2502 Miles 299MPG in a Prius II PHEV!

How do you start out in EV mode? My Hymotion software forces the S1 warm up when I first start the car.

 

Thats awesome Force! Congrats and thanks for sharing! In light of some of the negative press lately on PHEVs, its critical that there are people like you out there showing it can work!

 

One of the frequent criticisms by PHEV/EV naysayers, is that MPG on a PHEV is meaningless. They claim that all you are doing is trading one source of energy for another without making any real improvement in efficiency. Having a set of real world data allows us to examine that claim.

Standard Prius:
Fuel Economy: 50 mpg
Gallons Consumed in 2502 miles: 50.04 gal
Energy Equivalence: 1686.6 kWh
Energy Economy: 674.1 Wh/mile

Force Hymotion PHEV:
Gallons Consumed in 2502 miles: 8.355 gal
Energy Equivalence: 281.61 kWh
Electricity Consumed: 439.56 kWh
Total Energy Consumption: 721.17 kWh
Energy Economy: 288.2 Wh/mile
Mile per Gallon Gasoline Equivalent: 116.95 MPGge

I think its worth noting here that the energy economy of the Honda FCX Clarity fuel cell hybrid electric vehicle is I believe estimated at 72.8 MPGge

While figuring the exact energy efficiency of a car is tricky, we can assume that the work done in each Prius is more or less identical, therefore the ratio of energy consumption or energy economies of the two vehicles will be the same as the ratio of the efficiencies. So in this case the energy efficiency is improved by:

PHEV Energy Efficiency Improvement = 1686.6 kWh - 721.17 kWh / 1686.6 kWh = 57%

Which is another way of saying Force's PHEV is more than twice as energy efficient as a standard Prius.

To put a bracket on the "well to wheels" component:
Worst case electricity generation and transmission efficiency: 33%
Best case electricity generation and transmission efficiency: 99%
Efficiency of Petroleum Production: 83%

Standard Prius
Well to Wheels Energy Consumption: 2032.0 kWh

PHEV Worst Case
Well to Wheels Energy Consumption: 1671.3 kWh
Worst Case Efficiency Improvement: 17.7%

PHEV Best Case
Well to Wheels Energy Consumption: 783.29 kWh
Bast Case Efficiency Improvement: 61.5%

So, it would seem that what the PHEV community claims is true. PHEVs can be more efficient than the most fuel efficient car on the road today using pretty much any electric generation source, and that efficiency improves dramatically if we couple the move toward PHEVs and EVs with an increase in renewable and other high efficiency production and transmission projects.

Rob

 

7500 miles?? gee Jay, i think i would do synthetic and shoot for 15,000 or more. you are basically running a little less than a 20% duty cycle, so i would look at 3-5 times longer to change. granted, changes in season can affect oil performance, so i might go for a change in mid spring and late fall only.

how much is an oil analysis?

 

Sweet! :rockon:

Maybe Toyota will show more interest in mass produced PHEVs.

 

How hard was it to install:
1 EV button
2 glass break sensor
3 how well does shark fin antenna work. does it effect GPS or satellite radio?
4 What does toyota warranty think about ev button?


I have a 2008 touring and it is my "toy" can you enlighten me more about PHEV conversion kit. ne site said it was ok to run at 70 pmh on ev and another said it is bad for motor and battery? You seem to live in the real world and these upgrades?

 

Very impressive energy efficiency, but how about cost effectiveness.
Factor in the cost of the conversion and how do the figures tally up?