Re: The magic of a Prius automobile

On Jul 23, 10:11 am, Randy Poe <poespam-t...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Jul 23, 11:26 am, Tina <tbaker27...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:





In an article today (7/23) the Raleigh NC News and Observer described
how Prius owners were getting close to 50 mpg on the highway. See

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/growth/traffic/gas/story/646209.html

for details.

Could someone here without a 'Green is Good' agenda explain in small
words why a car hauling around extra batteries and an electric motor
as weight should get better highway milage than a similar car not
carrying around the extra weight?

I can understand energy recovery and engine off stuff in city driving,
but it seems to me the Green' arguement is misplaced here.

Which leads to another question. For driving the stop and go nature
makes a hybred a reasonable choice, but what about for those who live
in small towns or suburbs? Is the milage claim real life meaningful,
or bogus?

I belong to a car-sharing program in Philadelphia and when I
borrow a car from the program, I always take a Prius (originally
that's all they had, but they've since expanded the fleet). I drive
it in the city and on the nearby suburbs and highways, and my
experience is that I get about the same mileage, around 43 mpg,
in both environments. So I wouldn't claim it's bogus.

Unfortunately, I don't typically look at the energy usage
display which shows when the electric or gas engine is being
used, and whether energy is flowing into or out of the batteries.
Next time I take it out, I'll use that display.

I tend to use a summary mpg display. That feedback does
tend to train you in good habits. Nothing like seeing your
instantaneous mileage go down from 42 to 20 to make you
get your foot off the accelerator.

Note that it's not so much the accelerator, as the brake that
matters. The extra energy burned during acceleration isn't
necessarily wasted. Many (most?) engines actually run more
efficiently with the throttle wider open. If you're accelerating up
to cruising speed, then rapid acceleration isn't wasteful; however if
you're just going a short distance to the next stop sign, the extra
energy put into speed is quickly discarded when you hit the brakes.
Drive in a manner that minimizes brake usage in order to get better
mileage.

Paul Cardinale

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: The magic of a Prius automobile
    ... how Prius owners were getting close to 50 mpg on the highway. ... words why a car hauling around extra batteries and an electric motor ... Could you get the same kind of mileage with the same habits ...
    (sci.physics)
  • Re: The magic of a Prius automobile
    ... how Prius owners were getting close to 50 mpg on the highway. ... words why a car hauling around extra batteries and an electric motor ... Hybrids on the open highway get the same milage as a comperable ...
    (sci.physics)
  • Re: The magic of a Prius automobile
    ... how Prius owners were getting close to 50 mpg on the highway. ... words why a car hauling around extra batteries and an electric motor ... that hybrids got better highway mileage was essentially lying ...
    (sci.physics)
  • Re: The magic of a Prius automobile
    ... how Prius owners were getting close to 50 mpg on the highway. ... words why a car hauling around extra batteries and an electric motor ... that hybrids got better highway mileage was essentially lying ...
    (sci.physics)
  • Re: Dangerous technology
    ... be really careful not to get to close to the car in front when you ... A highway patrolman in his family car called 911 and there is a audio record of his attempts to get the car to slow down before it crashed and burst into flames. ... In the end, it turned out to be bad pedal placement that left people thinking they were pushing on the brake when they were, in fact, pushing on the accelerator. ...
    (rec.autos.sport.f1)