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Old 04-16-2008, 01:09 PM   #1 (permalink)
MetroMPG
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Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: 1000 Islands, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 22,527

Blackfly - '98 Geo Metro
Team Metro
Last 3: 70.09 mpg (US)

MPGiata - '90 Mazda Miata
90 day: 54.46 mpg (US)

Even Fancier Metro - '14 Mitsubishi Mirage top spec
90 day: 70.75 mpg (US)

Appliance car Mirage - '14 Mitsubishi Mirage ES (base)
90 day: 62.14 mpg (US)
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Electric vs. Internal combustion showdown! EV wins... (barely)

At this time of year I often go down to a little park by the river to work in the car during the day (laptop).

For a while now the sun has been warm enough that the car stays pleasantly warm even on cool/cold days (YAY literal greenhouse effect!). So the car becomes my "office with a view", where I work over a pilfered wireless connection while watching the ice go out (it's nearly gone, except in the harbours & most sheltered bays) and the migrating birds coming north.

Usually I take the ForkenSwift, but Ivan has it this week, so I went in the Flea this morning.

Gave me an opportunity to do something I've been curious about for a while: comparing the relative energy consumption of the gasoline Firefly to the electric ForkenSwift.

The route ...

It's only 3.4 km (2.1) round trip.

Sub/urban route with a very short stretch (one block) on a busy road. I chose the route for the EV, so I could drive it under ideal conditions: usually no following traffic, so brisk acceleration not expected, and the ability to coast up to most stops (10 stops on the round trip) without braking.

Max speed is about 40 km/h (25 mph).

Avg speed is 18 km/h (11 mph).
ForkenSwift consumption ...

The fuel log entries for 2008-04-08 to 2008-04-10 pretty much encompass "commuting to the office" (haha) 2x per day (one stint in the AM, another after lunch), with a few other misc trips in pretty similar driving patterns.

107 mpg (US) equivalent is about the average of those 3 cycles is (as measured at the wall plug).
Blackfly consumption ...

I took the Flea this morning on the exact same "EV route", and from a cold (non block heater) start the round trip according to the ScanGauge was...

100 mpg dead even.
Interesting!

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Project MPGiata! Mods for getting 50+ MPG from a 1990 Miata
Honda mods: Ecomodding my $800 Honda Fit 5-speed beater
Mitsu mods: 70 MPG in my ecomodded, dirt cheap, 3-cylinder Mirage.
Ecodriving test: Manual vs. automatic transmission MPG showdown



EcoModder
has launched a forum for the efficient new Mitsubishi Mirage
www.MetroMPG.com - fuel efficiency info for Geo Metro owners
www.ForkenSwift.com - electric car conversion on a beer budget
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