Quote:
Originally Posted by sendler
Now that there are so many plug ins, It will be interesting to see if they are going to use any type of cost per mile or mpge figure, or just go with the "electricity just come from the wall" mind set and report only the gas usage as if the electrical power is free.
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If they did account for electricity use, you probably would still win for efficiency. Theyre rated for 37-50mpg (Volt/Prius) on gas and 95mpge on electricity. Depending on the EV/Gas mix, they're MPGE should fall between those two numbers. Your getting 120mpge combined!
Fossil fuel consumption is a different matter from efficiency. Cost per mile on cheap electricity is something they could advocate for... as they drive their wildly Expensive car!
I had a great time at the event, even though i was only a spectator. The wind was doing around a steady 20mph all day.
There was literally a steam-punk bike. A fuel cell cart, and a bunch of neat stuff. Got pictures of a small 700cc turbo mitsubishi Smart car engine. 112octane gas at $8.50 a gallon! Was the only person there taking pictures underneath cars! Wonder what they thought i was doing? I really liked the Electrathon. I think they should ban all cars in town and have a bunch electrathon cars running around on two agm car batteries. You would put gas stations out of business quickly.
The strangest thing was Sendler on his CBR250. You'd hear Brrr-shift, Brrr-shift and then just the quiet sound of the chain spinning all the way down hill. You don't hear that everyday! I even got the chance to sit on his motorcycle for a second which was awesome.
I met Gasoline Fumes, and he showed me around his car. It was pretty sweet, my first sight at a fully ecomodded vehicle. It's awesome all the stuff he did to it, i wish they made more cars like his, the "RIGHT" way, not some dumbed down oem offering. Gave me a tutorial on Pulse and Glide.
I talked to the Alfred state driver who was very nice. He said the COMPLETELY stripped Insight weighed 1,500 pounds! I think they could get just south of 1,400lbs, possibly by 50lbs. They still had the IMA battery, power window glass and assembly, the heavy hatch glass, and all sorts of odds and ends. Thats better mpg AND a large power to weight improvement!
Overheard a conversation with the corporate Toyota people talking about a Honda Insight and admiring (I hope!) the wheel skirts.
I learned to slow down on the highway to the event and back, and it was so relaxing. I was doing 58-60mph, going down to 55mph on hills with slow climbing lanes. The air feels much thinner at that speed. Some people think driving slow will stress you out, i find 65mph stressful! Driving slower i had so much reaction time and was more in control, i could plan ahead, it was much more peaceful, I say yes to making 55mph the speed limit. I was getting 75mpg cruising at 58mph on the flats. I used the 65mpg target to accelerate which did 65mpg at 65mph but there was cross wind, so i can't say for sure. I followed behind a truck going 55mph for 15 miles. Why should i pass, i was getting 100mpg in stoichometric clean SULEV emmisions! And you know what? a car and a truck decided to join me! Is it dangerous to be passed by people going 5-10 miles faster than you? Heck no, That's parking lot speed! With the major hills and 10 full discharge/regen cycles on the mountains, i got a 66.8mpg tank. I hate my battery, hybrid is over rated on the highway.
I had all 3 wipers off, half lower and full upper grill block. My upper grill block failed, and i drove 100 miles with it parachuted up forcing air into the engine and almost lifting the hood off with the negative air pressure above the hood. I couldn't see this of course in the car, i thought i had a terrible headwind! The front end does matter aerodynamically, since my failed grill block added no frontal area, but it was terrible the drag it caused.