About 15 years ago, after a handful of years as a mechanical engineer working on internal combustion engines, I moved to the burgeoning world of electric vehicles. A lot has changed in that time. The technology for sure, but also the problems and the path forward. Ten years ago, the conversation about electrification had shifted fromFive years ago, governments started mandating timelines for completing the transition to fully electric.
Architecturally, the Toyota Prius is not much different than it was 25 years ago. But Toyota’s steadfastness and deliberate changes have made the new Prius, especially the Prius Prime, the right answer for a lot of people, including a lot of people looking at buying a new all-electric car. The increase in horsepower and range, along with much-improved handling and styling might put this car on the radar of a lot of people who never thought they would consider a Prius.
The onboard charger is only 3.5kW, a slight bump from the previous 3.3kW. Most electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid cars are 6.6kw or higher, but 3.5kW should be enough for a four-hour charge on 240v. The battery pack is nominally 266 volts, which is a decrease of about a hundred volts from the previous plug-in Prius. Most traction batteries are trending in the opposite direction.
Some people complained that the new Prius was not fully electric, but the approach Toyota is taking with the Prime makes sense in a resource-limited world. Auto companies like Ford and Stellantis are concluding that the battery resources don’t exist to transition the world to fully electric in the near future. Battery manufacturing is limited, as is production of battery resources like lithium and cobalt.