2009 Toyota Prius on Hold
The 2009 Prius, originally set to launch some time in 2008, may be on hold. Recent statements from Toyota representatives indicate that Lithium Ion battery technology isn’t ready for prime time. It seems that Toyota has safety concerns with the LiIon batteries. Everyone remembers the incident with the exploding Sony laptop batteries not so long ago. Imagine a battery 100x larger, and in your automobile – not a pretty thought.
The real problem here is the that 2008 / 2009 Prius was supposed to launch with lithium ion batteries as opposed to the NiMH batteries in the current Prius. Lithium batteries are more compact and would allow a higher electric charge than NiMH, resulting in better mileage.
This is a big setback for Toyota – everyone is counting on the next Prius to be knock your socks off amazing. If it falls short in any way, it will be a huge blow to Toyota. 80+ MPG EPA ratings would seem to be the minimum for the next Prius – Toyota needs to get this one right.
Popularity: 6% [?]
The Prius only gets it’s fantastic mileage figures when it’s stuck in rush hour traffic (less than 25 miles per hour) on predominently electric power. At regular expressway or boulevard speeds……. the Prius gets worse mileage than a Chevy Aveo or Ford Focus. It’s funny that most people won’t mention that part of the story.
Even with the 2008 EPA charges, the Prius is still rated far higher than the Aveo or Focus on the highway.
Carl,
Respectfully I own a 2005 Prius, I consistently get 50 mpg at 70-72 mph here in New Hampshire on our interstates. On state highways at speeds varying from 45-60 I maintain close to 55 mpg. Overall with mixed driving in town, short trips, some highway, ie real world driving in the Summer its about 47-48 mpg, in Winter it’s about 42-43. So please compare with integrity. If you don’t believe me get a copy of Consumer Reports annual car issue. The Prius handily beats the fuel economy of the other cars you compare it to.
I want to want a Prius, if that makes sense. The only thing holding me back is the styling ( I just can’t do it ). As soon as Toyota or Honda comes out with a stylish hybrid that is in the same price range / economy range, I’ll be joining you in the hybrid world.
Last year I drove a friends 2005 prius in rain. It was horrible experiece, car wouldn’t acclerate beyond 45 mph. transmission feels like its slipping and there was no road grip.
I’ve heard of Prius traction problems in the snow, but never in the rain. With the low rolling resistance tires, that’s certainly a possibility though.
The transmission slipping that you felt was just the CVT in action. CVT’s feel goofy, like they’re slipping all the time – just takes a bit of getting used to.
With all due respect to Carl’s comment, my 2007 Prius gets an average of 52 miles per gallon for city and highway. If I’m in a hurry, my consumption will drop to around 47 to 48 MPG. Exceleration is good. As for as traveling in rain, I haven’t had any problems. The engine does sound like it is racing when rapidly accelerating up to highway speeds but easily maintains 70 MPH. Overall, I’ve been very happy with the mileage and performance.
Nitin, I’ve been a Prius owner since 2003. I’d like to address your points / questions.
Horrible traction in the rain? Were the tires in decent shape? Since you weren’t used to the car, you probably aren’t aware that the electric motor produces a great deal of torque immediately, from zero RPM. That was too much for the tires on wet pavement. As much fun as it is to leave SUVs behind at the light, you learn to feather it in those conditions.
Wouldn’t accelerate beyond 45? Because you kept breaking traction. The traction control kicked in to keep from over revving the engine. There was a yellow light flickering on the dash board when that happened, right?
— meek
I have a 2006 Prius (purchased in March, 2006). It took a while for this septuagenerian to learn to drive it (had to stop “shifting” with the windshield wiper lever). As of mid-January of 2008, it has logged over 28K miles. I’ve gotten as much as 57 mpg and as liitle as 47 mpg on a tank of gasoline. On interstates, at about 72 mph, I get only 48.5 mpg, but overall I’m averaging about 51 mpg for more than 28K miles. I’ve experienced no unusual or frequent traction problems. I will confess that it has caused me to be a less aggressive, more thoughtful driver because I now focus on fuel economy rather than speed. To each his own, but this is the most enjoyable automobile that I’ve ever owned.
I have put 60k miles on my 2005 Prius and it has been the best car i have ever owned ..I avg. 58 mpg doing the summer and 62 doing the winter ..If you want to avg 60 mpg then you need to consentrate on your driving and coast into red lights and stop signs and a lot of flat roads help also..
I hit 80 mph on my 2007 Prius pretty frequently on the interstates and still get an avg of 45mpg. Carl I don’t know what your data source is, but I recommend not trusting it the next time.
Nitin, last week I drove my Prius in pouring rain at 70mph for an hour or so (not exactly safe, but helluva lot of fun).
And contrary to popular misgivings, the Prius has pretty good pickup, and I never found it lacking when I wanted to switch lanes in a hurry or rush through a yellow light on impulse.
Maybe I should learn from Herb and let the Prius teach me about patience and all the nobility it entails
> At regular expressway or boulevard speeds…….
> the Prius gets worse mileage than a Chevy Aveo or Ford Focus.
That is not correct. I have a 2002 Prius with 125,000 miles on it and it gets around 50 mpg on the highway. It is the BEST car I have ever owned.
What most people don’t talk about, in addition to better mpg, is it pollutes less. Calculate that. It’s more important to me than mpg.
I am the owner of a 2005 prius that I bought used 1 year ago. It now has about 25,000 miles on it. I live in Minnesota and we just had our coldest winter in 7 years. I averaged 35-40 mpg this winter down from 48-50 last summer. I have never had a problem driving in rain but with snow covered roads the traction control can be annoying. Sometimes you just need to spin your tires a little bit to get moving and the prius does not allow this.
By the way, I just went to the auto show here in Minneapolis. To my surprise the show is still dominated by gas guzzling trucks and suvs. I am saddened that Ford and GM still do not have a car that can compete with the prius. What the hell are they waiting for? I know there are more prius’ in my future.
In my 2005 Prius (42000 miles), I get about 51 MPG in the city (around 45 MPH), on the highway (going between 80 and 85) I get about 44. My overall average tends to be about 48. So I don’t know where your information comes from, Carl. I don’t think the Focus does so well.
I was reading through some of the comments here and noticed that there is a bit of controversy over whether the claim that Prius hybrid economy has true value. I have been eyeing the Prius for some time and I am not one to rush into a decision. With rising gas prices I began looking for a car that cost less to operate than it does to pay for maintenance and insurance.
I did some extensive research to be sure I had found the most fuel effient car and I found the Prius to be the fuel economy king, hands down. There are several reasons that support this conclusion, but there are two, I believe, that make the decision;
(1) The Prius has been evaluated by several known independent automobile reviewers including Popular Mechanics, and Consumer Reports who not only support the fuel economy ratings, but the results are often better than Toyota’s claims. I also point out that there are even more relatively unknown to unknown automobile reviews on the Prius that support Toyota’s fuel ratings. Owner testimony is a little less reliable than independent reviewers, but I haven’t seen an unhappy Prius owner.
(2) Every car that even comes close to Toyota’s Prius with regard to fuel economy, speed, and features is a compact car. Did anyone notice that Prius is a mid sized car? The Prius is in the same size class as my Chevrolet Monte Carlo, my sister’s Dodge Intrepid, and my unenlightened friend John’s Ford Taurus! The Prius is a 5 seater, lots of cargo space, loaded with features and options yet it gets TWICE the gas mileage as any of these other cars.
The 2004 – 2008 Prius will still be a fantastic value even after the 2009 model with 80+ MPG rating and improved stats comes to market.
If Toyota keeps going at this pace the next version will come with heavier duty suspension and a tow package.
Chaz
I am interested in the 2009 Prius. The dealerships will not say when it is due in the showrooms. Any ideas? I have a lease turn in for april 24th 2008, got an extension for 3 more months hoping that will be able to switch to a prius at that time. any info would be appreciated. also, are there any big changes expected, I heard reports about the increased MPG and battery type. Thanks in advance. – Nick
That, my friend, is a secret held closely by Toyota. At this point, we’re sure that the batteries will still be NiMH, not Lithium Ion like we originally though. But as far as specs / power / mileage etc, it’s all speculation. There are some great deals on the current generation Prius though, so all is not lost if you can’t get an 09 just yet.
I am concerned about the comments on this site and others made about snow performance. Are those drivers using studded snow tires with their Prius? In some parts of the U.S. few or no drivers changed tires over in winter even if snow is expected. I live in Anchorage where most drivers change over to winter tires for the mid-fall to mid-spring season. Am I right to assume regular seasonal tire change-over would resolve the problems people are noticing? Or is it another issue that the car isn’t good for snow regardless of using studded snow-tires?
There are plenty of responses to the original comment about Prius mileage. I have been driving since 1965 and although my 2007 Prius may not be the most fun ride I’ve ever had, it is the most practical and ethically sound investment I’ve made.
My 20,000 miles validate my wise choice and with gasoline approaching $4.00/gallon, I feel like the smartest guy in town! I even got a cool license plate that matches my intent: ECO SVR1
Hi,I was going to buy a prius but after investigating it I’m not.It looks like toyota has a glitch in some of their cars of them accelerating out of control.Their are only two real reports that I looked at of this happening so the problem is not that far reaching.That in itself still would not keep me from buying one because it doesn’t seem to be a real big problem,but it’s what toyota did in response to these glitches that makes me want nothing to do with them period.The first story is of a michigan man driving on the hwy. in cruise control,he pressed on the gas to pass someone when he passed the car he let off the gas but the car continued to accelerate to a speed of 90 mph.He managed to stop the car by jamming on the brakes and then cutting the power off on the shoulder of the hwy. Toyota took the car to a place out of state,Toyota returned the car to the man and told him there was nothing wrong with the car.Toyota should have replced that car with a new one,the damage done to the car during that was probably severe.The car also ran into the tow truck that was their to tow it.The other story you can go to yahoo web search and type in(the news reports of the prius accelerating out of control) and watch the video.Toyota is shitting on these poor people and saying it was the drivers fault.What kind of customer service is that?
Has anyone heard any updates on the 2009 Prius, specifically what the gas mileage may be and when it will be released? We’re trying to decide if we should buy a 2008 now, or wait until the 2009 supposedly in Spring. Thank you!
I have to add my two cents to the Prius mpg discussion… I just got back from a two-week, 3025 mile trip thru California. The car was loaded with 730 pounds of people (3), luggage, food, and assorted stuff. The AC was on for most of the trip because it was in the mid-90’s to low-100’s. I used the trip ODO so I know exactly how far we drove, and I have the gas receipts for 64.256 gallons. 3025/64.256 is 47.077 mpg. I challenge any non-hybrid mid-sized car to come even slightly close to that!
I have a 2007. I drive all over Dallas and back to my home 30 miles away. I drive highways and city streets.
At lowest, I get 43 mpg.
My highest so far is 61 mpg.
I’m not disappointed at all with my Prius.
We just purchased a 2009 Prius and we love it. We both feel it has a very good pick up and have no problem getting on to I95. We’ve boogyed down the road at 70MPH all week and still havent had to fill it up yet. We have over 225 miles on it so far and still going strong. There is plenty of cargo room and it is a true 5 seater. We love this car. When OPEC raises the price of oil back to $75 dollars a barrel, it wont hurt as much.
I am a proud owner of a 2008 Prius, and I have to say that the fuel savings and technology built into this gas sippin contraption STRONGLY outweighs it’s not so stylish appearance. Although one look at the Prius, you know that its a different car. I cross the worlds longest overwater bridge (thecauseway.com) here in Louisiana every day to get to work, the Prius has not let me down and is doing exactly what I wanted it to do. Get me to work safely and leave more money in my pocket. I avg. 45-52mpg at speeds of 68-72mph. I take pictures of my screen that logs avg mile per hour and gas usage and send them to my buddies with gas guzzling vehicles. At least when they get home that evening and deciding whats for dinner, they can look at my pics and eat Crow!
Aug 13th, 2007 at 7:00 pm
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