USnews Ranking of 2012 models...

Glad it works great with your route. The average is 35 MPG on voltstats.net. 5 out of 338 owners get 42 MPG or higher. 252 owners are getting below the EPA 37 MPG.

The electricity consumption is unknown because it is free for the Volt so that can be ignored.

 

I drive about 23 miles to work, around 8 of which are over 70 mph. Will the PiP get me to work without burning gas?

I have 8 hours of free 120v charging at work, will that let the PiP get me home without using any gas?

There are occasional days where I take long trips and the PiP would burn less gas (over 100 miles) but that is the exception, and I prefer to plan for the norm.

 

PiP may save more gas in the weekend but Volt may save more gas in the week days. The difference may not be much.

The difference in electricity consumption may be huge. The utility and the extra 5th seat that PiP midsize provides can be huge. Running on regular gas and using the gas engine when you need it instead of the intrusive engine maintence mode, would be sweet.

 

Intrusive? It runs every 6ish weeks. As well it prompts you as to whether now is a good time (you can delay for 24 hrs).
This poor guys went ~1550 miles and then was "inconvenienced".
2011 Chevy Volt | Maintenance Mode - YouTube

 

Volt is my commuter, weekends we use the Mariner hybrid SUV as the family car, PiP would definitely burn less gas than that but utility wise we're probably looking at replacing it with something more like the prius V (or is it v?) but that won't be for another year or two (maybe they'll have a PiPv by then).

 

If you are asked to use it out of the ordinary, it is intrusive. I wish the video shows how long the gas engine runs. I take it that, it'll run even at the stop light until it is done (2 mins?). If the gas engine is regularly maintained (as in PiP), there is no need for it.

 

Most Volt owners have no need for it either since most only get about 66-70% EV driving, the rare exceptions that do need it probably should have gotten a Leaf.

Did Toyota ever say how the car will protect itself if you do have the rare driver that never goes over 15 miles from home or 62 mph? There must be something to prevent stale gasoline and engine parts seizing, etc...

 

For the prototype, I think after 19 EV miles, the gas engine will come on. Don't know about the production model.

 

And the utility of a cargo bed and the ability to tow 5 tons is even greater. Just saying.

Lets be honest. The majority of people that can buy an EV or PHV now are in a two car household, and the plug in will mostly, nearly always, be used to take person back and forth to work. The gas guzzling PiP and Volt are more car than is needed. Most buyers of them will be fine with an iMiEV.

Regular gas is crap gas. All else being equal, a car tuned for premium will go the same distance, using less fuel, than one burning regular gas. Which means less pollution and oil imports. One of the reason we can't get efficient cars available overseas is because ragular there is midgrade or premium here. Premium requirements in non-luxury, non-performance cars is a taboo, so we get engines detuned for regular and economy drops.

 

Your being faceious here I think. The prius is an expensive toy. Most people can get by on the bus or bike. They just need to prioritze it. But I did see an old crx on the road yeasterday with 17s. I'm sure there is almost no depreciation or insurance anymore Sarcasm alert, for those that think people need 5 seats. I know in collage we once drove with 8 adults in a rabbit, you just need to pack people on laps correctly:rockon:

Did you see the new mustang gt? The engine is built at 11:1 for premium when you want performance They put out hp numbers for both regular and premium, IIRC they do the epa test with premium for the bigger numbers, then let people put in regular. I'm sure people that use the engine regularly in the volt will use regular, and those that barely use gas will be smart enough to put in premium.

 

I believe GM did the same with the 2.4L ecotec in the HHR/Cobalt. Funny, I remember the outcry about the Smart using premium, but only learned about the ecotec while skimming old forum posts.

 

I sure wish the PiP had another 15 miles of EV range. But it doesn't.

 

I agree.

I am hopeful they will be a huge success and Toyota will offer more options in the future. I'd love to see something like what Tesla does [model S] by offering different size packs/ range distances as buyer selectable options.

 

Hmmm, I think I'm going to start adding in my bicycling, rowing, and walking miles to my Prius numbers. After all, just as in the Volt, those are "free" miles because I'm NOT burning gas........ No gas energy burned, no $$ cost either.

 

I concluded a long while ago that Prius drivers don't reduce fossil fuel use all that much. Why? Because, if you look at the surveys here, Prius drivers' prior cars tend to be vehicles like Camry's and Civic's that on the whole are fuel efficient. The fuel savings by moving the drivers of a large SUVs to Escape hybrids would be a lot more significant! Unfortunately the latter is probably implausible.

 

My previous daily drive was a Ford Expedition (that we pull a camper with). I didn't think I was ever going to buy a new vehicle every again until the Volt came out.

 

or . . . maybe they own a bunch of GM stock . . . or . . . maybe they work for the Feds's ... or . . . mabye it's the same thing!

That depends on what kind of gas you're talking about . . . . . . . gas to run the turbines for making electricity? .... because many have natural gas turbines to make electricity, but many have coal as their source of making electricity, which in turn helps make gasoline too. It can get a bit confusing. Point being - just because the ICE turns on (or never turns on) doesn't necessarily mean you did the best you could.

 

As of last week I charge at home on my own solar produced electricity.

 

I don't bother with surveys, but my previous DD was a Subaru Outback. EPA rated as 23mpg. Hypermiling it yielded 29mpg in mixed driving, 34mpg on long highway trips. Prius is just under 60mpg so far, so it cut my gas usage not quite in half.

 

It isn't like shutting off the engine coasting. The conventional car burnt gas to get to the top of the hill. Might as well not count the EV and glide miles in a regular Prius if that's considered free of charge.