@Medievalist wrote:
Wikipedia says "A continuously variable transmission (CVT), (also known as single-speed transmission, gearless transmission, one-speed automatic, variable pulley transmission, or in case of motorcycles, a twist-and-go) is a transmission that can change seamlessly through an infinite number of effective gear ratios between maximum and minimum values". I have seen a 19th century drill press that had one, at the Hagely Museum.
The Prius PSD meets this definition, and has often been called a "geared CVT".
But like I said, I agree with you. I prefer to call it a Prius tranny most of the time, and use the official name "PSD" (for "power split device") when talking to mechanics. Because it's functionally better than what we usually call a CVT; it is a significant improvement in transmission design because it gives you CVT capabilities with lower losses and permitting multiple, additive power inputs operating at differing speeds.
Wait, don't you drive a VW camper van? And you're complaining about road noise and lack of braking? Really?
The Prius is in some ways a 21st century VW. Like all the VWs I have owned and loved (63 Karmann, 67 Karmann, 69 Beetle, multiyeared frankenbeetle named "the death machine", & 1971 Super Beetle) and also the ones I've only driven (such as the Westphalia camper, Thing and fastback) it is designed primarily as dependable, gas-efficient transportation. It is not a luxury car like a Tesla, and it's not supposed to have a silent luxury car cab. It's one of the few things about the Prius cab design I myself won't criticize, because I actually like to hear the road.
Anyway, I drove a 2002 Prius for 150K miles... until I hit a deer head-on at 65mph on the highway. The collision killed the deer and totalled the car, but I drove home without a scratch, leaking inverter fluid the whole way. I'm driving a 2012 Plugin Prius now, and I was rear-ended under a train overpass a couple of months ago but I drove away from that too. Either of those accidents would have been life-threatening in a VW. So I'm confused by why you think it should be safer.
Oh, but wait... you specifically mentioned braking - a car with serious regen, like the Prius, does not feel like a pure friction-brake car at the pedal. One of the goals of driving a regen car is to avoid braking whenever possible. You may simply be unused to that and misinterpreting the feel of the three-stage brake. I never have any trouble panic-stopping the car - that's how I got rear-ended! Mild-to-medium braking is entirely electromagnetic in nature and that's probably what you didn't like the feel of.