Anyone hear of/had a bad Prius experience?

[RU482]

You always see people talking about how much they love/hate the Toyota Prius. I'm just curious if anyone here has any real world ownership experience with the car? I've driven one (it was an 01 I think) on a couple of 70 mile trips.

I always wondered what would happen with the battery pack (located inside the front of the trunk) if you got t-boned in the back door/rear quarter area or rammed by a semi. Anyone heard of this happening?

 

[squirrel dog]

Haha that gave me a mental image.Thanks for the laugh.About the same as any other car,even if the batts exploded,it would be better than a gas fire.Should be some hard info on a gov. site or consumer reports.

 

[WinkOsmosis]

The batteries would die...

 

[RU482]

Originally posted by: WinkOsmosis
The batteries would die...

I worked on a hybrid vehicle program...I've seen the results of destructive testing on these batteries...they do more than "die" when you puncture them

 

[Thegonagle]

Originally posted by: redly1
I worked on a hybrid vehicle program...I've seen the results of destructive testing on these batteries...they do more than "die" when you puncture them

Well, what do they do then?

 

[RU482]

well, the one time I punctured a module (same module used in the prius, mind you, with the tip of a pen, by accident, I got a pretty blue flame and smoke show. I saw pictures from Panasonic where they did destructive testing...i.e drop, water submersion, penetration. Resulted in lots of charred mass.

 

[JBAR]

I know of an 03 Prius that would'nt start because the battery compartment got infested by ants. No joke!

 

[RU482]

Originally posted by: JBAR
I know of an 03 Prius that would'nt start because the battery compartment got infested by ants. No joke!

where? Brazil?

j/k

 

[JBAR]

No, Texas. Damn fire ants.

 

[BurnItDwn]

I cringe every time i see one. Though I have no real first hand knowledge.

 

[Martin]

Eug has a Prius, ask him. I think he's pretty satisfied.

 

[abaez]

I test drove one in Long Beach this weekend at the electronic transportation expo.. was nice especially the no gear shifting. Electronic/hybrid vehicles are really coming along nice but I'm gonna wait a bit longer.. I am going to buy a nice electric scooter though. 1500 for one that goes 100 miles per 2 hour charge

 

[Thegonagle]

So, if the car got T-boned, and both the gas tank AND the some of the bettery cells happen to get punctured, it means there's greater than average potential for a firey mess, huh?

Luckily, gas tanks are usually well protected, and rarely spill in all but the worst wrecks. (Luckily, a Prius' gas tank holds a little less gasoline than most cars.) I imagine they also took precautions to build a "safety cage" for the battery pack, including sheilding from the occupants just in case some of the cells did get cracked open.

 

[Triumph]

Anyone hear of/had a bad Prius experience?

yeah, i looked at one.