107 MPGe for Prius Plug-In

Awesome, 15 EV miles and I am hoping for 55mpg hybrid mode after depletion!

 

If the Prius does allow for re-charging the larger battery while driving this could definitely acheive this mpg...

 

I want to believe, just like the '12 Camry, there will be at least one extra pleasant surprise about mileage, something we don't already know, maybe a more aggressive regen to further the EV miles. We will find out in 3 weeks!

 

Thats not likely to happen, they want to limit the "charge /discharge" cycles on the Lithium EV pack, from everything thats been said to this point. If the 2012 Production models are simular to the demo PHEVs, thats how that worked. If they use 1 large pack, then its possible (but don't count on it), if there are separate EV and Hybrid packs, its not going to happen.

 

It seems on the higher end of what would be possible given what the Leaf and Volt get. If this is indeed the case Toyota deserves major cudos for bettering the competiton in a car that is based on an existing model and not designed from the ground up for just this purpose.

 

oh something about "10 years" of engineering expereince, and the 3rd generation of HSD have something to do with it , and they have been testing the PHEV for several years already as well (in Japan and more recently in the US)

This is exaclty why I've decided to stick with Toyota, and not buy the Volt. Let's see a Generaiton 1 product from a company that "killed the electric car", and has less than stellar performance in their products (and almost went bankrupt as well), or a slight modification to a product with a 10 year proven track record.

There isn't even a question if you look at the facts.

 

Don't forget to throw in the fact that GM is trying to void any warranty from before they went bankrupt. (No, seriously, I'm not making this up!).

There are a bunch of Impala owners with suspension defects, GM is refusing the claim under the guise of 'It doesn't count if it was before we went bankrupt!'

Oy! That REALLY makes me want to run out and buy one of their cars... NOT!!!!

"NEW YORK, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Co (GM.N) is seeking to dismiss a lawsuit over a problem on more than 400,000 Chevrolet Impalas from the 2007 and 2008 saying it should not be responsible for repairs because the flaw predated its bankruptcy."

GM says bankruptcy excuses it from Impala warranty repairs. , page 1

 

From the link

I would say tha 107MPGe is highly unlikely and much higher than the demo cars would have achieved. The quote above should breed skepticism. The demo cars had 5.2kwh between the three packs not 3 kwh.

 

who said something about not being able to do a full pack regen?

2012 Prius Plug-In to Allow User-Selectable EV Mode, Full Regen

 

That is one of the tricks of bankruptcy. Past obligations of all sorts are discharged.

From the article, is seems that it is a bit more formalized. The warranty is still there, but is backed by the bankrupt 'old GM', now renamed 'Motors Liquidation Co', which lacks resources to perform on its obligations. Warranty claimants must get in line with the gazillion other creditors and file a claim. Oh, and by the way, the deadline for doing so is probably long past. 'New GM' is legally a different company, therefore not obligated to honor anyone else's (e.g. 'old GM') promises.

Retail bankruptcy does this all the time. It is rough on employees who show up in the morning to discover they are suddenly working for a different employer, a liquidator with much different policies and no burdensome past promises, while handling the 'going out of business' sale. It is worse for customers who paid for merchandise not yet delivered.

I would definitely consider past performance when considering a new purchase from any related entity.

 

I said that, I also said, if it was a single pack, it (regen to the EV pack) would be a possibility:

Here is a partial quote from the story:

"This limitation probably had more to do with the battery architecture in the prototype than anything else since the prototype had 3 separate battery packs, but I have been hearing murmurs that the final battery design would be a single battery pack to provide both EV and Hybrid driving modes"

 

I drove a Prius PlugIn for nine straight weeks and only last Tuesday did I turn it in (my test period--alas--ended). It was the only car I drove so at least for these days and weeks I considered it "mine". Obviously there is MUCH I could write (and did write in my on-line diary to CU) here about this nearly unique experience. But I certainly can comment about the MPG over my 1800 miles. The Prius test car has computers that are directly linked to Toyota in Torrance. Almost everything was being measured and evaluated from braking pressure to elevation performance in both EV and Hybrid mode, all of which is available only to Toyota engineers and
senior management. There are several special read outs for driver
display including but not limited to EV miles available (full charge is
14 which takes three hours on 110 outlet or 1.5 hours on 220). It calculated my miles per gallon (MPG) at 64.5 over the nine weeks, and I (overall) used EV at 24% of the time and the combination of
EV/Hybrid/Hybrid Only at 76%. I could plug in anytime in my garage.
The outlet was connected to a Xcel Energy transmitter so that Xcel could collect energy component data throughout my test period with the Prius PlugIn. My approximate cost (gas plus electricity) was under five cents per mile for the 1800 miles I drove.
What a great experience this was! My internal battery was super-charged each time I plugged into the grid !
Roy Boyer
Boulder CO
8/25/11

 

Hmm. I'd say the most consistent behavior would be to be inconsistent.
By which I actually mean to default to EV as long as SOC is above the limit at which it would turn the engine on while driving.

 

How much electricity was used to charge the vehicle?

 

Prius PHV should be able to recharge the battery and still get more than 37 MPG that Volt gets.

 

Along with cleaner emissions and not requiring premium gas.
.

 

Assuming full regen is possible, how long does the Plug-in have to cruise for full regen?

Imagine you are cruising 500 miles (800km) t interstate, your battery is fully charged with 15 free electric range arriving at your destination, all without plugging into the wall, fantastic!

 

That would have to be a lot of pulsing and regen braking/coasting (at highway speeds - gulp ) in order to even keep the mains full. That doesn't seem efficient to me. I would be tempted to use the electric only for stop-n-go and acceleration, if selection is possible, and revert to ICE for cruising. Of course that depends on weather/temperature, traffic and road conditions. You could energy drive if you had a lot of hills but again that would be dependent on traffic, weather, and even police presence.