3358 MPG Trip!

[bennelson]

WOOOOOO!

Last night, I drove the Wife's Prius and got a trip average of 3358 miles per gallon!

I guess we finally had the right weather and stars in alignment!

The best part was that it was a trip to take the little girl to go get ice cream!

[modproductions]

Excuse my scepticism. But I don't think you can acheive that kind of millage on a full tank. I suppose that it was a warm day so you were able to drive the car on a short distance 99% on electricity.

It's still impressive to see that kind of figures!! I'm jealous

[bennelson]

Originally Posted by modproductions

99% on electricity.

That's most of it. The Hymotion Prius is sort of a weird car. It's a really well done aftermarket mod.

If you know what the limitations of the system are, and the weather/driving conditions/traffic, allow you to work within them, you can get away with using next to no gasoline.

MPG is a "backwards" number. The higher your MPG, the smaller amount of fuel you are using, but it's diminishing returns. 3000mpg really isn't all that much better than 250 mpg when you look at actual fuel consumed.

Of course, driving an all electric vehicle, or riding a bike would be even better!

Still, to travel with 3 people in a "real car", I was pretty excited to get a number that high!

[Blue Angel]

Transport Canada has a Hymotion Prius, I got to use it when I was there.

I think if you look up the calculations and figure out your MPGe (ie your "equivalent" MPG on electricity), you will see that you got nowhere near 3358 MPG.

The Chevy Spark EV is the most efficient vehicle in North America right now. It is a pure electric with a rating of 119 MPGe:

http://mashable.com/2013/04/25/spark-ev/

[bennelson]

Yep, understood that that MPG number is theoretical and DOESN'T include the electricity.

I've run the MIT conversion factor numbers on my Electro-Metro, and it usually clocks in at 130MPGe. (including charging losses.)

The reason that comes in better than the Spark, Leaf, etc is just from driving slow! You can really sip the amps that way!

If I had properly clocked all the energy usage when I had it set up for a freeway configuration, I'm sure it would have plummeted to somewhere between 70-80 MPGe.

PS: I wonder what the true MPGe of a Prius, running on JUST the AC motor powered by a lithium battery pack would be? At that point, it's nearly an identical setup as a vehicle like the Spark, and has good aero. I wonder if just weight would be the biggest difference at that point?

[ciderbarrel]

Wow. 3358 MPG = 0.029779631 gallons (3.81179 ounces) per 100 Miles = 0.00029779631 gallons (0.228708 TEASPOONS) a mile.

When you can measure your liquid fuel consumption in fractions of a teaspoon, you're doing something right.

[Mira]

Originally Posted by ciderbarrel

Wow. 3358 MPG = 0.029779631 gallons (3.81179 ounces) per 100 Miles = 0.00029779631 gallons (0.228708 TEASPOONS) a mile.

When you can measure your liquid fuel consumption in fractions of a teaspoon, you're doing something right.

Indeed... this is great! I've gotta learn all about these cars now

[Blue Angel]

Originally Posted by bennelson

I've run the MIT conversion factor numbers on my Electro-Metro, and it usually clocks in at 130MPGe. (including charging losses.)

The reason that comes in better than the Spark, Leaf, etc is just from driving slow! You can really sip the amps that way!

Yes, good point! The 119 MPGe rating on the Spark is the EPA combined rating. I'm not sure what the city rating is, but it's surely higher. I'm sure some careful driving could push that number up considerably.