Prius goes 'round Nürburgring...
...and sets a record. A TRD-prepped Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid sets the record-making fuel economy lap around the famous 'Ring's Nordschliefe circuit. The TRD 'aero' parts was primarily for styling rather than extreme aerodynamic efficiency but the Prius completed the 40 mph average lap in a 20 minutes and 59 seconds lap and still recorded a (converted) 698 mpg!
The 'Ring is heavily used by automakers to test and brag about the performance numbers of their high-end performance models, now they could follow Toyota's marketing and set 'efficiency' performance numbers! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3_G5a54USI VW XL1 licking lips. Let's see some real aero-designed shapes/tech and even kitted with...boattails! |
So.... the plug-in Prius, rated for 12 miles of electric range, went around the 12 mile track slowly, almost entirely on electric propulsion. And this is news?
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Next, Budweiser is going to advertise that their 12 packs have 12 beers in them. Even on the Nürburgring.
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Tesla should send a model a out there and blow them away with infinite mpg. Lol
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How many laps can the toyota do?
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Agreed, non-news.
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That's why they went around the track at bicycle speed. If they went as fast as it would go, it could do 1/4 of a lap. |
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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.
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12 miles seems useless honestly. I would much rather see it go around the track at full speed and how many laps it could do on 1 tank or 1 gallon or something like that.
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"Over a single lap..."
How will it do on the second lap? And the third, fourth, etc? SHORT FILLS = BAD DATA. |
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It just isn't very impressive. |
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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. :eek:
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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. |
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. |
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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 % |
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*Which isn't all that inefficient, at least in my Insight, which is the only vehicle I have with an mpg display. |
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It would be interesting to see those commute stats broken down by state or even smaller areas. |
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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. |
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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. |
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! |
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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. |
Good point. :thumbup: Im guessing its because they are still being used by law enforcement and security. :eek:
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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. |
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