Plug-in Prius sets a Nürburgring Record

I'm of mixed minds about this report as we've seen this pattern. Before the Plug-In Prius, the after-market plug-in folks enjoyed visiting and chatting about their 'amazing' mileage. The non-Toyota plug-in hybrid folks especially enjoyed visiting to brag on their rides. Thankfully, I don't remember our EV-only friends being so insistent about their mileage although a few enjoy their bragging rights. Understand I'm OK with folks having a slice of 'both pies', a combined EV and efficient hybrid, but perhaps I've grown a little jaded.

Ultimately it is a question of operational cost-per-mile that tickles my fancy. So I'm OK with a Leaf once it can reach Nashville from Hunsville, 120 miles, without recharging. I understand that may be coming soon. That this article brings up the EV capabilities of an efficient hybrid is nice but I doubt it will sell many cars.

Bob Wilson

 

But what about the electricity used?

Liked this comment from the Autoblog piece;

 

Since the Nordschielfe is 14.173 miles and we know the drive did consume some gasoline. I can confidently say the test consumed no more than 3 kW of electricity since thats all the battery a PiP is allowed to use. This is, of course, assuming the EV range was fully depleted before the ICE kicked in.

Actually, 5 tablespoons is 2.5 ounces. By usbseawolf's measurements, a full warmup is around 4 ounces. So that 3 kW figure is probably about right.

That works out to about 114 MPGe (assuming 13 EV miles, 1.173 HV miles).. not bad, but not as good as what some other members here have achieved.

 

Just remember the minimum speed had to be 37 mph. But I'd say buy bisco or retired4999 a ticket to challenge it!

 

You are allowed to warm up before you run, so you might be able to use less than 4 onz ;-). Really a stupid record though. The porsche 918 because of its bigger battery should have been able to got the full track on low rolling resistance, but instead did a impressive 6:57 with its weissach package. Then again that package that has such items as magnesium wheels, ceramic bearings, and titanium bolts, probably costs as much as a prius.

 

So a Volt could be holding this record as it does not need to use ANY GAS at all.

This is just stupid.

 

Yes, it was, but it is also the type of thing GM would get decryed for if they did it with a Volt.

 

Or Ford or any other plug-in vendor.

Bob Wilson

 

I must confess. I fall into the category of "gotta get better MPG". Several times I have went to Autobeyours website to get their number to call them. but I just can't get myself to spend $10k on a battery pack that is going to take almost 120,000miles for me to break even on. If the Leaf had a guarantee 2x the range, It would really be hard for me to get another prius when the time comes.

 

I suppose it really depends where you live. When I purchased my PIP, a few months ago, it was about the same price as a bottom of the line regular Prius. Factory rebates, 0% APR, CA cash rebate, and Fed tax deduction made for a no brainier decision when coupled with carpool lane stickers.
Clearly this stunt was a marketing ploy oriented toward buyers who are easily duped. Like so many sales pitches in life, it initially sounds amazing, but in fact it's a misleading advertisement.