7 Months Ago.  I only had my bZ4X for a week when an article featuring a distance test for the new Prius Prime was published.  So, there were many posts from me fighting an old Volt foe who was determined to undermine Toyota's show of PHEV leadership.  It was his worst nightmare coming true.  Anywho, that passed and his attacks on me have faded.  He had made incorrect assumptions and knew it.  Turns out, someone noticed 7 months later than the reviewers had assumed incorrectly too: "3.1mi/kwh?  That's not great.  evinsider has a ton of data on their 70mph tests, and that energy consumption matches many of the EV SUV's out there."  I was intrigued.  Most articles don't age well.  So, commenting long afterward rarely happens.  It did today.  I couldn't resist jumping into that discussion:  Their conclusion is incorrect.  Of course knowing I get much better EV efficiency in mine, something doesn't add up.  Watching ODB-II data on my 2017 Prius Prime for many years, I saw that usable EV capacity was from 84% to 14% of the total battery capacity.  Taking that same 70% against the 13.6 kWh total for the 2023 model, you get 9.52 kWh available for EV driving.  Calculated with the 34 miles observed, that comes to 3.57 mi/kWh.

Setting Realistic Expectations.  I try to provide as much background as possible.  So when people assess what is to come, they have a decent amount of information available to make a reasonable forecast.  That helps for those within reach.  Those outside of that draw conclusions based on their own sources... many of which aren't as useful.  So, there are surprises later.  For example: "With how amazing the Toyota hybrids are I was expecting much more from their first full EV but what a disappointment this car was. I ended up getting the new Prius Prime instead."  When it is just an online participant in some group, no big deal.  But when it is a new owner, not setting realistic expectations turns into disenchantment.  Sometimes, that manifests itself in the form of an angry rant.  They seek someone to blame for having assumed incorrectly.  It's why I have plans to do quite a bit of filming when the snow finally falls here and stays.  Those below freezing temperatures provide priceless real-world data... something seriously lacking with others.  It's so hypocritical to attack Toyota for having supposedly delivered a BEV with shortcomings but providing no numbers to actually support the claim.  I know bZ4X delivers, which is why I will capture a bunch of drives to show it.  For now, all I can do share history.  I asked:  Why would you expect that?  Do you remember the first hybrid?  Toyota used that initial rollout to a limited audience to collect real-world data.  Availability wasn't a priority, nor were specs to compete with vehicles topping the charts. It was a continuous improvement effort to build up to a platform & approach to be spread across the fleet.  We see the same thing playing out now, using both Prius Prime and RAV4 Prime to learn about what truly draws mainstream interest.  Appealing to enthusiasts... those who expect far more... simply isn't important. It's figuring out how to achieve profitable, sustainable sales.  Watch what happens with the next 2 Prime models (Crown & C-HR) as bZ4X evolves. It's a game of long-term strategy... chess, not checkers.

Missed Something.  It's reassuring when someone who was rather frazzled by the new owner experience suddenly comes to realize there's more at play than they had assumed: "I think I missed something here.  What update and what will it do (in theory)?"  What you have been saying doesn't always sink in right away.  Heck, I deal with that problem from time to time at work.  As a software engineer with decades of experience, someone newer or with a different background may not connect the dots right until much later.  In fact, that is why I am so repetitious.  If it is worth repeating, you'll get confirmation by taking the time to explain it over and over.  Those talk-thrus help.  So, I do the same here... which ensure I don't actually miss anything either.  I posted:

Here's some thoughts to consider.

VW didn't initially rollout with pre-conditioning enabled either.  Yet, some claim Toyota should have.  That's either through lack of awareness or deliberate hypocrisy.  Tesla has pre-conditioned for ages, only it wasn't called that.  Electricity consumed was just dismissed as unknown "vampire" drains that would be reduced later.

Reality is there are tradeoffs.  To achieve the ideal 50°C (122°F) temperature for fastest DC charging, you have to sacrifice electricity.  That shortens range and is counter-productive in terms of carbon reduction.  It also takes a well thought out system with well informed users to make the best of it.  Toyota's goals & audience are quite different.

Having plugged into DCFC with outside temperature in the 30's, it was pretty easy to confirm our existing 2023 battery-heater will provide some relief to those suffering from speed-vexation.  Knowing that Toyota said they were looking into offering pre-conditioning back in February and seeing word that Japan is now getting a second major software update to address cold-weather charging speed, it's not too much of a stretch expecting something for us directly addressing DC speed criticism.

Much of the problem comes down to enthusiasts being unwilling to wait and having their own set of priorities.  We know that Toyota is striving to make the best use of the battery-capacity available (usable will increase from 65 to 67 kWh) with a 6 kW draw from the battery-heater.  That means real-world analysis of road-trip data... how much... how long... how often.

7 Months Ago.  I only had my bZ4X for a week when an article featuring a distance test for the new Prius Prime was published.  So, there were many posts from me fighting an old Volt foe who was determined to undermine Toyota's show of PHEV leadership.  It was his worst nightmare coming true.  Anywho, that passed and his attacks on me have faded.  He had made incorrect assumptions and knew it.  Turns out, someone noticed 7 months later than the reviewers had assumed incorrectly too: "3.1mi/kwh?  That's not great.  evinsider has a ton of data on their 70mph tests, and that energy consumption matches many of the EV SUV's out there."  I was intrigued.  Most articles don't age well.  So, commenting long afterward rarely happens.  It did today.  I couldn't resist jumping into that discussion:  Their conclusion is incorrect.  Of course knowing I get much better EV efficiency in mine, something doesn't add up.  Watching ODB-II data on my 2017 Prius Prime for many years, I saw that usable EV capacity was from 84% to 14% of the total battery capacity.  Taking that same 70% against the 13.6 kWh total for the 2023 model, you get 9.52 kWh available for EV driving.  Calculated with the 34 miles observed, that comes to 3.57 mi/kWh.

It's nice to see Edmunds work to collect real-world data informative for comparisons, but the choice of charging to 80% contradicts advice we have been given for years from supposed experts.  Countless many have shared their experiences stating a recommended stop at 60%.  That is what we are constantly being told about charging curve & courtesy.  Owners are more likely to stop before dropping to 10% too.  That's where efficiency comes in. If you are targeting 40% charge (from 20-ish to 60-ish), knowing how many miles that will deliver is a big deal.  For me (post update, increase usable capacity to 67 kWh), that's 26.8 kWh.  At 3.5 mi/kWh, that's about 94 miles.

Car Of The Year.  You guessed it, Prius earned that high praise for 2023.  MotorTrend selected the all-new Prius!  It's a distressing reality for those who despise hybrids and hate Toyota.  How do you fight an automaker without any transition plan to BEV sales?  That former attack approach of labeling hybrids as a "stop gap" has backfired, revealing a sensible approach to phasing out ICE.  In fact, it is extremely redeeming for me in that regard.  I had been pointing out the wisdom of such a means of advancing their fleet forward and stirring interest in new buyers that there is no means of arguing against in anymore.  The plan is working.  It is a sensible means of funding new offerings.  Sound familiar?  Toyota leveraged their tried & true technology of the past the same way.  In fact, you can even point a finger at that vehicle... RAV4.  So well received by its 3rd generation (2005), it was very easy to usher in Camry & Highlander hybrids as permanent offerings using the profit it was providing.  Now, we see a variety of profitable hybrids paving the way for permanent BEV offerings.  Along the way, we see the double benefit of PHEV offerings too.  Opportunities like that are confirmation of a well thought out design... as is an award like this.  Woohoo!

Used Prius Prime.  Gotta like a question posted like this: "HOW MANY KILOWATTS TO CHARGE THE BATTERY ON A 2018 PRIUS PRIME??"  Not sure why the all-caps was apparently necessary, but it did indeed get attention from many of us.  There were several Prius Prime groups on Facebook that basically died.  It seemed as though interest had been lost and everyone moved on.  Turns out, that was just an audience change.  They have since come back to life.  In fact, I just got a post approved from months ago.  It was pending admin review, since it included a video of my Prius Prime.  Ironically, it was an attempt to stir new posting activity.  Needless to say, I was amused.  I was also happy to jump back into the group to provide some information... especially since we are now seeing used purchases increase.  That's a new audience.  Toyota knows how to play the long-term game well.  So, I provided answer... one that hopefully isn't too technical... we'll see:  Nope, only 84% (7.4kWh) of the battery is used.  It will never allow charging to 100% (8.8 kWh).  Discharge stops at around 8% (0.7 kWh) from the deep draw.  So at most, you can squeeze in 6.7 kWh.

Wholesale Fallout.  Most people don't consider what happens to a used vehicle that cannot be sold.  It ends up getting shipped overseas and sold dirt cheap over there, with the expectation of being used for years and years to come at its new home.  That's a horrible outlook those pushing BEV purists plans don't take seriously.  They completely ignore what the automaker is producing besides the BEV.  It is basically a free-pass to exploit.  As long as a small percentage of the fleet is fully electric, there's no need to be concerned about the rest.  Ugh.  At least a few are started to raise concern about that: "African nations will be the wholesale resting place of used ICE vehicles from around the world."  If you push that message too hard, you either get branded as anti-EV or get called out as alarmist.  The problem comes down to other legacy automakers neglecting opportunity.  Rather than taking a phased approach, they milked ICE as long as possible while hyping up EV plans.  Not actually having to deliver much and with quality lacking, that was an easy path to follow.  Why waste so much effort like Toyota.  After all, hybrids were supposedly only a "stop gap" measure.  No one wanted to acknowledge that stage would last for decades.  No one has wanted to even speak of what would happen to used vehicles.  Ugh.  I was happy to stir that pot:  That is exactly why Toyota has been phasing out ICE vehicles.  I saw how extremely common Toyota passenger vehicles were in Tanzania when I was there.  Knowing hybrids sold here now will end up in service a long time from now there means we still get some type of carbon reduction, despite the challenges with infrastructure.

Evading Entry-Level.  Some attacks continue: "You doing the constant Coyota continuous broken record here is what is gambling and risky hope and hype."  This person down votes every comment I post and never actually contributes anything constructive.  He just parrots back what I say and claims I am paid by Toyota for posting.  It is bad, others will sometimes post something pointing out his desperation.  I have had encounters with others like that in the past.  They are usually victims of their own short-sightedness seeking someone to blame.  All I usually do is read for substance, then move on.  I rarely ever reply back.  When I do, that tends to be limited to a single sentence.  Being brief gives the troublemaker nothing to reply to.  This time though, I indulged a bit.  Seeing how the industry is facing a new stage, there is more openness to re-evaluating previous stances.  Some are beginning to see the wisdom of being patient, how what seemed unlikely becomes easier to consider as the test of time reveals opportunity.  The most obvious is their fight against short-range vehicles.  Any type of small battery, slow charging was deemed unworthy.  That's a simple thing to do when the "EV market" is limited to just early-adopters.  They have no clue what an ordinary consumer on strict budget has to consider.  This is the know-your-audience situation finally playing out.  Some are starting to recognize that problem with ever increasing prices.  We have wandered further and further from GM's long-time goal of "nicely under $30,000" even though that target is more important than ever.  The same industry shift in the wrong direction we saw before the collapse is happening again.  Most haven't noticed.  It's the boil-a-frog problem.  All I can do is continue to point out what should be obvious:  It's telling when you avoid addressing detail.  Both VW and Toyota have extensive experience squeezing out profit from vehicles with tiny margins.  They know how to manage high-volume and diverse choices.  Seeing Tesla attempting to diversify beyond the extremely popular 3/Y offering is a modern day example of Innovator's Dilemma.  We see CyberTruck racing down the niche track as a distraction, away from a loooooong awaited entry-level offering.  Taking shots at the messenger won't change that.

Real Plan.  We get constructive posts from time to time.  I was happy to see this today: "The legacy auto focus seems to be on the reliance of the "forward looking statements" instead of a (real) plan moving forward with actual 'milestones' to meet along the way."  That's progress.  Remember the craziness early this year.  Enthusiasts were still obsessed with pledges to go fully EV.  There was nothing behind any of that.  It was just another empty promise like we've heard in the past.  People are so gullible.  It's disturbing.  Seeing logic punch through some of that nonsense is nice.  I joined in contributing:  Legacy auto focus was indeed that, declaring "all in" without any plan to actually back that progress.  Toyota actually is moving forward by continuing to phaseout ICE in favor of hybrid platforms capable of offering a PHEV model.  That's a real plan to, getting their customer-base to embrace check while bringing in steady profit.  In other words, that's how new production (vehicles & batteries) will be funded.  How the others will pay for that while bringing about new showroom floor choices is anyone's guess.  Gambling on the old methods of hope & hype is quite risky.