I was driving down the road; no headlights or taillights in wither direction. All dark except what was lit in front of me. Then I looked at the Energy Screen and arrows were going from the battery to the motor and to the wheels. I then had my epiphany and realized that NO emissions were leaving the car. I think that it was cool because we drive such a technologically advanced vehicle and to be able to drive at 40mph and having no emissions is such a giant leap to aiding in reducing the green house effect. I was just astonished that I was just driving around with nothing leaving the vehicle, at 40MPH!! The Prius is just too cool and gets better every day. Anyone else have this epiphany? AMAZED HERE!!! Brian
Yes. Last week I went into the city to the Whole Foods Co-op and on my drive back home, I use a level street that allows me to run for about 10 blocks with only the battery power. A woman in an older Dodge mini-van pulled out in front of me and hit the gas. I watched the cloud of blue smoke pour out of her van's tailpipe and realized that she had probably produced more pollution in that one move than my Prius would produce in a year of driving.
Yup. You've got a PZEV (partial zero-emissions vehicle) there. (Actually, an AT-PZEV... see the California Vehicle Emission Fact Sheet for a glossary and a nice graphic of just how clean you is!
Had the same experience here in Seattle. At 42 mph, I noticed that I was running entirely on the electric motor and did so for about 4 miles until I got to a slight grade. I didn't think the car would run EV above 30 mph, but if conditions are right, it definitely will.
I seem to remember reading that you can only run in pure EV mode up to 44 mph. That doesn't include downhill regen braking.
Yes, many people get caught up in the MPG and seem to forget about the nearly zero emissions. As Prius owners we get the best of both worlds :mrgreen:
My limit is 41 mph for the ICE kicks in. Don't know why it's not 42, but I've confirmed on many occasions that it definitely is 41 mph.
The CEO for Toyota USA said something to this effect during an interview on a local channel once: Driving a Prius in a metropolitan area, the air coming out of the tailpipe is cleaner than what the car inhaled. :mrgreen:
