GBA's 2017 PriusPrime (and trip report)

[dkazzed]

What a great way to take ownership of a vehicle! This is kind of a plane trains and automobiles adventure.

[GreatBigAbyss]

Fatbike matches the Prius quite nicely.

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[Firm]

Nice! Looks rather cold for bike riding though

[HannibalSmith]

Awesome!

[GreatBigAbyss]

Nice! Looks rather cold for bike riding though

I'm guessing you don't know what fatbiking is?  It's a discipline of biking that is specifically done in snow.  The bikes are specialized, often with 4.5" wide tires, which require extra clearance frames and forks.  You run low tire pressures - 12psi or lower - to spread the tire out and stop from sinking in the snow.   A lot of trail systems get groomed in the winter (usually with a snowdog) to give you a packed surface to ride on.  In a province where we have snow 4-5 months of the year, this is the best way to continue doing the sport I love. 

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[Bridgecity]

^ I was guessing firm was just being a smart ass. 

[Firm]

Both, I was being a smart ass and I knew GBA biked in the winter, I didn't realize "fat biking" was specifically a winter thing. It does look like fun though.

[dkazzed]

I've always wanted to try fat biking. I just take my regular bikes out and hope for the best. 

[GreatBigAbyss]

Most bike shops rent them for the day or weekend.  Take one out!

[Bubba]

Great write-up, GBA.

[RRocket]

I've always wanted to try fat biking. I just take my regular bikes out and hope for the best. 

You'd totally dig the motorcycle equivalent: Yamaha TW200.

Hysterical. Too much fun.

[RRocket]

Fatbike matches the Prius quite nicely.

The car handles the tongue weight fine?

What's the bike weigh?

[GreatBigAbyss]

About 30lbs.  It's full carbon, but those tires aren't light.

Why wouldn't the car handle it?  Bikes are light. 

[GreatBigAbyss]

So, quick update. 

We've had the Prius Prime for a few weeks now.  It took a bit of work to get safetied, namely:

Needed front brakes and slide pins (Ron included parts for the brakes, as he knew they were getting close)
Inner Tie-Rod
The front driver side window was delaminating, and had to be replaced.  I knew about the window before I bought, and knew it would be a maybe. I sourced a used part from an auto wrecker. 

I don't consider any of that unusual for a 7 year old car with 283 000kms on it. 


City mileage since we got back is sitting at 3.5L/100kms, mostly because we've had some cold days, so the ICE is turning on to generate heat for the cabin.  I expect this to improve as the weather warms up.

Mrs GBA really appreciates the low beltine and tall greenhouse.  Visibility in this car is second to none. 

I find myself getting a bit of range anxiety.  Let me explain:  I really want to maximize EV usage - it's like a game to me.  So even though I have an ICE to back up when I run out of electrons, I still see that EV range ticking down, and I start to sweat a little.  I probably couldn't handle a full EV at this time. 

I'm taking advantage of free charging whenever possible.  So far outings to The Forks and Ikea have given me opportunities to top up the battery free of charge.  We're going to a Jets game tonight, and I'm choosing a parkade that has free chargers. 

There is definitely a 'Prius Effect' with surrounding traffic.  Other vehicles - pickup trucks mostly - feel a compulsive need to 'get around me', no matter how fast I'm going.  We observed the same effect when we had a minivan, but I'd venture it's worse in the Prius. 
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[Seafoam]

I think you are going to appreciate this car more with what is going to happen to the price of gas shortly.