How the Prius wastes fuel

[George Tyler]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

I think most motorists when not using cruise control are spazzes. They couldn't hold a steady speed if their lives depended on it. The eco driver no doubt in some cases introduces a kinetic ripple but then again the whole damn thing is a series of ripples anyway.

I don't think it is the car, it is because people who are interested in saving fuel without getting really involved like people on this forum often buy a prius as a means of doing this. One thing I do in mine is, if I see the lights are red ahead I take my foot off and coast up to the lights, often get it so I don't actually stop. after the lights I am ahead of where I would be if I did not do this, and I have saved fuel! sometimes people speed right up to me, overtake, then are caught by the lights. And THEY would complain about me!

[roosterk0031]

I could be a future Prius driver, but I like the keep it simple with my cars. Over the last 6 months one stop light on my commute is getting worse almost daily. I leave a small town from 45 back to 55 mph crest a hill 1/2 mile away at the bottom of that hill another 1/4 is a stop light. I've come to going up that hill at 45, drop to 4th then 3rd and 2nd to try avoiding stoping. Accident's are 2-3x a week from cresting at the PSL and then rear ending someone. LEO this morning was waiting to do a accident report.

I'm saving them gas, brake pads and deductibles.

[oldtamiyaphile]

Originally Posted by roosterk0031

I could be a future Prius driver, but I like the keep it simple with my cars.

It might have some fancy electronics that are almost bullet proof, but the basic mechanicals are very simple indeed. It's probably the easiest to work on car I've got.

[Ecky]

I love how stupid-simple the transmission is. I trust it a lot more than a traditional automatic or CVT, in terms of reliability.

[EVmetro]

Originally Posted by George Tyler

I don't think it is the car, it is because people who are interested in saving fuel without getting really involved like people on this forum often buy a prius as a means of doing this. One thing I do in mine is, if I see the lights are red ahead I take my foot off and coast up to the lights, often get it so I don't actually stop. after the lights I am ahead of where I would be if I did not do this, and I have saved fuel! sometimes people speed right up to me, overtake, then are caught by the lights. And THEY would complain about me!

It is not directly the fault of the car, but the car is a magnet for car buyers who can't conceive what the kinetic ripple of waste is. It attracts car buyers who would feel responsible to save other people's gas, brake pads, and deductibles, and these car buyers would actually impose this help onto other motorists. The Prius attracts car buyers who would read through a thread like this and never conceive what the ripple is, and then defend the Prius without bothering to google the "slow Prius driver" problem.

[oldtamiyaphile]

I think this whole premise is flawed.

Since pulse and glide saves fuel, I don't see who this kinetic ripple wastes fuel.

If drivers can't plan ahead enough not to have to jam on the brakes at the last moment, that's not really the car in front's fault.

I've found Prius drivers are more courteous to cyclists, which encourages cycling, and that saves fuel.

[Fat Charlie]

You can't fix stupid, and I don't try to. If saving gas on my own happens to slow other people down to a more efficient speed, so be it. It's not as if low speed is more efficient, as such. If their shortsighted and erratic technique is amplified by stupid efforts to pass me and makes them waste even more than usual, it's not my responsibility or a failure for me to meet my goals.

On a related note, the same Aveo I mentioned earlier in this thread strained like hell to catch me before the top of the same hill this morning. She didn't do it in time (I was climbing on cruise, I didn't do anything to keep ahead of her) and had to slam on her brakes. In the normal course of business, we caught up with traffic and then eventually the road widened. Even if her climbing flat-out had worked and she'd gotten past the "slow guy" then several miles down the road I would have been drafting her and had someone else drafting me.

[brucepick]

Originally Posted by EVmetro

... if you imagine the number of gasoline cars that waste five times more energy slowing down to navigate past the Prius and the speeding back up after they are past, the fuel waste would be incredible. Wherever the Prius is, there is a resistance in traffic flow that wastes the fuel of all the cars that finally get by...

Meh.

I drive for fuel economy, nearly all the time. Currently driving a 2000 Insight which gets me about 20-40% higher mpg than a Prius. But that's beside the point.

If other drivers care about fuel economy they could make an effort. Obviously, from their oversize sedans, fuel-burning sporty acceleration machines, large capacity pickups and SUVs occupied by a single person, and fuel-wasting 4WDs that do no better in winter than my FWD car with its winter tires, those drivers have fuel economy as a very low priority. I certainly will rarely speed up to accommodate them.

[EVmetro]

Originally Posted by oldtamiyaphile

I think this whole premise is flawed.

Since pulse and glide saves fuel, I don't see who this kinetic ripple wastes fuel.

It is ok that you feel that the whole premise is flawed, and that you don't see how the kinetic ripple wastes fuel. It takes an understanding of kinetic energy to really grasp what I have presented, and to understand the limitations of pulse and glide driving. It may be wisest to write it off as something that you do not understand rather than something that is incorrect. I always like to leave the door open to new knowledge.

[gone-ot]

Lookup: "...rubberbanding..." driving condition.