Hybrid Prius

Dbarry55

Thinking of changing my Octavia diesel for Hybrid Prius, to use as a Taxi, any comments or advise as to how good or bad. Prius would be as a Taxi ?, thanks in advance.

Bigus

Way way better car for city driving , very reliable, much more relaxing to drive.

Prius is one of the most reliable cars in the world.

It's more economical than most if not all diesel manual cars of the same sze and power and of course any larger cars and even many 1.6 small diesel cars. It really is a great car.

You'd be surprised what a Nissan Leaf would save you, the fuel is a lot cheaper especially if you do mostly smaller mileage up to 70-80 odd miles. 20 mins on a fast charger will get you 50-60 Kms range.

The leaf is also proving itself very reliable and the batteries in the late 2013+ are holding up very well .

Dbarry55

Any Taxi drivers out there using a Prius that can give me info as to are they having any problems with them, thanks.

Hector Mildew

Not a taxi driver but I've read a quite few positive reports in the last few years, e.g...

http://www.carscoops.com/2013/12/toyota-prius-hybrid-taxi-clocks-1.html

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1019563_toyota-prius-tough-enough-to-be-a-taxi-anywhere

http://driving.ca/toyota/prius/auto-news/news/hybrid-highway-trailblazing-cabbie

http://www.hybridcars.com/toyota-prius-taxi-running-strong-with-600000-miles-and-original-battery/

I've had my Prius for 5 years now without any problems.

mr.dunkey

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVPcyoDRjQ4

As servicing is concerned a diesel is much more routine and costly. The Prius is a very popular car as taxi as in the Octivia. I would go with the hybrid less fuel, less servicing, for taxi

You don't really need to ask taxi drivers, I've owned a Mk II 2007 for 4 years and bought it with 74,000 Kms and sold it with about 240,000 Kms if I remember correctly. No issues what so ever. There were a few recalls but the car never failed.

Oil and filter every 15,000 Kms, spark plugs every 60,000 (provided the proper ones are installed) This car really needs a Toyota dealer to service but I didn't find them expensive.

The Automatic is pretty simple in the MK II and a lot more so in the current gen, Far less complicated than any traditional automatic because of the electric motor. If anyone was looking for a good reliable 2nd hand automatic the Prius is without doubt the top choice and you really won't find a more economical car for the size and power in an automatic, and probably more economical than most diesels.

Guaranteed a more reliable car than any Skoda diesel !!! and less maintenance.

The Gearbox oil should be changed every 100,000 miles.

Again, the Leaf is the most economical car you can drive and very reliable also and service every 30,000 Kms or once a year. Service includes inspections and battery reports.

Don't automatically rule out EV because I commute 134 Kms per day and could easily do 160 kms with a 10 min fast charge mainly 100-110 Kph. In town you get more. An updated Leaf is coming in late 2015 early 16 with about 30-40 Kms more range for about 180 Kms range V 130 for the current Leaf. EV is many times better than any diesel.

I have 17,800 Kms since Mid January 2015.

A 2013 U.K Nissan Leaf taxi has passed 100,000 miles and lost less than 10% battery and has fast charged an insanely amount with little to no effect on the battery. Definitely one of the best cars on the road today, Prius was great in it's day and still is but to me there is no going back.

50 Euro's of night rate electricity will drive you about 2000 (Miles) in a leaf. Excluding the free top ups from public charging. They will charge next year. It's one car that will pay for itself far far quicker than any diesel/hybrid.

The Hybrid will need learning to maximise fuel economy, it's far more involving to drive than a normal ICE car. But once you crack it it's 2nd nature. I've posted here several times about it you can dig out the thread.

Do a google search by typing this in Goggle's search box.

prius site:boards.ie

The Nissan Leaf doesn't really require anything other than watching your right foot if you need to maximise range, if you don't then you really don't need to worry about it and if you're using it as a Taxi I would advise getting the more powerful 6.6 Kw charger because it charges twice as fast as the standard charge points meaning 25-90% charge in about 2 hrs , you'd be surprised how useful this would be if you spend time waiting for customers.

You can also use the fast chargers and install a 32 amp EVSE (charge point)

Charging in your house /depot would cost about 1.80 for a complete 0-100% charge or about 3.60 during the day for up to 80 miles or about 130 Kms. If you drive at 100 Kph then about 110 Kms winter and 130 Kms Summer. Remember the longer range Leaf is coming for 2016 and the 140-200 mile range Leaf in 2018 along with other EV's.

Tesla have added more range now too for up to 300 miles !

pwurple

A taxi driver in Cork city was the person who finally persuaded me into electric. Said his electric taxi had saved him 8,000 euro in one year of use on fuel alone.

I think the ENV200 would be the one I'd go for over the leaf for a taxi though. 7 seats. http://www.env200.com/

pwurple

pwurple wrote: »

A taxi driver in Cork city was the person who finally persuaded me into electric. Said his electric taxi had saved him 8,000 euro in one year of use on fuel alone.

I think the ENV200 would be the one I'd go for over the leaf for a taxi though. 7 seats. http://www.env200.com/

Yeah I never thought of the ENV 200 !

I would wait for the range upgrade though and maybe it will come to the ENV 200 also. But if the 70-85 mile range is suitable now then I'd go for it.

Again, the 6.6 Kw charger is one of the most valuable extras you will buy, in my opinion charging as fast and convenient as possible is well worth the 900 Euro extra and I am glad I got the more powerful charger.

The basic charger should be dropped from the options list.

cros13

Deleted User wrote: »

I would wait for the range upgrade though and maybe it will come to the ENV 200 also. But if the 70-85 mile range is suitable now then I'd go for it.

Again, the 6.6 Kw charger is one of the most valuable extras you will buy, in my opinion charging as fast and convenient as possible is well worth the 900 Euro extra and I am glad I got the more powerful charger.

+1 for the eNV200. You'd need the range upgrade though as it takes a 10-15% range hit over the Leaf at the moment due to weight and aerodynamics. Very pleasant to drive, had one out for a weekend test when one of my family's companies were considering replacing our vans. Should be here September/October timeframe.

The 6.6kW charger is standard on all eNV200s sold in Ireland. However the backup camera which is standard on the UK eNVs has been made an option on the Irish model.

The €1,950 option pack contains a number of thing I'd consider essentials Nissan Connect (remote monitoring from your smartphone, important to keep an eye on a charging EV), the sat nav (primarily for finding charging points and making it easier to estimate your range) and the reversing camera. Zero euro commercial road tax, but you lose about €1,200 of the government EV grant if you are registering it as commercial.

I know a number of Taxi drivers running Leafs, all very happy with them. You have to get accustomed to charging it and you may have to pass on a few long distance jobs but the running costs are astoundingly low. Paying for all your electricity your fuel costs can be below 2c/km vs 13-14c/km for a diesel. It more than compensates for the odd 20 minute charge on your coffee break.

The Prius is the way to go if you just want to save a little fuel by using recovered braking energy to move along the rank. But you'll miss out on all the advantages full electric offers.