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Via Plugincars.com

"Exclusive: In 2016, Toyota to Offer Wireless Charging on Next-Gen Prius Plug In"

http://www.plugincars.com/exclusive-2016-toyota-offer-wireless-charging-next-gen-prius-plug-129901.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Infiniti, BMW and Honda are apparently all adopting it or considering it. 6.6 kW will be available by then.
 
LeftieBiker said:
"Exclusive: In 2016, Toyota to Offer Wireless Charging on Next-Gen Prius Plug In"

We ask for electric heat, we ask for more range, we ask for a spare tire. What do we get? This crap.
'This crap' will make PEVs far more acceptable to mainstream consumers, so far more will be bought. Toyota has already said you'll be getting more range, too. No idea on the spare tire, but I won't take a car on a trip without one. If the car doesn't come with one, I buy one separately, even though storage can be a pain.
 
GRA said:
'This crap' will make PEVs far more acceptable to mainstream consumers, so far more will be bought.
No wireless charging will be too expensive for mainstream consumers - esp for PIP where most people won't even get a L2 installed.
 
+1

And I consider it a complex and inefficient solution to a problem that doesn't really even exist...

evnow said:
GRA said:
'This crap' will make PEVs far more acceptable to mainstream consumers, so far more will be bought.
No wireless charging will be too expensive for mainstream consumers - esp for PIP where most people won't even get a L2 installed.
 
GRA said:
LeftieBiker said:
"Exclusive: In 2016, Toyota to Offer Wireless Charging on Next-Gen Prius Plug In"

We ask for electric heat, we ask for more range, we ask for a spare tire. What do we get? This crap.
'This crap' will make PEVs far more acceptable to mainstream consumers, so far more will be bought. Toyota has already said you'll be getting more range, too No idea on the spare tire, but I won't take a car on a trip without one. If the car doesn't come with one, I buy one separately, even though storage can be a pain.
Yep. I think it's easier to sell to/draw people who aren't enthusiasts and don't know much about EVs/PHEVs on wireless charging than it is on a spare tire. Those folks probably don't realize (at first) that virtually all plug-in vehicles don't have a spare. I don't think I've ever seen any ad/marketing campaigns on spare tires being included nor ones bashing competitors for not including one.

For the record, I do wish the US Leaf, PiP, Volt, Rav4 EV, etc. had a spare tire. There seems to be no good reason for the Rav4 EV doesn't have it. They could've used the rear door and spare tire from the ICEV version that has it back there.
 
TomT said:
+1

And I consider it a complex and inefficient solution to a problem that doesn't really even exist...

evnow said:
GRA said:
'This crap' will make PEVs far more acceptable to mainstream consumers, so far more will be bought.
No wireless charging will be too expensive for mainstream consumers - esp for PIP where most people won't even get a L2 installed.
+1

All that means it is more expensive up front and more expensive to use, plus less reliable. It also means the EV can ONLY be charged in the garage stall equipped with the wireless charging unless an EVSE is also provided. (Perhaps wireless charging stations will all include a standard EVSE, as well?)

All these things just look like more barriers to entry. EVs do not need that. IMO, eliminating barriers is a better marketing approach than erecting new ones.
 
Wireless charging will probably by a costly option few will opt for. I think it would make sense mostly on premium vehicles - and once the price comes down substantially ($100 instead of $1k+) - then may be on midlevel EVs.

Already, the l2 EVSE + install can add a significant cost to a 3 year EV lease. No need to bump that further.

It may be a nice option in the long term when all public parking places have hidden chargers that are less vulnerable to copper theft.

Back to PIP 2016 model - the market will likely have
- 150 mile range $35k Leaf
- 200 mile range $40k Infiniti EV
- 200 mile range $40k Tesla Gen 3 bookings going on (production in 2017)

Not sure wireless charging will sway (m)any from the above or from non-plugin buyers to PIP. Wireless charging would be attractive only to established plugin owners who want to show off wireless charging.
 
Wireless charging might make sense as an option on the Advanced model PIP - it might make the car more appealing to the affluent (not to the mainstream as alleged) and thus help to promote PHEVs for the rich, who often set trends. However, most people buy or lease the Base PIP, and for this what I wrote before stands: they could have done other things that would have helped much more to make the car popular, like give it an electric heater to go with the modest range increase. But then, since when does Toyota want to sell more PIPs than necessary...?
 
cwerdna said:
For the record, I do wish the US Leaf, PiP, Volt, Rav4 EV, etc. had a spare tire. There seems to be no good reason for the Rav4 EV doesn't have it. They could've used the rear door and spare tire from the ICEV version that has it back there.

-1 Don't agree.

I have only once had a nail in a tire and fixed it with a spray car from Canadian Tire store that was close by until I could get the tire replaced the next day.

My Smart ED comes with roadside assistance. Most EV's should, as this means if I am stuck for any reason, I can get help. I certainly would not want to give up some of my precious interior space for a micro spare tire. Nor would I want to carry it around for 10 years "just in case".

Sheesh, after 30 years of driving, I've had only one tire issue. Meanwhile, I've had wiper blades fail at extremely inopportune times, popped radiator hoses, etc, are you going to carry spares for stuff like that too? You couldn't possibly get me to believe that more than 1% of the car driving population wants or needs a spare tire.
 
SmartElectric said:
cwerdna said:
For the record, I do wish the US Leaf, PiP, Volt, Rav4 EV, etc. had a spare tire. There seems to be no good reason for the Rav4 EV doesn't have it. They could've used the rear door and spare tire from the ICEV version that has it back there.

-1 Don't agree.

I have only once had a nail in a tire and fixed it with a spray car from Canadian Tire store that was close by until I could get the tire replaced the next day.

My Smart ED comes with roadside assistance. Most EV's should, as this means if I am stuck for any reason, I can get help. I certainly would not want to give up some of my precious interior space for a micro spare tire. Nor would I want to carry it around for 10 years "just in case".

Sheesh, after 30 years of driving, I've had only one tire issue. Meanwhile, I've had wiper blades fail at extremely inopportune times, popped radiator hoses, etc, are you going to carry spares for stuff like that too? You couldn't possibly get me to believe that more than 1% of the car driving population wants or needs a spare tire.
In my 18+ years of driving (didn't have a car for much of college), I've had many punctures (e.g. nails or screws in tires). However, I only had to use the spare twice because in most cases I was able to overinflate punctured tire to drive it to a tire repair shop I posted about them at http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=241478#p241478" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

My dad has personally encountered numerous flat tires.

Never had wipers fail at inopportune times nor had a popped coolant hose.
 
After nearly 35 years of driving, I have never had a single flat tire while driving. I asked my wife and she also has never had a flat tire while driving.

That said, I experienced TWO flat tires in ONE day as a passenger. A co-worker was driving on the narrow roads in Ireland and was completely unable to keep the car on the pavement! The worst part about it was that there were typically stone walls just a couple of feet from the edge of the road ON MY SIDE! Fortunately, that car (a Renault) had tire pressure sensors to let us know what was going on. That was a LONG day!

Still, like Guy, I nearly always purchase a full-service spare for vehicles which we own. The LEAF spare lives in the attic since the range of the vehicle is not very great.

As an aside, I did manage to personally run out of gas twice in one day. In the same car. :oops: But there were extenuating circumstances...and both times I was in the driveway at our destination. Had it been an EV, I could have simply plugged it in!
 
i have had MANY flats that would have put me on the side of the road if not for a spare, but none in the past 10 years despite receiving punctures a half dozen times with the exception of hitting road debris that destroyed my tires.

the key point here is that newer tires seem to be able to take punctures and leak much slower than tires of old. I don't know if this is targeted design change or simply my being more aware due to TPMS but does illustrate the lesser need to haul a spare around all the time.
 
evnow said:
GRA said:
'This crap' will make PEVs far more acceptable to mainstream consumers, so far more will be bought.
No wireless charging will be too expensive for mainstream consumers - esp for PIP where most people won't even get a L2 installed.
It will be expensive at the start, but that's just par for the course. Car-sharing services will be installing these, and once we have autonomous cars they'll be everywhere.

Re spares, my needs are different. I agree that for commuting on good roads in urban areas with emergency services available at short notice, you can probably do without. My '88 Subaru came with a compact spare under the hood, and that was fine for routine driving around the Bay Area and shorter trips on well-traveled roads. But that's not where I usually take a car on trips, and for those, the places I'm likely to get a flat are hours away from service, often don't have any cell or other phone coverage, and have little or no traffic. Even assuming that the tow/flatbed driver can find me without a topo or forest service map, that is. For those trips, I carried a full-size spare in the back, and if I was really going into the boonies, the compact spare as well. The potential level of delay and hassle just isn't worth it.
 
GRA said:
It will be expensive at the start, but that's just par for the course. Car-sharing services will be installing these, and once we have autonomous cars they'll be everywhere.
So, you are giving up on FCV ? ;)
 
evnow said:
GRA said:
It will be expensive at the start, but that's just par for the course. Car-sharing services will be installing these, and once we have autonomous cars they'll be everywhere.
So, you are giving up on FCV ? ;)
No more than I'm giving up on BEVs and PHEVs - they've all got a few years to go before we can say which wins, and they all act as spurs for the others. And I've always said that for purely city/commute car use, BEVs get my vote _if they have the needed range_. For single car households like mine, or road trip cars, the field is a lot more open.
 
Toyota Prius Plug-in Sets Nürburgring Lap Record: :lol:
http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2014/07/toyota-prius-plug-cracks-698-mpg-nurburgring.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
cwerdna said:
Toyota Prius Plug-in Sets Nürburgring Lap Record: :lol:
http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2014/07/toyota-prius-plug-cracks-698-mpg-nurburgring.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'm pretty sure that a Nissan Leaf could have made the lap and used less gasoline. I'm also sure that a Model S could have done it using less gasoline and also completed the lap using less energy; according to the wind tunnel testing that was done earlier in the year.
 
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