Prius goes 'round Nürburgring...

[vskid3]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

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.

He meant having enough battery range that the engine wouldn't even need to be used, so no warmup at all.

It would be interesting to see those commute stats broken down by state or even smaller areas.

[Superfuelgero]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

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 %

I fall within the that 20 round trip, except I never go straight back and forth. I generally have to run errands and/or kids. A volt may do it, but it'd be close without a/c or heat. I think once this is counted in, those % are lower.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by vskid3

He meant having enough battery range that the engine wouldn't even need to be used, so no warmup at all.

I don't think so. What was said was

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.

Which to me is saying that it's somehow not efficient to do 12 miles of a 14 mile trip on battery, because the last 2 miles would be starting with a cold engine. Which as I said, makes no sense to me.

Then consider that it'd take a really dumb battery controller to allow a cycle like that. Even in the example, the Prius was using the IC engine for hill climbs, so it would be warm.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

Which to me is saying that it's somehow not efficient to do 12 miles of a 14 mile trip on battery, because the last 2 miles would be starting with a cold engine.

It would be more efficient than doing the whole commute on ICE, but leaving only 2 miles of a trip for the engine to come on and warm up is considered severe duty. It wouldn't be good for the vehicle to have a commute that continually fails to fully warm up the engine.

That said, some people have reported as many as 20 miles on the battery alone in the PiP. If I had a commute that was close to the 12 mile advertised range, I would modify my driving to allow it to get the couple miles more that I need.

[Xist]

Awesome. If you drove Segway speeds (12.5 MPH), could you achieve Segway distances (24 miles)?

Why do those things still cost $6,800?! I could actually purchase one, but I am not spending that much!

[hamsterpower]

Originally Posted by Xist

Awesome. If you drove Segway speeds (12.5 MPH), could you achieve Segway distances (24 miles)?

Why do those things still cost $6,800?! I could actually purchase one, but I am not spending that much!

What is relevent about a Segway? The Segway is the dumbest product! There is not one use for a Segway that a bicycle could not do better.

As I understand it the purpose of the plug in Prius is to leave the city under electric power to reduce smog. Then drive normally outside city limits while charging up the batteries to then reenter the city again on battery power. If you want to commute on batteries get an electric car.

[Cobb]

Good point. Im guessing its because they are still being used by law enforcement and security.

Originally Posted by Xist

Why do those things still cost $6,800?! I could actually purchase one, but I am not spending that much!

[Xist]

Originally Posted by Cobb

Good point. Im guessing its because they are still being used by law enforcement and security.

Law enforcement and security and seemingly nobody else.

My autistic brother's iPad cost $2,500 because it is a medical device, but it is just a normal iPad with a great communications program.