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The planetary gear transaxle is innovative, if not revolutionary. It solves the problem of power delivery in a completely different way from the traditional gea
by dmm 13y ago
The planetary gear transaxle is innovative, if not revolutionary. It solves the problem of power delivery in a completely different way from the traditional gears + clutch/torque converter.
You have to be really careful when talking about fuel economy. The numbers mean one very specific thing, on a particular test the car achieved a particular fuel economy. Without specifying how exactly they got those fuel economy numbers(referring to article), the numbers are literally meaningless. If I'm just cruising along at 60mph on flat land I can get 65mpg in my gen2 prius, even though the official highway number is 45mpg.
Driver behavior, AC, the test conditions, and vehicle conditions all affect efficiency.
With the proper driving strategy the prius can great efficiency out of situations that are problematic for traditional vehicles. What kind of fuel economy do you get out of your diesel in stop-and-go traffic? With regenerative braking and the ability to turn off the engine when not needed can easily get 75mpg+. On the freeway with the cruise set at 70mph (cruise control is not optimal) I get about 53MPG.
The 2009 Prius I drive has an official US combined MPG of 46. On average I get 55 MPG. The regenerative braking has great potential, if you drive in a way that takes advantage of it by planning your stops.
If you look at the numbers:
40 MPG is 5.88 l/100km
55 MPG is 4.28 l/100km
(5.88 - 4.28)/5.88 = 27%
The prius is 27% with my numbers and that's against a fuel that is 11% more energy dense.
- umsm 13y agoIf your numbers are based on the on-board computer, they're wrong. The computer usually states something higher than what you actually get. Even the MPH is a lie, as the speedometer is set to be higher by 3-9 MPH. In the real world, I haven't seen hybrid drivers that actually get what's advertised. I don't know how much this has changed within the last 3 years...
- dmm 13y agoI've calculated the long-term average by tracking how much fuel I put in the tank and how much the odometer goes up, over many fillups. From that I get about 55mpg. The efficiency in specific situations is from the on board computer. How do you calculate it? > In the real world, I haven't seen hybrid drivers that actually get what's advertised Come over to priuschat.com sometime and you'll find plenty of them that get the advertised numbers and better. EDIT: Or check out fuelly, which calculates efficiency using the same method and you'll find plenty of people who get better than the official numbers: http://www.fuelly.com/car/toyota/prius http://www.fuelly.com/car/toyota/prius
- umsm 13y agoWow! I never thought about looking at how much I've spent on fuel over a long period of time. The problem for me is that we have multiple cars. I currently drive until the red light comes on, fill up, and look at the trip counter to see how many miles I've driven since my last fill-up. I then reset the trip counter and repeat. My time is spent in mixed highway and city traffic. I'll have to look at modern hybrids once something actually breaks on my car. I'll consider everything equally once it's time to shop again.