Flaw drains gas from hybrid vehicles

Aw crap here we go with this butt hole again. Did he ever try it with a conventional auto? 22 mpg in a Prius? what did he do get in it start it up and drive 10 blocks and report the mileage? If I was this goof I'd sue the Dr. that did the lobotomy.

 

Frank:

Oh boy have you got that right! Probably forgot a retractor inside or something.

Let's put this matter to rest once and for all, ok?

Conditions: -40 C, snow routing and traffic is inch-n-stop, Max Defrost, Max Heat.

My 2004 Prius winter fuel consumption: MFD average claims between 7 to 10 L/100km (Anywhere from 28 MPG to 40 MPG)

My former Thank God I Got Rid Of It 2000 GMC Sierra K1500 4x4 (5.3 litre Vortec V8, AutoTrak transfer case, optional 4.10 gearing, Z71, etc): For the tank around 54 L/100km. That's around 5.2 MPG folks.

Conditions: +8 C, normal traffic on Bishop Grandin expressway, little if any supplemental heat, cruise at the 70 km/h limit.

My 2004 Prius: MFD average claims around 3.8 L/100km or 74 MPG. That's with the Dunlop Graspic DS-2 winter tires on too!

My God Forsaken 2000 GMC Sierra: tank average of around 20 L/100km or 14 MPG.

I will admit that I saw a *dramatic* improvement in city fuel economy when the odometer went past 8,000km. So there is a break-in process involved, and both the sales dude and the Prius tech were *very* careful to point this out to me when I took delivery.

This writer sounds like that boob David Booth that wrote that Canadian article knocking down the Prius. Of course, he then gushed praise for a Jag estimated at $120,000 Cdn.

 

Give me a break!! Admittedly, here in south Texas I don't use the front defrost a great deal, but max a/c I understand. I have yet to get less than 40 mpg on a tank of gas in 9 months of driving (including last August!). His reportorial affiliation tells all that you need to know to understand his "objective" evaluation.

 

:cussing: :lolup: :iagree

Headlines we won't read: "After further investigation, Mark Phelan admits hybrid flaw also affects 100% of conventional vehicles with air-conditoners/heaters."

 

Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if a truly objective analysis of the Prius reveals that the hit it takes from the defrost is bigger than a non hybird. Now I'm not saying that regular cars don't take a "hit", only that their hit may indeed be smaller.

That's because all cars are extremely over powered for those very rare times that the driver needs or wants that excessive horsepower. So those cars and trucks can handle the defrost because it does not really increase the load that much. The downside for cars like this is that they take the MPG "hit" regardless of whether the car needs this power.

The Prius is brilliant in this regard. When you don't need the defrost and the computer realizes that you don't rven need the ICE at all, the Prius shuts the ICE off, or if not totally off, it makes greater use of the electric. When a primitive car doesn't need this extra power, there is no way to not produce it. You get it whether you need it or not. The result --> millions of gallons of wasted energy.

So it's not so much a "negative" that the Prius takes a "hit" when the defrost is on, it's that more primitive cars are constantly taking that hit for every second their car or truck is running. The Prius can respond to the need, their cars can't.

Yet another reason to love this car.

 

prius04
percentage wise your probably right about hybrids. and I just watched a locally produced show that did a 2 week test of the Accord Hybrid and they got 30% lower mileage than the EPA/Enviroment Canada estimates in cold weather. But by the same token my one year average is 50.26 mpg Imperial/41.8 mpg US so I sure don't know were or how he managed 22 miles to the gallon.

 

Based on only one tank - hmmm... Could be that he didn't fill the tank the first time, due to some bladder-related issue, but filled it all the way the second time.

 

As for the "hit" on our MPG that the defrost may give us, I think it's important to not let the enemy frame the debate. And I use the word enemy on purpose because I'm beginning to think that there is a real attempt by some to attack the hybrid for unfair reasons.

When that enemy tries to argue about how bad the "hit" is when a load is added to our engine, ask him how much higher his MPG gets when he removes the load from his engine. When you remove the load from a Prius, you can go up to 55+MPG. Can he?

 

I have a number of questions for Mr. Phelan, that he did not address in his article. How many miles were on the car when he conducted the test? How long did he run the defroster? I realize that the mileage does go down substantially when the defroster is runnning but to 22 mpg, that just seems way too low. All things considered his mileage should still have been much better than the 22 he claims.

 

150 miles?

He would have had to pump 6.8 gallons back into the tank to calculate 22 MPG.

I think “new math†has failed Mr. Phelan.

 

Has anyone also noticed that using full defrost works perfect at the expense of never shutting off the engine at a stop. And the split defrost and feet is preaty much a worthless option I think it might even cause the windshield to fog up more LOL. I just toggle the front only as needed to keep it cleared off and shut it off when I get close to town to shut off the engine at lights and stops this way I don't take to much of a mileage hit.
I am really glad warmer weather is comming. I got 54mpg on my trip this weekend I don't think I have seen it over 50 in a few months.

 

It sure as h*** doesn't at temps colder than -20 C. My fingers are still cold

 

For all our cold weather and snow I've used my defroster exactly twice. Once I found out the A/C causes as much interior fogging as it can clear, I turned that off and left it in Auto for the rest of the winter. This made for a cold windshield but that helped with getting the snow to blow off or slide off. Amazingly the windshield didn't fog anywhere's near as much as my other cars.

 

Guys, this is the DETROIT Free Press. Read between the lines; the more he praises Detroit automakers, the better his job security.

Note that the best hybrid was the FORD Escape.

Take it from an ex-Michigan resident; this guy's bias is transparent as the windshield on Prius.

Nate

 

Okay, 22 mpg in a flat city with some cold weather? I got better than that climbing 3000' in 8 miles in moderate snow to 10,000'. Then on the way down, I used no gas. I agree that his claim is suspicious considering for whom he works.

Jim