Prius goes 'round Nürburgring...

[elhigh]

"Over a single lap..."

How will it do on the second lap? And the third, fourth, etc?

SHORT FILLS = BAD DATA.

[elhigh]

Originally Posted by dirtydave

How many laps can the toyota do?

ALL OF THEM.

It just isn't very impressive.

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by PaleMelanesian

To show that it can "go around the Nurburgring on electric power only!!!!!". Thing is, the plug-in Prius has a 12 mile electric range in normal conditions. And the track is 12 miles long. So you have to drive the racetrack at normal street speeds to actually make the distance before the electric runs out. After that it's a normal hybrid Prius, but that's no good for advertising.

Agreed. It's not really news on the issue of range and speed, but they did beat the EPA rating, multiplying it by something 500%, I guess, with just hypermiling and a couple significant but not revolutionary mods. That's kinda cool hypermiling/ecomodding, no? And check it out, Pale, your signature file says your commute is 11 miles. Get a plug-in station at work and you'll get 700 mpg-e all year 'round. That would be kinda cool, eh?

[Cobb]

Thats ok, once the average Joe gets one of these home and notices he has to stick the gas pump in it as much as the extension cord they wont be laughing at toyota long.

Originally Posted by elhigh

"Over a single lap..."

How will it do on the second lap? And the third, fourth, etc?

SHORT FILLS = BAD DATA.

[botsapper]

They did that 12.9 mile run while using 'almost' all-electric and five tablespoons of fuel, all the while keeping the thing barely above the MINIMUM speed limit (60km/h) at the 'Ring.

A spate of new 'minimum speed'...HYPERMILING records will be next.

[redpoint5]

I consider my commute to be shorter than average at 7 miles > 15min. I'd have to carefully drive the PiP to go round trip on 1 charge, however I bet I could get work to allow me to charge on site. In that case, I would still want to complete the 14 mile round trip so I could fully utilize their cheap electricity.

12 miles just isn't far enough to be worthwhile for most people. Range needs to be extended to 40 miles to really become beneficial.

[oldtamiyaphile]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

12 miles just isn't far enough to be worthwhile for most people. Range needs to be extended to 40 miles to really become beneficial.

Hence the hybrid.

[PaleMelanesian]

Originally Posted by California98Civic

And check it out, Pale, your signature file says your commute is 11 miles. Get a plug-in station at work and you'll get 700 mpg-e all year 'round. That would be kinda cool, eh?

I expect some people could extend that a few miles farther. Still, it's not my cup of tea, at twice the price of my Fit.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by oldtamiyaphile

Hence the hybrid.

The electric wouldn't make much sense if I could nearly complete my commute on the battery, but then have the engine come on in the last 2 miles. Engines aren't efficient when cold, and 2 miles isn't enough time to get them up to operating temperature.

Too many people are in this position with the gas engine coming on for just the last portion of their commute, as I have observed in the Priuschat forum. I would guess that extending the range to even just 20 miles would eliminate the need for the gas engine to come on for most people...

I just did some research and am surprised to learn that a good portion of commuters have a commute of 5 miles or less in the U.S.

About 30% of people would be able to make a round trip to work and back on the 12 mile range of the Prius battery.

If people could plug in at work, that allows another 25% of commuters to make their journey on battery power alone.

Based on the info below, it seems 20 miles would be a good range for most people.

1-5 Miles 29 %
6-10 Miles 22 %
11-15 Miles 17 %
16-20 Miles 10 %
21-25 Miles 7 %
26-30 Miles 5 %
31-35 Miles 3 %
35 + Miles 8 %

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

The electric wouldn't make much sense if I could nearly complete my commute on the battery, but then have the engine come on in the last 2 miles. Engines aren't efficient when cold, and 2 miles isn't enough time to get them up to operating temperature.

I don't quite see the logic of this. I mean, you have to do the inefficient* warmup anyway, regardless of whether it's at the start of your commute, or the end.

*Which isn't all that inefficient, at least in my Insight, which is the only vehicle I have with an mpg display.