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Toyota Prius, 180,000 orders for May

I live in the UK - I have a Prius.

Its reliable (more so than two previous Fords and a Fiat or two), its cheap to tax (I pay £15 for a year - my Shogun would have cost me £475), servicing is reasonable, I get a preferential car allowance from work, my insurance is approx 25% cheaper and on top of that I average 50 to 55 miles to the Imperial gallon if driven at sane and legal speeds.
The economics of the fuel consumption are also quite compelling. I save about £3500 per year. Also no congestion charge in London.

So what do I have to put with? OK it doesn't look marvellous, its performance is adequate but not inspiring, it handles quite nicely round corners, I love its voice activated controls, I like the GPS system (although the interface could do with some improvement), stereo is sweet - autochanger and mp3 compatible, automatic hands free Bluetooth to my cell phone. What else - seats are comfortable and its fine for my small family. Can be a bit short of space in the boot department but I can get the family in together with the camping gear so it can't be that bad.

Horses for courses. I like mine - it saves me money. I don't see cars as performance vehicles and I don't drive them for fun. For that sort of thing I prefer motorcycles and planes.


kurt
 
20 years ago, I had a VW Rabbit Diesel that would get 50mpg and went surprisingly quick up to about 75 mph. I still think that not enough attention is paid to diesel technology in the US. About all I see that are diesel powered here are large 3/4 or 1 ton pickups and I just don't have a use for a truck that large.

As far as going for fun, I'll ride my horse. She gets better mileage anyway.
 
I don't really understand what the big deal about electric cars that you need to plugin... sure one is going to save some money now... but really... ok these cars use less gas.... the personal household will need more electricity.

So we will cut down on pollutions of fuel emissions... but increase the emissions from electrical plants. Seems to be trading one form of pollution for another.

Right now you may save money... but with Cap and Trade on the way.. we may be taking that money saved and paying it to the electric company to pay for their carbon credits.
:isadizzy:
 
crashaz said:
I don't really understand what the big deal about electric cars that you need to plugin... sure one is going to save some money now... but really... ok these cars use less gas.... the personal household will need more electricity.

So we will cut down on pollutions of fuel emissions... but increase the emissions from electrical plants. Seems to be trading one form of pollution for another.

Right now you may save money... but with Cap and Trade on the way.. we may be taking that money saved and paying it to the electric company to pay for their carbon credits.
:isadizzy:
Click to expand...
It is easier to reduce the pollution at the power plant than trying to do it on 10,000,000 cars... We could probably build a bunch of clean power plants for what we spend on catalytic converters and such each year.

Also, power plants run at a much reduced capacity when people are sleeping: the same time they'll be recharging their cars. We get the most bang for our buck when the infrastructure is utilized near 100% all the time instead of 100% in the day time and 60% at night. (guessing at percentages there, but you see my point)

BTW: cap and trade will be the next big economic implosion. The carbon credits will get vastly overvalued, and then the price will collapse. It will be the mortgage crisis all over again. You heard it here first!

Oh, and I own a Toyata RAV4. Love it.
 
Willy said:
As far as going for fun, I'll ride my horse. She gets better mileage anyway.
Click to expand...


Goodness man! They are a little under powered arent they? I read in a performance report that they only have a 1HP power rating? And they couldnt get a BHP or dynamo rating on one...!


:d
 
crashaz said:
I don't really understand what the big deal about electric cars that you need to plugin... sure one is going to save some money now... but really... ok these cars use less gas.... the personal household will need more electricity.

So we will cut down on pollutions of fuel emissions... but increase the emissions from electrical plants. Seems to be trading one form of pollution for another.

Right now you may save money... but with Cap and Trade on the way.. we may be taking that money saved and paying it to the electric company to pay for their carbon credits.
:isadizzy:
Click to expand...


There is a fair bit of truth in that. One thing that could be said in defence is that at least it is poluting at source. Presumably our power stations are going to have to get emission friendly anyway.

kurt
 
I drive a big truck and have out run a Prius trying to go uphill,that's some funny stuff right there.And it's a hoot watching them try to get up to speed to merge....slow as a bicycle.
 
Willy said:
20 years ago, I had a VW Rabbit Diesel that would get 50mpg and went surprisingly quick up to about 75 mph. I still think that not enough attention is paid to diesel technology in the US. About all I see that are diesel powered here are large 3/4 or 1 ton pickups and I just don't have a use for a truck that large.
Click to expand...

I know. I'm waiting for diesel to surpass gas in cars. Diesel Electric hybrids is one only way to make a hybrid. It's been in trains for years here in the USA.

Hybrid still have a Transmission and Differetial that rob fuel and power. Diesel Electric Locomotive are quite a head of Hybrid cars. The diesel-electric Locomotive uses a diesel engine to drive an electric generator, which then supplies the current to traction motors, which are geared directly to the locomotive's wheels. The Prius still has a Engine, two electric motors a transmission and differetial.:isadizzy: Get rid of transmission and differetial. It's dead weight.
 
safn1949 said:
I drive a big truck and have out run a Prius trying to go uphill,that's some funny stuff right there.And it's a hoot watching them try to get up to speed to merge....slow as a bicycle.
Click to expand...

Probably more about the driver than the car. Current Prius does 0-60 in around 10 seconds which while not world beating isn't that slow. Top speed seems to be around 105 mph. It cruises fine at 90 mph - obviously at those speeeds fuel consumption rises.

kurt
 
With fuelcell tech maturing, and battery tech advancing, I think the hybred will just be a blip in automotive history, much like the triplane in aircraft history.
 
Allen said:
I know. I'm waiting for diesel to surpass gas in cars. Diesel Electric hybrids is one only way to make a hybrid. It's been in trains for years here in the USA.

Hybrid still have a Transmission and Differetial that rob fuel and power. Diesel Electric Locomotive are quite a head of Hybrid cars. The diesel-electric Locomotive uses a diesel engine to drive an electric generator, which then supplies the current to traction motors, which are geared directly to the locomotive's wheels. The Prius still has a Engine, two electric motors a transmission and differetial.:isadizzy: Get rid of transmission and differetial. It's dead weight.
Click to expand...

Allen,

I think the Prius uses hub motors, directly link at the drive shafts. I could be wrong though.

I believe only the engine goes through the transmission system while electrics are direct.

I shouldnt have said anything until I researched that, lol. I am thinking it might be made like the Saturn sport coupe was on the electric end of it.


By the way, the reason the trunk space is minimal (high shelf compartment in rear) is that the batteries are there. All of them 'size D' cells, solid. No gases, no acids.. Not heavy if you only pick up a few at a time, lol.. But a ton of them back there.
 
Speaking of that.. With Roger Penske taking over Saturn, what if he brings back the electric sport coupe!? Dang!


Here gm, Build this beauty!

heh heh...
 
I have a 2006 Prius that I couldn't be happier with....and Toyotas have been made in Kentucky since 1982.

My last Toyota was a 1992 Corolla with 426,000 miles on it before she was rear-ended and totaled. I was still driving her every day, she was still getting about 38 MPG, and it was the most reliable engine and car I ever had.

However...today I did get to drive a fantastic piece of American engineering...a 1970 Pontiac GTO Judge. It's the only car I've ever driven that I could see the speedometer go up and the gas gauge go down at the same time. I left an imprint in my seat from the acceleration.
 
Lionheart said:
Allen,

I think the Prius uses hub motors, directly link at the drive shafts. I could be wrong though.

I believe only the engine goes through the transmission system while electrics are direct.

I shouldnt have said anything until I researched that, lol. I am thinking it might be made like the Saturn sport coupe was on the electric end of it.


By the way, the reason the trunk space is minimal (high shelf compartment in rear) is that the batteries are there. All of them 'size D' cells, solid. No gases, no acids.. Not heavy if you only pick up a few at a time, lol.. But a ton of them back there.
Click to expand...

The hubs have generators, so that whenever you take your foot off the gas and are coasting, or have your foot on the brakes, energy is generated and sent to the main battery.

The transmission, which connects both electric and gas motors to the drivetrain, is a gearless, and very smooth indeed.

I have a Camry Hybrid, and it's more powerful than the normal Camry - you can have quite a bit of fun with it.

You'd barely know there are batteries in the trunk - they take up the space of about two or three loaves of bread, and are tucked up against the backs of the rear seats. Lots of space in the trunk, including fold-down rear seats for cargo carry-through. I've had to open the trunk a couple of times for the skeptics, who think the batteries must be huge.

Mike
 
Yeah I enjoyed Michael Keaton more as a funny man... those faces he made LOL.

My favorite... Johnny Dangerously!:icon_lol:

Ah... cars in that movie were not electric (to get back on topic) but I wouldn't mind it if Marilu Henner was in the car... gas/electric be dammned. :icon_lol:
 
Lionheart said:
Allen,

I think the Prius uses hub motors, directly link at the drive shafts. I could be wrong though.

I believe only the engine goes through the transmission system while electrics are direct.
Click to expand...

Neg on hub motors. Hub motors would add some cost to the car but are better on the MPG.

mike_cyul said:
The transmission, which connects both electric and gas motors to the drivetrain, is a gearless, and very smooth indeed.
Mike
Click to expand...

BIG neg on that. There is no way in he!! they got a hydraulc transmission in that thing. It is a Planetary Gear system.

Read on!↓
http://www.cleangreencar.co.nz/page/prius-technical-info
 
Allen said:
I know. I'm waiting for diesel to surpass gas in cars. Diesel Electric hybrids is one only way to make a hybrid. It's been in trains for years here in the USA.

Hybrid still have a Transmission and Differetial that rob fuel and power. Diesel Electric Locomotive are quite a head of Hybrid cars. The diesel-electric Locomotive uses a diesel engine to drive an electric generator, which then supplies the current to traction motors, which are geared directly to the locomotive's wheels. The Prius still has a Engine, two electric motors a transmission and differetial.:isadizzy: Get rid of transmission and differetial. It's dead weight.
Click to expand...


I's not that simple. Locomotives dont accelerate and decellerate as much as we do, and they don't have the need for crazily variable gearing. Locomotives are very purpose built.
 
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