[mjones21]

Hey guys.

Thought I would bring up this topic having recently seen a Prius Prime in person for the first time. How the heck are they measuring that thing to state that it has nearly twice the cargo capacity of the Volt? Is Chevrolet being excessively conservative or is Toyota measuring as if you loaded the trunk all the way up to the back window and wedged it closed?

While the benefits of the Volt's liftover lip versus the Prime's just sticking the battery back there could be debated (I prefer the Volt's lip so stuff doesn't come rolling or sliding out when parked on a hill), I just couldn't see from an eye test how the Prime has 19.8 advertised cubic feet of storage while the Volt has 10.2. Moreover, this is constantly listed as a ding on the Volt versus PHEV competitors, and it just doesn't make sense to me.

This C&D test seems to bear that result out, as the Prime can accommodate one less luggage bag than the Volt with the back seats up.

2017-toyota-prius-prime-in-depth-model-review-2017-toyota-prius-prime-cargo-space-and-storage-review-car-and-driver-page-7

I could understand if there were some slight discrepancies from the Prime carving out some more (not very usable) space near the wheel wells, but near double the capacity just seems absurd.

 

[Steverino]

Well, there are likely various ways to measure. Volumetric would be like calculating how much volume inside a given shape (think various bottle shapes). Then there is practical, how many of these objects will fit. Of course seats up, seats down will make a difference as will whether the front seats are all the way back or pushed toward the dash.

 

[mjones21]

Well, there are likely various ways to measure. Volumetric would be like calculating how much volume inside a given shape (think various bottle shapes). Then there is practical, how many of these objects will fit. Of course seats up, seats down will make a difference as will whether the front seats are all the way back or pushed toward the dash.

Right, and if it was a small difference, I'd quickly chalk it up to that and move on. If there was a 2-3 cu ft. difference, that'd make sense. But Toyota is claiming double the cargo capacity seats up, and they fit one less bag. It's clear to me that there is obviously some significant difference not only perhaps in how the spaces are being measured, but also what type of space is being measured. My guess is that the Volt is measured from the floor only up to the back of the seats, while Prime measures above the seats and up to the back of the hatch.

At the end of the day, I'm happy with my Volt, think it has acceptable cargo capacity, and it really doesn't matter. Just trying to figure out in a world of comparison shoppers how this slides by.

 

[phatline]

This drove me bonkers while trying to research the gen2 volt as a possible replacement for my 2012 Prius Plug-In. The Prius is listed as nearly 25 cubic feet of cargo, compared to the Volt's 10. Just looking at photos it is easy to tell that that can't be correct.

I am now the happy owner of a 2018 Volt (anyone want to buy a 2012 Prius Plug-In? ). I can attest that the cargo area is indeed smaller in the Volt, but not by a factor of 2.5. In terms of a rectangular solid (big box) that would fit in both, they're fairly close. But the Prius has a lot more "extra" space at the periphery. Roughly, we guesstimate the 2012 Prius (NOT the Prime) has 25% more usable space than the 2018 Volt, if you're dealing with small or malleable items. If anyone is interested I can take side-by-side photos and measurements.

It'll be more tight going camping in the Volt. But the car is so much better, I think we can deal with it.

 

[Splitting Atoms]

I posted in here once before regarding the disparancy. It comes down to GM being incredibly conservative in their measurements and Toyota taking every liberty possible. Using actual dimensions, the regular Prius was marginally bigger and the Prime was smaller, if memory serves me wrong. I still don't understand people's comments regarding the Volt's usability. I put craploads of stuff in mine and haul 3 other adults around in comfort fairly frequently. Best car I've ever owned and I'm a former Euro-snob.

 

[MikeyCVolt]

If you look up Volt cargo space and Prius Prime cargo space and click "images" until you find two comparable shots of the back with the seats up, you'll notice that the Prius has a boxier rear hatch. That is, with the Volt, the rear hatch angles down to where there is very little height at the rear of the cargo area due to the rear window coming down so close to the hatch floor. With the Prius, they've raised that rear area by what looks to be almost a foot.

That extra height at the rear of the cargo compartment could account for some increased volume. Depending on how they measure it, it could skew things more than you would expect. For example, if they measure it by seeing how many 1ft x 1ft x 1ft boxes they can fit, that extra height at the rear of the Prius could allow them to put another whole row (or two) of boxes back there.

I also noticed that it looks like the Prius rear headrests are taller and may go closer to the headliner. If so, and they measure rear cargo space by packing things up to the top of the rear headrests, that could make a difference too.

Just an observation: I don't care because I'd take a Volt with 5 cubic feet of cargo space over a Prius with 30.

Mike