Well if the above information is true, then the Prius will have a much greater MPG increase than 3 miles.

2.9 L = 0.76531 Gallons. & 100km= 62.136 Miles.... Now 62.136 Miles / 0.76531 Gallons = 81.190 MPG

4.4 L = 1.161160 Gallons ......... Now 62.136 Miles / 1.161160 Gallons = 53.512 MPG

So Like I said, assuming these numbers are valid in the article, the car will be making 80 MPG

 

LIKE, I, SAID, 80mpg, too.

 

I'm just relaying what someone from Toyota told me.......

 

Those claims of 80 or 100 MPG probably rise from use of the plug-in option to recharge the batteries. You'll buy less gas, but you'll end up spending more money on electricity.

I'd be very skeptical of these figures if they don't represent plug-in use. Even Priuses (Priii?) are subject to the laws of thermodynamics.

 

With careful driving you can already make an existing or previous model year prius exceed 100 mpg. The one I demoed read 99mpg, I drove it like a little old lady riding hte brakes to the stop lights.

Of course real world economy for YOUR driving style varies.

 

spy photo? I've seen duct tape before.

 

x2. nice though

 

That picture sucks, The only hideous part about the prius is the rear, so show some rear pics and hopefully its not so ugly this time.

 

Its a shame aerodynamic cars arent cute. The rear "wing" is something added for the American market, over seas that is omitted and its a little nicer looking. Of course you see lots of strange looking cars in Japan.

Honda is copying their design with the new hybrid civic. Notice the high hatch where the deck lid is about even with the roof line? The new aero shape is a bullet, an areo front and square back.

 

Try using ultra storage capacitors,,,,
Especially the ceramic capacitor storage units "EE Store"
Here's Wiki link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EEStor

Better yet, Honda has a total different idea, home and car energy generation platform working together....
http://automobiles.honda.com/fcx-cla...nergy-station/

 

The caps are going to have to wait a while, lithium is still in its infinit stage as is.

The Pickens plan is all about natural gas. Just think last year we used a 5 miles cubic square of it for both consumer and industrial. Now its not uncommon to see the local news when winter time approaches how the tones people cry over the prices and the hundreds of dollars they must pay for heat and how many go to electric as its cheaper.

Go Figure which is more affordable vs green, electric or cng?

 

I love how Hondas new prius car looks IDENTICAL to a prius except the grille!

 

This is really the way to go. Toyota has been making small steps with its hybrid design, but the vehicle is really just a conventional car with electric boost/regen added. You still have to carry the conventional drivetrain, brakes, etc. along for the ride.

Get the engine away from powering the wheels directly and you can realize some great economies. It can run at constant speed for best efficiency, it can be packaged and placed at any convenient position in the vehicle, and it can be smaller and lighter. You could even make it a removable module so you don't have to carry it when you know you aren't going beyond your battery's range.

Make the drive all-electric and you get additional savings. Wires are flexible and more easily run than axles. Motors can also be generators so you might be able to get rid of most of the friction brakes, except for the one used for emergency/parking service. Design the motors right and you can put them right in the wheel hubs, so AWD, ABS, traction control, etc. become cheap and easy.

The next few years are going to be exciting!

 

PS. The Volt will sticker for 35-40k.......according to latest releases. Comical just absolutley comical.

 

Yeah, the volt is going to be just that. An electric car with a gas generator. I think the electric rav 4 had a towable generator to extend the range making it a hybrid like if you needed to travel long ranges.



Oh yeah, toy had an electric suv that got equiviliant to 140 mpg in the mid 90s.

 

Those inflated mileage numbers are very suspect. Basically they are saying that since the electric car doesn't have to take the big Carnot efficiency hit (because it isn't a heat engine) then you can multiply the mileage by 3 or so to get the "equivalent" MPG.

The bad news is that most of that electricity came from heat engines, so it _is_ subject to that hit. They're being downright dishonest to ignore it.

The real number, of course, is Dollars Per Mile.

Here in SoCal, energy costs about 15 cents per kWh.

It takes the same amount of energy to push a car through the air regardless of where it came from. A typical car uses about 40HP at 60MPH cruise. This is about 30,000W. Do this for an hour and you consume 30kwh. or about $4.50, assuming perfect efficiency.

If I take that same $4.50 and buy gasoline I will get about 1.21 gallons at current high prices. Dividing that 60 miles by 1.21 means that the electric car is getting the money equivalent of 50 MPG. Not bad, but not exactly 140MPG either.

 

You bring up good points. A lot of info is based on assumptions and averages. Much like existing cars and trucks, fuel economy is subject to how they are used and or misused. You maybe more likely to leave the ac on or eat lunch in your car if its electric vs gas at your job. I am sure I could think of many situations where an electric car can be used for other than driving, therefore screwing up the fuel economy.

Heck, Ive seen modifications to make your prius a UPS system to back up your house in the event the power fails.

Another reason gas has been used to power cars is because its affordable and the infostructure to move it around is already in place. Just think, the semi tanker that moves the gas around can carry 9000 gallons and takes roughly 500 gallons to go cross country.

Cant speak for the volt, but most electric cars use about 10-20hp to stay at highway speeds making most able to travel an hour or less at sustained speeds before the batteries go flat or something over heats. Thats with the gvw and another 1000lbs for lead acid batteries.

I am seriously considering an ev if my job installs a jack to plug it in. Lead acid batteries do not sit well partly discharged before damage occurs, plus most evs used in city driving get about 15 mils at 40mph before they need to be recharged and I live about 15 miles from work.

 

I've been considering converting a motorcycle to electric for short-range (20 mile round trip) service. Unfortunately the only way to do this is to buy about $2K worth of lithium batteries. Lead-acid just doesn't cut it beyond about 10 miles in motorcycle-size packages. The performance is there, just not the range.

 

Yeah, I was going to make an electric metro, but its nearly 10 grand with lead acid and the range isnt there.

You can find electric scooters and bikes online with lith batteries, but its going to cost you and many are of chineese orgins with questionable quality and mechanical break downs.

I had seriously considered the Vectrix http://www.vectrixusa.com/index3.html Its considered a 125cc motorcycle in VA and a motorcycle license is required to drive it in VA. At that, the "local" dealer is in NJ and they do not finance out of state people.

 

http://automobiles.honda.com/fcx-cla...nergy-station/



http://automobiles.honda.com/fcx-clarity/battery.aspx


Honda has their plan extended to home power as well....