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Comment by LUmBULtERA | Hacker News Reader

I want a Prius Prime. With a 44-mile range on battery, the vast majority of my driving would be electric, plus there's zero range anxiety. BUT, I hate hate hate having to go to car dealerships and deal with their obnoxious shenanigans. Wish I could just buy it online for a fair price.

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You can find barely-used Prius Primes on no-haggle used car dealers like Carmax or Carvana. But I guess that depends on your definition of a "fair price" -- no-haggle means you also never get a good deal, merely an OK deal at best.

I just searched Carmax and Carvana for 2023 Prius Primes and zero showed up on either of them. EPA range on battery between the last model and the current one increased from 25 to 44 miles, so a substantial difference. Also, I don't think there's really much of a discount compared to new for many vehicles right now.

44 miles EV range probably means they want the new 2023 Prius Prime, which is not readily available used. Previous generation only had 25 mile EV range.

With hybrids like this, my understanding is that the EV range cannot be directly translated into electric-only driving range, because above a certain speed the car does switch back to the the ICE, regardless. It is only in the lowest speeds when it does the EV-only mode operate.

Or am I missing something?

You're just a few years out of date.

That used to be the case but the plug-in hybrids like the RAV4 prime and the Prius prime can be driven entirely in EV mode.

For most people, 40 miles of EV range is going to cover 95% of their trips.

In the new hybrids they can be used in EV mode. At least for Toyota and Honda.

> In EV Drive, the Accord Hybrid is propelled solely by its electric motor and the lithium-ion battery pack. This mode can be selected—and used for short distances—by pressing the EV button.

https://www.hondainfocenter.com/2022/Accord-Hybrid/Feature-G...

Consider a used 2017-2019 Chevy Volt for this use case.

Great in theory, but in practice most people don't bother charging them

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