Gasoline Costs

[Weatherman]

Originally Posted by Wiskey

And it has one huge advantage, an electric motor has max torque at 0 RPM, right where you need it for accelerating away from a stop.

Absolutely. The torque curve on a Prius is very flat. You don't have the make the engine scream in order to get a good response.

Originally Posted by Wiskey

I'm supprized your clutch gave out that early,.. The clutch on my Tercel got me 167,000 miles,.. though I did have to replace it while I was in San Diego.

Whiskey

Let's just say... the engine design for the GS-T Eclipse sucked.

[Twitterbait]

I don't drive any of them either. All cars will give you risks... I am just not ready to take on the new risks yet.

[Tim224DT]

Ahhh i love my Ford Ranger of about 18 mpg around town and 20-21 mpg on hwy LOL


3.0 lit V6 sucks on gas millage.

[Wiskey]

Originally Posted by Weatherman

Let's just say... the engine design for the GS-T Eclipse sucked.

No torque, lots of horsepower at high RPM? Did it force you to slip it like some of the older civic's did?

Whiskey

[kwjones]

I'm going to start riding a scooter next year to commute to the train station. My Toyota Corolla gets around 32 mpg (320 miles on a tank). The scooter I'm getting gets around 62 mpg...so almost double the mpg of my car.

[Loverotties]

What is your electric bill for charging it at night?

[Weatherman]

Originally Posted by Twitterbait

I don't drive any of them either. All cars will give you risks... I am just not ready to take on the new risks yet.

Like airbags?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp...nguage=printer

[Weatherman]

Originally Posted by Loverotties

What is your electric bill for charging it at night?

The current, unmodified, production model Prii (like the one I have) aren't rechargable from an electric outlet. Their gasoline-powered engine recharges the battery.

[Weatherman]

Originally Posted by Wiskey

No torque, lots of horsepower at high RPM? Did it force you to slip it like some of the older civic's did?

Whiskey

I don't recall having to do anything unusual to engage or dis-engage the clutch. I hated the turbo-lag, however. Press the gas pedal down, and the car seemed to have to think for a while before deciding to go.

[Tim224DT]

Originally Posted by Weatherman

The current, unmodified, production model Prii (like the one I have) aren't rechargable from an electric outlet. Their gasoline-powered engine recharges the battery.

Many of the hybrid recharge their batteries when the car is braking. Every time you touch the brake it charges the battery. And many of them dont use the electric motor over 45-50 mph they use the gas motor. So around town takin it easy you get great results. Hwy you are all gas motor.

What i dont understand is once you set something in motion it will stay in motion. Now to keep it in that motion requires hardly any force to keep it there. The initial force to get it up to speed is a lot greater then the force to keep it at the speed so why not have them use electric once you get to a crusing speed of lets say 70-75 and kick on the gas motor to charge the battery when needed.

[lemonheadmech]

Hybrid = gasoline and electric

Hears something that will really rattle your cage. Wondering what the going rate for hydrogen is?

Honda FCX Clarity

[Doug1]

my 94 Grand Am 4 banger gets almost 40 and i commute 90 miles aday

I have driven my daughters 02 Avalanche and 03 Tahoe with small V8 and 4x4 and could easily get 19-21 on freeway trip, I suspect that the 6 mpg rating for the H2 is in the hood with a 5000 watt stereo blasting while profiling. I suspect that 12 is more typical for std test loop, but aggressive urban driving will lower it.
When I replace my car I still dont have a clue what I will get, hoping to see some breakthroughs in deisel/elec hybrids, i want a truck that gets 30+ and has REAL off Hiway capability]

[Weatherman]

Originally Posted by Tim224DT

Many of the hybrid recharge their batteries when the car is braking. Every time you touch the brake it charges the battery. And many of them dont use the electric motor over 45-50 mph they use the gas motor. So around town takin it easy you get great results. Hwy you are all gas motor.

I can only speak for Toyota's hybrid system (since I'm not familar with the details of any of the others), but here is how it works...

The Toyota hybrid design allows for both electric and gasoline-powered motors to work together, at any speed. It doesn't switch from only electric to only gasoline when some particular speed is exceeded and drop back down to only electric power then the speed drops below that level. At highway speeds, both motors can, and do, provide power.

If you are gentle, you can drive using only the electric motors, up to about 41 mph. At 42 mph and above, the gasoline engine needs to at least start spinning, even if it's not powering the car. This has to do with the way the gasoline and electric motor gears mesh together.

The electric motors can both produce power to drive the wheels, and recover power from the wheels to recharge the batteries. When you press the brake pedal, the electric motors convert the kinetic energy of the spinning axel on your car to battery charge. The brake pads, themselves, are only used in emergencies when a rapid stop is required, or when speeds drop below 8 mph (at which point the electric motors don't provide effective stopping force).

Originally Posted by Tim224DT

What i dont understand is once you set something in motion it will stay in motion. Now to keep it in that motion requires hardly any force to keep it there. The initial force to get it up to speed is a lot greater then the force to keep it at the speed so why not have them use electric once you get to a crusing speed of lets say 70-75 and kick on the gas motor to charge the battery when needed.

On flat terrain, with no wind and a temperature around 75F, I think it takes only about 20 hp to keep a Prius running along at 70 mph. This is, mostly, to overcome wind drag. The reason why the electric motor isn't used exclusivly to reach crusing speed is that, at least with nickel-metal hydride batteries, they don't have enough power or capacity. That's why most of the electric-only vehicles in production today are limited to a top speed of around 40-50 mph.

When lithium ion batteries are perfected, the power and capacity issues will no longer be a problem. Some test model electric cars with lithium ion batteries are able to go from zero to 60 in under 4 seconds.

http://www.teslamotors.com/performance/perf_specs.php

[Weatherman]

Here's something fun to play with to learn how HSD works.

Just click the driving mode into "D range", then move the brake and accel pedals up or down.

http://www.wind.sannet.ne.jp/m_matsu...=en?Country=US

[DarthOcellaris]

6 MPG for a freaking car?!!!! People who own those should be shot. That's just adding to the overall fuel costs.