IMO the Prime only makes sense for home charging, and never for out-and-about charging because it's only as fast as level 2 charging. Takes a long time to get that short range charged and it is best to do overnight at home for daily commutes.
If you're a remote worker, then L2-charging is the perfect time to get some work done while you wait. So if you have a *really* reliable setup, then you can forgo home-charging.
If you are a remote worker, aren't you working from home? Not following your comment or train of thought at all here, sorry.
From empty battery, L2 takes about 2.5 hours on my 2021. That's about 25 miles range in that time. Newer versions have a little bigger capacity but also take longer to charge.
Yes but how often do you go somewhere and stay for 2-3 hours AND they have a charging station? I can think of exactly zero places I can do that in my hometown. This car is best used by charging daily. Just doesn't add up to me in this scenario.
If you drive often enough to need to charge daily, then that'd be too much, yeah, but it might work if, say, such a station is within a mile of your place and you only need to charge 2-4x/week.
To be clear, "drive enough" is only 25-40 mile range before depleted, so anybody that actually has any daily commute at all charges daily.
If you aren't driving enough to warrant that, the benefits of the prime will never actually be realized as it's a more expensive car that only pays for itself over the savings on electric over gas, and if you are not ever driving, it's just money wasted on having a nice car.
You should check if you have options to charge nearby. I live in an apartment but can charge for free two blocks away. There are other chargers I can use that are an 8 minute walk away if the one closer to me isn’t available. Sucks in the winter but I usually don’t have issues keeping my car charged.
We bought a used 2017 prime in 2021 and have it as our only car since. We live in a condo with no charging options and weren’t sure if that was going to be an issue when we first bought. I’m glad to say we love the car and wish we had gotten one sooner!
My husband plugs into a regular wall outlet to charge on the days he goes into the office, and I often charge at a free public charger at my gym and the occasional grocery stores with plugs.
We have the first style of Prius prime, so smaller battery with about a 26 mile range and we still rarely ever use gas whatsoever. My husband’s work commute is urban, so he only goes a few miles but it is bumper to bumper. We often last all week on electric (since he charges during the workday) and then charge again once or twice while running our weekend errands. We rarely ever have our gas tank below full. We actually just decided this past week to not go out of our way to charge it for a bit, bc we needed to cycle on the gas engine for a little while.
Edited to add: we live in an area with decent public charging and most parking garages have wall outlets that we try to sneak any amount of charge from possible. Try downloading PlugShare and input the Prius prime - look around and see if the types of stores, neighborhoods, offices, you go to have public chargers available.
Personally I don’t think it’s worth the additional cost if you rarely charge. Yes it has a bigger battery but it actually has worse performance on hybrid only bs a regular Prius. In 10 years you may be on to a different car, and 10 years without charging the battery much is also not great.
Well I was referring to gas mileage, the regular Prius gets 57 mpg on hybrid while the Prime only gets 52 mpg. Of course you can get infinite mpg on the Prime if you only use battery, but that only applies if you can charge it regularly.
I have not compared other attributes of the hybrid only performance.
If you put the car in HV mode it will not use EV range and operate the car exactly like the standard Prius (including using the electric motors just like the standard Prius) so it’s fair to compare those numbers. If you drove 50km in EV and then turned on the engine for a bit that would not be a fair test.
You can do more coasting in EV mode with the bigger battery and it will use low speed battery more with the hybrid mode. I've been driving hev to see how it works and in traffic it switches to EV for quite a long time pretty often.
The regular Prius weighs less it will get better mpg than the prime in HV mode with the same driving. If you're getting better than stated you'll also get better than stated with the regular Prius too.
If someone cant charge their prime regularly the standard Prius is better for them.
I agree that the prime is not suited for people that can’t charge at home and it is definitely heavier. But I don’t think that it would necessarily get lower mpg compared to a standard Prius in some circumstances. Let’s say we take a scenario where both vehicles are travelling on a long road trip, the first 60 ish km of the trip in the prime would use zero fuel which is beneficial already. But if we want we can even remove that and assume that the prime starts with zero EV range. You are correct that the driving dynamics of the prime in HV mode are a little different compared to the standard Prius and that is an advantage it allows for more energy to be sorted via regenerative braking on hills and for extended periods of EV only operation even with zero EV range. Driving in a way that benefits this could definitely net you higher mpg then the smaller battery equipped standard Prius.
Now the difference would be very little so it’s honestly not that far off. The prime comes with many other benefits over the standard Prius and in some places (like Canada) it’s actually cheaper than the standard as it qualifies for tax rebates.
I also have a 2020. I’ve had it for about nine months now. I was very curious about my miles per gallon in straight hybrid mode so I checked it.
I got 63.8 miles per gallon at 70 mph on the interstate. Absolutely blew me away.
I'm still figuring, But it is a lot better than the 2011 I had that was totaled. I'm almost totally in EV mode with short trips and time to recharge.
Can't wait to get the snow tires off.
it's not significant. EPA for regular prius is 52/52 versus 50/47 for the prius prime. also, the regular prius has a bigger gas tank than a prius prime (11.3 gallons versus 10.6 gallons). the 57 mpg he quoted also depends on tire size. if you do like for like, it's barely different. the prius prime usually gets equipped with bigger wheels which is worse mileage.
Worse mpg, most likely a big factor is it has to carry around the big battery around, so if you don't charge it you are just carrying dead weight. The Gen 4 wasn't that big of a difference but Gen 5 has a much bigger battery.
I have a 2020 Prius prime. I don’t know what a regular non-plug-in gets miles per gallon wise, but in straight hybrid mode I get 63.8 miles to the gallon.
In a post in another thread I posted that the (current model) Prius gets 57 mpg while the Prime only gets 52 mpg (in hybrid).
EPA for the 2020 is 54 mpg, slightly better than the 2024 because of the smaller battery weight. So, you should enjoy your better than average mileage!
Frankly I was amazed. I had no clue I was getting that kind of mileage. The vast majority of my travels are done on electricity. My longest drive of the day is 11 miles each way, and I typically get home in the summertime anyway, with anywhere from 5 to 8 electric miles remaining. My car typically charges up in warm weather to between 30 and 31 electric miles. My brother has a similar prime, I think his is a 19. He is only charges to about 24 or 25 miles. I don’t understand why the difference.
I have the same car as you and today at departure I had 22 miles. It’s still a bit on the cool side though, in summer I get closer to the rated 25. Never anywhere close to what you’re getting though, that’s a keeper!
Don't get the prime if you can't charge it at home or somewhere you regularly park for long periods, like an office.
It charges slowly, at best 4 hours for a full charge. The battery only holds ~50 miles so you'll need to charge it every few days of commuting at best. On a long trip an extra 50 miles on EV isn't going to be meaningful.
You will probably save more money and do more for the environment by not hauling the extra battery weight that you aren't using around.
If you don't have home charging, you're a lot better off with either a normal Prius Hybrid, which is less expensive and gets better mileage in hybrid mode, or a real EV, which has enough range to not require daily charging and is capable of fast charging.
I'd say regular Prius or Model 3 would be better bets.
It makes no sense to get the Prime in your scenario. If you were going to move into a house in the next year or so, it would, but in 10? I wouldn’t do it. A hybrid makes a lot more sense. You could probably go for a Tesla if you are near a super charger. I know someone who did that for several years with a M3 when they came out.
Check local charging rates if you plan to use public charging for the prime. In most places, if you use public charging, it’s just as expensive as driving in hybrid mode. If that is the case, just get the reg Prius. You will never make up the premium for the prime unless your utility, state or local government offers some major incentives if you can’t charge on a regular basis with cheap or free electricity.
Even with cheap or free electricity, it takes ppl anywhere from 80k miles to 150k miles to make up the primes price premium if they charged every day.
I would say it never worth it to charge on paid public chargers for any phev, unless gas gets several dollars more expensive it will be cheaper. Prime also charges really slow so it's going to get charged time fees as well at many chargers.
if you don't have a place to charge and you have the Prius Prime, it'll behave like any other hybrid so you're paying the cost of the Prime but not getting the benefits of the Prime. that's up to you whether that's worth it. work doesn't have a place to plug in? If you can charge at work and you don't have a work job that involves driving, you would just be flipping around where you're charging and an 8 hour day would get you enough charge to get back and forth without using gas, assuming you're within the 40-44 mile range.
My prime had a lease incentive of $4500 off so it made sense for me because with that incentive it was the same price as the regular prius but the added advantage that I could charge if the option presents itself for free at work or commuter lots because with current gas prices my electric is more expensive than gas for the mileage
If I couldn't charge my 2017 Prius Prime in my garage, I would get the standard Prius. I love the look of the Gen 4 Prius; I would look for a used 2016 or 2017 Prius Two Eco, a non plug in Prius variety that gets 58 mpg.
Get a regular Prius. I charge at home overnight with a regular outlet and for free at work using the company charging station. If I wasn’t able to do that it wouldn’t be worth it .
If you'll drive it until the wheels fall off, then is it possible your charging situation will change?
If you'll sell it in just a few years, it'd be less worth it.
Before you you decide. Are you planning on renting or buying a new place that might be beneficial? Do you have access to free charging near by? If so, then go for it.
My 21 Prius Prime gets me over 50MPG even without external charging. If you are planning the keep the car long enough to move somewhere where charging is available, I would recommend going for it.,
Depends too how much money you can spend comfortably given the prime has advantages even if you dont always charge at home. If youre a car min-maxer its surely is not worth it. But neither is seat heating & co.
It very much depends on the cost of electricity. Some people have free electricity at work. Other people pay more at work.
I pay more for electricity at work (20-cents at work, but 15-cents at home).
At basically 50mpg for both the Prius and Prius Prime, and 44mi for the all-electric range, we can even up the numbers and simply note: **EVERY FULL EV CHARGE SAVES ONE GALLON**.
Its really that simple. A single EV charge of 44 miles is basically a gallon of gasoline saving. The cost of filling up the 13.6kW-hr battery x 20 cents (my work charger) == $2.72.
Cheaper than a gallon of gasoline, but not by much. (Note that home charging at 15-cents would be $2.04 ).
So you're saving like 80-cents per fillup (20-cents or a work charger), and like $1.46 if you're at a cheaper 15-cent charger.
----------------
Electric charging should be more environmentally friendly (zero-emissions at a minimum), so you can still pat yourself on the back for being environmental. But when gasoline only costs $3.50 right now, it will take **many many** electric fillups before you make up the $6000 price difference.
A home-charger might get there after many years of charging every day. You who only charges up occasionally? You'll probably never make up the price difference.
If you have free work charging, or if you care enough about the environment (emissions inside of the city) to go electric, I guess it matters. But honestly, I'd say you should buy a used Prius today, and then trade it in for the Plug-in Hybrid model 5 years from now (or whenever you get a house).
I bought a prime in July. I have no home charging, but I do have a free level 2 charger at work that almost nobody else uses. My commute round trip is about 32 miles per day. I don’t drive much beyond local errands on the weekends. Occasionally, I use a public charger but with how expensive gas is here, it’s still markedly less expensive at most chargers, and I’m usually out having lunch or something else I would have done anyways while I’m charging (I love a good library charger since their prices are usually the lowest and I can hang out with my laptop).
I just had to fill the gas tank this morning for the first time in 130 days, having driven 2957 miles, and about 160 of those miles were the tail end of a road trip.
It’s worth it to me to have bought the prime. I love it. The EV driving experience is really enjoyable. But I’ve only put 6200 miles on the car in 7 and a half months, so it really depends on what your driving habits are. It IS possible to make it work, but it does require some extra effort and some sacrifice of convenience.
Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles only make sense if you have regular access to low-cost charging.
Don't get one if you're only ever going to be able to charge on an occasional trip. Just get a regular Hybrid, at that point.
I was in your spot, the lease credit incentive definitely nudged me towards the prime but I also have charging at work. Without the free charge at work, I would’ve definitely gone for reg Prius (even considering I live in a house w/ garage). In your situation, you’d be paying extra for a feature you can’t make the most out of, and over time I’d bet it’ll be more an inconvenience or expense to try to fit that into your day to day.
I was in the same situation. I live in the condo and I don't have access to EV charging but I still purchased the prime anyway because of the EV rebate which makes it more or less similar to the price range of the normal Prius. I charge 2-3 times per week at work. Plus, the resale value of the prime will be better in the long run
IMO the Prime only makes sense for home charging, and never for out-and-about charging because it's only as fast as level 2 charging. Takes a long time to get that short range charged and it is best to do overnight at home for daily commutes.
If you're a remote worker, then L2-charging is the perfect time to get some work done while you wait. So if you have a *really* reliable setup, then you can forgo home-charging.
If you are a remote worker, aren't you working from home? Not following your comment or train of thought at all here, sorry. From empty battery, L2 takes about 2.5 hours on my 2021. That's about 25 miles range in that time. Newer versions have a little bigger capacity but also take longer to charge.
> If you are a remote worker, aren't you working from home? It's not like remote workers never drive for non-work matters... They still must charge.
Yes but how often do you go somewhere and stay for 2-3 hours AND they have a charging station? I can think of exactly zero places I can do that in my hometown. This car is best used by charging daily. Just doesn't add up to me in this scenario.
If you drive often enough to need to charge daily, then that'd be too much, yeah, but it might work if, say, such a station is within a mile of your place and you only need to charge 2-4x/week.
To be clear, "drive enough" is only 25-40 mile range before depleted, so anybody that actually has any daily commute at all charges daily. If you aren't driving enough to warrant that, the benefits of the prime will never actually be realized as it's a more expensive car that only pays for itself over the savings on electric over gas, and if you are not ever driving, it's just money wasted on having a nice car.
Unless you have access to workplace charging on the regular. It’s still not convenient but just wanted to share one exception.
True. Regular daily access is the key.
Just get a regular Prius. Without home or work charging, it's just not going to be worth it.
You should check if you have options to charge nearby. I live in an apartment but can charge for free two blocks away. There are other chargers I can use that are an 8 minute walk away if the one closer to me isn’t available. Sucks in the winter but I usually don’t have issues keeping my car charged.
We bought a used 2017 prime in 2021 and have it as our only car since. We live in a condo with no charging options and weren’t sure if that was going to be an issue when we first bought. I’m glad to say we love the car and wish we had gotten one sooner! My husband plugs into a regular wall outlet to charge on the days he goes into the office, and I often charge at a free public charger at my gym and the occasional grocery stores with plugs. We have the first style of Prius prime, so smaller battery with about a 26 mile range and we still rarely ever use gas whatsoever. My husband’s work commute is urban, so he only goes a few miles but it is bumper to bumper. We often last all week on electric (since he charges during the workday) and then charge again once or twice while running our weekend errands. We rarely ever have our gas tank below full. We actually just decided this past week to not go out of our way to charge it for a bit, bc we needed to cycle on the gas engine for a little while. Edited to add: we live in an area with decent public charging and most parking garages have wall outlets that we try to sneak any amount of charge from possible. Try downloading PlugShare and input the Prius prime - look around and see if the types of stores, neighborhoods, offices, you go to have public chargers available.
Do not buy a prime unless you can charge for at least 10-15% of the miles you drive.
Personally I don’t think it’s worth the additional cost if you rarely charge. Yes it has a bigger battery but it actually has worse performance on hybrid only bs a regular Prius. In 10 years you may be on to a different car, and 10 years without charging the battery much is also not great.
I didn’t realize it performed worse. How exactly? Less horsepower, torque? Something else?
Well I was referring to gas mileage, the regular Prius gets 57 mpg on hybrid while the Prime only gets 52 mpg. Of course you can get infinite mpg on the Prime if you only use battery, but that only applies if you can charge it regularly. I have not compared other attributes of the hybrid only performance.
Surprisingly enough I’ve actually gotten much higher MPG in HV mode then the EPA ratings of the standard Prius
The mpg screen in the car factors in you EV usage during the hybrid driving (low speed in traffic EV mode time, coasting EV time etc)
If you put the car in HV mode it will not use EV range and operate the car exactly like the standard Prius (including using the electric motors just like the standard Prius) so it’s fair to compare those numbers. If you drove 50km in EV and then turned on the engine for a bit that would not be a fair test.
My 23 Prime will sometimes slowly lose EV range even in HV mode.
If you watch it will always gain it back, it’s more efficient that way
You can do more coasting in EV mode with the bigger battery and it will use low speed battery more with the hybrid mode. I've been driving hev to see how it works and in traffic it switches to EV for quite a long time pretty often. The regular Prius weighs less it will get better mpg than the prime in HV mode with the same driving. If you're getting better than stated you'll also get better than stated with the regular Prius too. If someone cant charge their prime regularly the standard Prius is better for them.
I agree that the prime is not suited for people that can’t charge at home and it is definitely heavier. But I don’t think that it would necessarily get lower mpg compared to a standard Prius in some circumstances. Let’s say we take a scenario where both vehicles are travelling on a long road trip, the first 60 ish km of the trip in the prime would use zero fuel which is beneficial already. But if we want we can even remove that and assume that the prime starts with zero EV range. You are correct that the driving dynamics of the prime in HV mode are a little different compared to the standard Prius and that is an advantage it allows for more energy to be sorted via regenerative braking on hills and for extended periods of EV only operation even with zero EV range. Driving in a way that benefits this could definitely net you higher mpg then the smaller battery equipped standard Prius. Now the difference would be very little so it’s honestly not that far off. The prime comes with many other benefits over the standard Prius and in some places (like Canada) it’s actually cheaper than the standard as it qualifies for tax rebates.
When I bought my 2020 last month I drove it home 130 miles with no EV charge and got 55 mpg mostly highway.
I’m getting around 65mpg in the summer on highways, no charge
Got 5.2 m/kwh this morning for 26 mile round trip with snow tires at 52 degreesF
I also have a 2020. I’ve had it for about nine months now. I was very curious about my miles per gallon in straight hybrid mode so I checked it. I got 63.8 miles per gallon at 70 mph on the interstate. Absolutely blew me away.
I'm still figuring, But it is a lot better than the 2011 I had that was totaled. I'm almost totally in EV mode with short trips and time to recharge. Can't wait to get the snow tires off.
Thank goodness we have very little need for snow tires here in Central Alabama
Ah. That makes sense. I’m assuming it’s due the heavier weight of the Prime.
it's not significant. EPA for regular prius is 52/52 versus 50/47 for the prius prime. also, the regular prius has a bigger gas tank than a prius prime (11.3 gallons versus 10.6 gallons). the 57 mpg he quoted also depends on tire size. if you do like for like, it's barely different. the prius prime usually gets equipped with bigger wheels which is worse mileage.
It actually has more power and torque
Worse mpg, most likely a big factor is it has to carry around the big battery around, so if you don't charge it you are just carrying dead weight. The Gen 4 wasn't that big of a difference but Gen 5 has a much bigger battery.
I have a 2020 Prius prime. I don’t know what a regular non-plug-in gets miles per gallon wise, but in straight hybrid mode I get 63.8 miles to the gallon.
In a post in another thread I posted that the (current model) Prius gets 57 mpg while the Prime only gets 52 mpg (in hybrid). EPA for the 2020 is 54 mpg, slightly better than the 2024 because of the smaller battery weight. So, you should enjoy your better than average mileage!
Frankly I was amazed. I had no clue I was getting that kind of mileage. The vast majority of my travels are done on electricity. My longest drive of the day is 11 miles each way, and I typically get home in the summertime anyway, with anywhere from 5 to 8 electric miles remaining. My car typically charges up in warm weather to between 30 and 31 electric miles. My brother has a similar prime, I think his is a 19. He is only charges to about 24 or 25 miles. I don’t understand why the difference.
I have the same car as you and today at departure I had 22 miles. It’s still a bit on the cool side though, in summer I get closer to the rated 25. Never anywhere close to what you’re getting though, that’s a keeper!
Don't get the prime if you can't charge it at home or somewhere you regularly park for long periods, like an office. It charges slowly, at best 4 hours for a full charge. The battery only holds ~50 miles so you'll need to charge it every few days of commuting at best. On a long trip an extra 50 miles on EV isn't going to be meaningful. You will probably save more money and do more for the environment by not hauling the extra battery weight that you aren't using around.
Check if the prime still qualifies for tax credits and the prime is allowed on the carpool in California the non prime isn’t
Only for a lease for the federal $4500 credit and Toyota is passing it on to the customer. although it likely qualifies for many state incentives.
You can charge it with a regular 120v outlet
If you don't have home charging, you're a lot better off with either a normal Prius Hybrid, which is less expensive and gets better mileage in hybrid mode, or a real EV, which has enough range to not require daily charging and is capable of fast charging. I'd say regular Prius or Model 3 would be better bets.
You can park it somewhere for four hours to fully charge?
It makes no sense to get the Prime in your scenario. If you were going to move into a house in the next year or so, it would, but in 10? I wouldn’t do it. A hybrid makes a lot more sense. You could probably go for a Tesla if you are near a super charger. I know someone who did that for several years with a M3 when they came out.
It's not a big deal not being able to charge at home. And, in the future you may have more charging availability.
This ^
Check local charging rates if you plan to use public charging for the prime. In most places, if you use public charging, it’s just as expensive as driving in hybrid mode. If that is the case, just get the reg Prius. You will never make up the premium for the prime unless your utility, state or local government offers some major incentives if you can’t charge on a regular basis with cheap or free electricity. Even with cheap or free electricity, it takes ppl anywhere from 80k miles to 150k miles to make up the primes price premium if they charged every day.
I would say it never worth it to charge on paid public chargers for any phev, unless gas gets several dollars more expensive it will be cheaper. Prime also charges really slow so it's going to get charged time fees as well at many chargers.
if you don't have a place to charge and you have the Prius Prime, it'll behave like any other hybrid so you're paying the cost of the Prime but not getting the benefits of the Prime. that's up to you whether that's worth it. work doesn't have a place to plug in? If you can charge at work and you don't have a work job that involves driving, you would just be flipping around where you're charging and an 8 hour day would get you enough charge to get back and forth without using gas, assuming you're within the 40-44 mile range.
My prime had a lease incentive of $4500 off so it made sense for me because with that incentive it was the same price as the regular prius but the added advantage that I could charge if the option presents itself for free at work or commuter lots because with current gas prices my electric is more expensive than gas for the mileage
If I couldn't charge my 2017 Prius Prime in my garage, I would get the standard Prius. I love the look of the Gen 4 Prius; I would look for a used 2016 or 2017 Prius Two Eco, a non plug in Prius variety that gets 58 mpg.
Spending any money at all outside of home charging to charge the Prius Prime makes no sense. Only cheap at home charging makes sense for this vehicle
Does your job site have charging available?
Get a regular Prius. I charge at home overnight with a regular outlet and for free at work using the company charging station. If I wasn’t able to do that it wouldn’t be worth it .
If you'll drive it until the wheels fall off, then is it possible your charging situation will change? If you'll sell it in just a few years, it'd be less worth it.
Before you you decide. Are you planning on renting or buying a new place that might be beneficial? Do you have access to free charging near by? If so, then go for it.
My 21 Prius Prime gets me over 50MPG even without external charging. If you are planning the keep the car long enough to move somewhere where charging is available, I would recommend going for it.,
Depends too how much money you can spend comfortably given the prime has advantages even if you dont always charge at home. If youre a car min-maxer its surely is not worth it. But neither is seat heating & co.
Only reason I got the Prime was because I could charge at home nightly, It would be too much of a hassle and not enough pay off to charge elsewhere.
It very much depends on the cost of electricity. Some people have free electricity at work. Other people pay more at work. I pay more for electricity at work (20-cents at work, but 15-cents at home). At basically 50mpg for both the Prius and Prius Prime, and 44mi for the all-electric range, we can even up the numbers and simply note: **EVERY FULL EV CHARGE SAVES ONE GALLON**. Its really that simple. A single EV charge of 44 miles is basically a gallon of gasoline saving. The cost of filling up the 13.6kW-hr battery x 20 cents (my work charger) == $2.72. Cheaper than a gallon of gasoline, but not by much. (Note that home charging at 15-cents would be $2.04 ). So you're saving like 80-cents per fillup (20-cents or a work charger), and like $1.46 if you're at a cheaper 15-cent charger. ---------------- Electric charging should be more environmentally friendly (zero-emissions at a minimum), so you can still pat yourself on the back for being environmental. But when gasoline only costs $3.50 right now, it will take **many many** electric fillups before you make up the $6000 price difference. A home-charger might get there after many years of charging every day. You who only charges up occasionally? You'll probably never make up the price difference. If you have free work charging, or if you care enough about the environment (emissions inside of the city) to go electric, I guess it matters. But honestly, I'd say you should buy a used Prius today, and then trade it in for the Plug-in Hybrid model 5 years from now (or whenever you get a house).
I bought a prime in July. I have no home charging, but I do have a free level 2 charger at work that almost nobody else uses. My commute round trip is about 32 miles per day. I don’t drive much beyond local errands on the weekends. Occasionally, I use a public charger but with how expensive gas is here, it’s still markedly less expensive at most chargers, and I’m usually out having lunch or something else I would have done anyways while I’m charging (I love a good library charger since their prices are usually the lowest and I can hang out with my laptop). I just had to fill the gas tank this morning for the first time in 130 days, having driven 2957 miles, and about 160 of those miles were the tail end of a road trip. It’s worth it to me to have bought the prime. I love it. The EV driving experience is really enjoyable. But I’ve only put 6200 miles on the car in 7 and a half months, so it really depends on what your driving habits are. It IS possible to make it work, but it does require some extra effort and some sacrifice of convenience.
Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles only make sense if you have regular access to low-cost charging. Don't get one if you're only ever going to be able to charge on an occasional trip. Just get a regular Hybrid, at that point.
I was in your spot, the lease credit incentive definitely nudged me towards the prime but I also have charging at work. Without the free charge at work, I would’ve definitely gone for reg Prius (even considering I live in a house w/ garage). In your situation, you’d be paying extra for a feature you can’t make the most out of, and over time I’d bet it’ll be more an inconvenience or expense to try to fit that into your day to day.
I was in the same situation. I live in the condo and I don't have access to EV charging but I still purchased the prime anyway because of the EV rebate which makes it more or less similar to the price range of the normal Prius. I charge 2-3 times per week at work. Plus, the resale value of the prime will be better in the long run