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Author Topic: Puzzled by Prius  (Read 1106 times)

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Offline Conan The Librarian

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Puzzled by Prius
« on: December 16, 2011, 07:32:43 AM »
I see a lot of commuters with Prius cars today. It seems odd because they don't really get any benefit unless it's stop and go or city driving. On they other hand, they paid for all the additional complexity of a subsystem that doesn't do them much good. Could this be a case of marketing over reason? It seems like the better choice for a commuter is a non-hybrid.
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Offline guzzijohn

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Re: Puzzled by Prius
« Reply #1 on: December 16, 2011, 09:20:22 AM »
My sister-ln-law and her husband bought a wrecked first year model for not much money several years ago and he fixed up the body, had no mechanical damage. They have loved the car. Nothing but normal stuff like tires, oil changes. They have well over 100K on it. On the highway it gets over 40mpg and a bit better than that in town. They seem to be great cars. I would not trade my Accord for one simply for the mileage because I don't think the mileage would be enough to pay the price difference but if I could get a real good deal on one I would sure consider it.
GuzziJohn
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Offline kevinsmith5

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Puzzled by Prius
« Reply #2 on: December 16, 2011, 10:16:55 AM »
I think they get better mileage at a steady speed than stop and go.
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Offline quickdtoo

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Re: Puzzled by Prius
« Reply #3 on: December 16, 2011, 10:25:15 AM »
Quote from: kevinsmith5 on December 16, 2011, 10:16:55 AM
I think they get better mileage at a steady speed than stop and go.

They do better in stop and go because they're not using gas as much, EPA rating is 44mpg city/40mpg Highway, MW got 42mpg on their mixed driving road test.

Tim

http://www.motorweek.org/reviews/road_tests/2012_toyota_prius_v
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Offline kevinsmith5

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Puzzled by Prius
« Reply #4 on: December 16, 2011, 10:59:18 AM »
I thought the whole idea was the electric engine could maintain speed and the gas engine was only used for acceleration?
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Offline guzzijohn

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Re: Puzzled by Prius
« Reply #5 on: December 16, 2011, 11:11:14 AM »
At extended steady speeds the the batteries are draining faster than they can be recharged so the gas engine is used more. In the city because of braking much more the batteries are getting much more of a charge as the the brake system is also a charging system so the electric motor can be used more. Also the gas engine shuts down automatically at stop lights and other stops.
GuzziJohn
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Offline Brett

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Re: Puzzled by Prius
« Reply #6 on: December 16, 2011, 01:29:19 PM »
So you think stuffing yourself into a Prius is the green thing to do?   Think again,  some researchers say that the Prius may leave a bigger carbon footprint than a Hummer.

Here is a link to an article about it.  [embed=425,349]http://helenathegreat.hubpages.com/hub/Prius [/embed]
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Offline kevinsmith5

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Puzzled by Prius
« Reply #7 on: December 16, 2011, 02:21:25 PM »
Oh I don't doubt their right. All electrics are even worse.
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Offline Sourdough

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Re: Puzzled by Prius
« Reply #8 on: December 16, 2011, 02:34:43 PM »
I'm not interested in one, they don't work at 50 below.  I doubt they work at 20 below. 
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Offline littlecanoe

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Re: Puzzled by Prius
« Reply #9 on: December 16, 2011, 05:40:59 PM »
I really don't know any Prius owners.

Is there a tendency for them to be Techies?  A certain % of our population seems to have to have the latest gizmo no matter the cost.

I'm sure that some are Greenies and have bought to save the world.

I've never understood how we are more efficient by doing this.  The only benefit that I can see claimed is lower emissions.
Is it not true that there is a loss of potential energy by converting the energy from one form to another?
If this is true, how much potential energy is this car burning up?

lc
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Offline kevinsmith5

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Puzzled by Prius
« Reply #10 on: December 17, 2011, 04:04:11 AM »
If you get one where you will have the right driving conditions you can potentially save enough in gas money to get back the difference in cost over about five years. Of course that is with a $5K government tax credit for buying one and doesn't factor in the need to replace the batteries after about....five years. The majority of the people buying them may be tree hugging gadget freaks, but they aren't "techies". Being a techie I can tell you we know how to figure these numbers out.
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Offline magooch

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Re: Puzzled by Prius
« Reply #11 on: December 17, 2011, 04:44:56 AM »
Take the stupid subsidy off of those cars and they'll disappear in no time. 
 
 
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Offline Brett

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Re: Puzzled by Prius
« Reply #12 on: December 17, 2011, 06:58:20 AM »
Kevin brought up another matter that they didn't even mention in the article.  When the battery pack wears out after about five years you might as well sell the car for scrap because the replacement batteries will cost more than three quarters of what the car is worth by that point. 
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Offline guzzijohn

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Re: Puzzled by Prius
« Reply #13 on: December 17, 2011, 03:05:38 PM »
Quote from Brett:
"Kevin brought up another matter that they didn't even mention in the article.  When the battery pack wears out after about five years you might as well sell the car for scrap because the replacement batteries will cost more than three quarters of what the car is worth by that point. "


As posted above my inlaws bought a first year (2001 I think) and they are still on the factory battery pack.
GuzziJohn
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Offline Swampman

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Re: Puzzled by Prius
« Reply #14 on: December 17, 2011, 03:22:09 PM »
A slightly used battery is cheap.  I'd buy a Prius in a second if I could afford it.  A new battery is about $4000.00.  A slightly used battery will run $1000.00.  As of right now there are plenty of batteries that have lasted 12+ years and they are still going.  I don't give a crap about the environment, I'm just tired of the US being an Arab puppet.
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Offline Hooker

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Re: Puzzled by Prius
« Reply #15 on: December 17, 2011, 05:51:57 PM »
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Offline OldSchoolRanger

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Re: Puzzled by Prius
« Reply #16 on: December 18, 2011, 08:00:25 AM »
Quote from: magooch on December 17, 2011, 04:44:56 AM
Take the stupid subsidy off of those cars and they'll disappear in no time.
There was also a large tax write off on the purchase of a Prius.  Don't know if it's still in effect.
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Offline ed k

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Re: Puzzled by Prius
« Reply #17 on: December 19, 2011, 12:46:26 PM »
A study was done by one of the car magazines on the economic reasons to buy a prius. At 4.00 per gallon gas you would need to drive the Prius 300000 miles to break even over Toyotas model that is not a hybred. Toyota says life expectancy of a Prius is 180000 miles so anybody should know this is a losing deal. ED K
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Offline oldsoldja

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Re: Puzzled by Prius
« Reply #18 on: December 20, 2011, 12:06:03 AM »
I bought a civic hybrid when they first came out. I rent it to people thru my bodyshop. Its worked flawlessly. My reason was the civic starts the gas engine first and then switches to the electric assist, the prius does the opposite. If the electric system craps out someday we can still use the car.
I rent it when im taking long drives. after the last computer tweak at the dealer i can get 56 hwy if I gramma drive it. Initally it only would do 45.
Hondas also seem to be comfortable cars built ergonomically. I like it.
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