To Phev or not !

[dutchie01]

I once owned a Citroen BX with a built in  LPG tank. As LPG was only 25% of the petrol price i only used gas and never ever petrol. Guess what happened? The petrol lines ( made from rubber/plastic) dried out and became porous with potential explosive consequences.

Anyway, FF to the plug ins and history seems to repeat itself with petrol beeing there but never or almost never used?

 

[ColinBarber]

19 hours ago, dutchie01 said:

Anyway, FF to the plug ins and history seems to repeat itself with petrol beeing there but never or almost never used?

Firstly I suspect the petrol engine will run up every now and then for most people unless they go out of their way to make sure it runs in EV only mode.

However you will receive a dashboard warning message if the petrol engine hasn't been used for a long time:

Quote

"No New Fuel has been Added Recently Please refuel"

and they make a point of warning the owner in the manual:

For plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, fuel may remain in the tank for a long time and undergo changes in quality depending on the how the vehicle is used. Refuel at least 20 L (5.3 gal., 4.4 Imp.gal.) of fuel every 12 months (refuel a total of at least 20 L [5.3 gal., 4.4 Imp.gal.] over a 12- month period), as this may affect components of the fuel system or the gasoline engine.

With regards to the GPF - another message will also appear when necessary on the dash:

Quote

"Engine Started to Clean System EV Driving Unavailable"

 

 

I'm not sure why there is so much negativity here - Toyota has displayed enough engineering skills over the years, with a reputation for reliability, for them to be given the benefit of doubt that they have considered such things.

[Don C]

7 hours ago, ColinBarber said:

But when a vehicle has a GPF installed the engine management system behaves differently to ensure burn off can occur.

Then we must conclude that the US spec RAV4 Prime doesn’t have a GPF or the Toyota tech who’s seen it several times and me he are wrong.   It seems the possibility of you being wrong isn’t in the options list.  

[Spottedlaurel]

It seems like a good compromise to me. Admittedly I'm not in the market for one at present, I'd like to keep my low mileage RX for at least another five years. By that time it'll be clear(er) as to which way things are heading, and the NX PHEV will be rather more within my budget!

The UX300e is too small for me (much as I liked the driving experience), but fairly soon family transport won't be as much of an issue and the NX will be ideal size-wise.

Full electric will be good for my normal work journeys and local running around - the short trips which probably do most to knock my MPG - but I'll still have something which can be used on long trips without charging concerns.

I just hope some of you folks who are buying one now/soon spec it nicely and look after it so I have a good choice in a few years' time.....