prius for a long while and then it moved on to be driven by my in-laws. It's still going strong after 15 years and nearly 200k miles.

 

[Crissa]

Also, the Prius is a line of vehicles, not just some underpowered sedan. It comes in many flavors. And the Prime variant is basically the same arrangement of parts that made the RAV4 Prime.

There is no need for the Prius to go away for other hybrids - because the budget and size that it comes in needs to be replaced. And so far, nothing comes close.

Yet.

-Crissa