$15,000 down & financed $12,800 out the door, from Michael's Toyota of Bellevue. It had 26,026 mi ODO when we purchased it. We test drove a brand new 2023 Corolla Hatchback XSE & loved it, but it only got 33 MPG when we test drove it. We also test drove a 2016 Toyota Prius but it had some issues & we felt better about the Corolla Hybrid. Christian the sales guy was super personable & we spent a few hours chatting with him & making the deal happen. They only gave me $6000 for our used 19 Nissan LEAF SV with 52,000 mi ODO. They told us they were going to have to sell that one at the auction. Oh well.
I needed a car with more range since my current route involves mountain driving at highway speeds the whole time for 16 mi one way from our home to where I work. I often drive that route 4 times per day for 64 miles per day. While the LEAF had way more range than that, it did not when driven at 70 MPH at highway speeds in the cold morning with the heater & AC running. The sub 40 deg F weather caused rapid voltage sag so the battery percentage meter would drop to single digits & I was getting low battery warning errors from the computer. When I pulled over the battery percentage would restore to its actual state of charge. So the energy capacity was fine, but the increased internal resistance from the aging lithium laminate air cooled pack cells meant power output was more limited, so performance was still great for acceleration but the pack could not sustain peak output for long.
All all of this to say that the LEAF SV was great, I loved it. When I purchased the LEAF SV used I had a much shorter non-highway 35 MPH route & could drive too & from work for 8X on one charge. My heart was set on the 5th Generation Prius with its 196 HP & e-AWD. Sadly, those were back ordered & I needed an efficient car for the next 10 years right away. I always loved the Corolla, especially the Corolla GTS & GR Corolla & TRD edition Corolla's, but had a very reliable set of other cars & loved our 2005 Prius II & its still in the family & destined to return sometime hopefully. I am very curious to see if we can get that 05 Prius II to go 850,000 mi ODO or perhaps Allan will given that he drives it 30,000 mi per year now. The 1NZ-FXE in the second gen Prius the most exceptional 1.5L automotive engine ever made. Like the 1UZ V8 in the Lexus LS400 non-interference pre-1996 models, or the 2JZ inline 6 from the OG Supra, Toyota continues to make exceptional engines.
The 2ZR-FXE in the 22 Corolla Hybrid an exceptional 1.8L engine with an efficient Atkinson cycle long stroke design & correspondingly lower redline limit below 6000 RPM. In the Prius III since 2009, 2ZR-FXE in production & use for more than 14 years. When Toyota nails a design, they often keep using it. Through several generations of Corolla up to 2015, the ultra long life super reliable 4-speed automatic continues to be utilized. Possibly one of the most reliable automatic transmissions ever sold in a car, its bulletproof reliability created a legacy & reputation for Toyota for selling the most reliably & well made quality cars in the world.
The 53kW 163N-M permanent magnet synchronous electric motor in the HSD PSD in Corolla Hybrid combines with the output of the 2ZR-FXE engine, enabling start stop & brake regen energy storage in the 56 cell Lithium Carbonyl battery pack 207.2V 4AH respectively. This enables Corolla Hybrid to average 53 MPG our around 4.4 L/100km fuel economy. This means at $5 per US gallon or $1.32 per liter, Corolla Hybrid can be driven 12,000 miles on around $1000 of fuel, some 3X less fuel, regular unleaded, vs the 01 Audi 2.8 Quattro that I inherited from my late mother.
We drive the Audi to church & back on Sunday, then the Corolla my daily commuter now. Meg still driving the 10 Prius III with the same engine as the Corolla Hybrid, the 2ZR-FXE. Her Prius III has just over 150,000 mi ODO & she plans to keep it until swapping it for a lightly used Rav4 Hybrid in a few years. We got that Prius III with a little cosmetic damage for $9,900 total, back in 2019. It gets 47-49 MPG the way Meg currently drives it on her commuting & work routes driving Dr. O's children around more now.
The new Corolla around the same size as the 1980's & early 1990's Camry. Only 13.2 cubic feet of cargo space in the 22 Corolla Hybrid, around 10 cubic feet less than a similar 5th Gen Prius. I really like the design of the Corolla Hybrid sedan in white paint. It looks crispy & fresh & the two tone interior very slick & nice. I feel super blessed & lucky to have such an exceptional vehicle I will continue to only buy Toyota vehicles for the rest of my life. Acceleration of Corolla Hybrid takes 10 seconds to reach 60 MPH, but I am not a fast driver anymore.
I value reliability & fuel economy more than performance since my commuting route not exactly a rally race, road race, endurance rare or otherwise motorsports event. I have communicated with the executives of Toyota in Japan to tell them that while the GR Yaris & GR Corolla & Rav4 Prime are fantastic, I would greatly appreciated if they focused on making their road cars vastly more fuel efficient like the Prius lineup, focused on greatly improving the thermal efficiency of the engine, better traction batteries, better axial flux electric motors, better power electronics in the motor controller, charger & battery power electronics based on SiC high temp switching transistors that can handle much higher current levels for L4 charging, for better regen brake energy capturing, for more e-boost & motor assist of the engine to further improve fuel economy, reliability, drivetrain operating life, lower emissions & more.
Fuel Cost Budgeting 10 Year Projection ~ 120,000 mi operating ~ $5/gal / $1.32/L@ToyotaMotorCorp
@Toyota Cool GR Yaris & GR Corolla
