70 MPG downsized-Prius by Toyota?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Delta Flyer @ Feb 6 2007, 08:25 AM) [snapback]386000[/snapback]</div>

Hey.. whats shakin Delta!....

I'm not sure paying big bucks for a big truck to then put big money in for gas is an alternative....we have enough 18 wheelers out here on the freeways that all of us are in trouble if one of those hit us anyway.

I pull up next to one of those big trucks and I hear them hit the gas and even go into passing geat and it still doesn't seem to move!..... Ha!.. I really like the "light on your feet" feel of the CVT transmission and instant power of the electric from my prius.

If they do make a smaler version yet, they will have to keep the prius size.. its perfect!... any smaller and it really lowers the percentages of who can use them effectively.

Its true, I don't use my back seats 90% of the time, but when I need then, I "have" to have them.
Just how much does a back seat weigh and the metal to go around it?..... not that much.. I like the space too.

Efficiency will be made with better batteries, and internals.

Anybody can drop all thier cargo in flight to get better gas mileage, but is that a real answer that works?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(endoildependency @ Oct 8 2005, 03:18 PM) [snapback]138411[/snapback]</div>

I don't think the answer is that simple. I believe Prius size is not determined by a simple desire to make a family-sized car. You need to take into account space needed to place battery and the weight of the HSD. If, say, HSD weight 1000lb, you won't get much better mpg from trying to fit it in a smaller car. Battery size and weight is another issue. It might be, in fact, simpler to increase battery capacity in Prius ang get 10 more mpg than get 10 more mpg by shrinking the car down. Crash rating is also an issue.

Insight has very small engine, manual transmission and it is not a full hybrid, so Prius/Insight comparo is apples to oranges.

 

One of my co-workers REGULARLY gets over 70mpg in his Honda Insight ... and there are several here on PC that have gotten 70mpg and above. That being the case, it's likely to happen that an EPA rated Prius is buildable. It'll be after gas hit $4.00 / per gallon of course.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hill @ Feb 13 2007, 11:44 AM) [snapback]389542[/snapback]</div>

In a 5-speed Insight, 70mpg is easy to do if...
- most of your trip is highway or freeway (not stop-and-go)
- try to maintain a constant speed (again, avoiding stop-and-go)
- you go easy on the acceleration
- road conditions are clear and it's above freezing
- the A/C is used sparingly

Today, I got over 80mph in temperatures of 49F, cruising at 50mph. Going 65mph under these conditions, I could probably manage 70mpg.

 

I don't know. Toyota could definately do it, but why would they? Not while a Prius sells so well, that's for sure.

I looked at an Insight myself, but in the end the lack of any cargo room just killed it. That's what I like about my Prius. Heck, if they'd hybridized a Matrix I'd have gone for that. I like good MPG, but I also need cargo room.

The problem is that Prius is almost perfect. It's not big, but it has a lot of room. It's not the best fuel economy in the world, but it's really darn good. It comes in at a price that most people can afford. It comes with enough luxury to be interesting. It has enough options to appease the people who want more from their car. The Prius makes such a good place for itself that a cheaper+smaller or costlier+sportier versions just won't sell enough to be all that profitable. Non-hybrids with better margins will make a lot more money in the cheaper market and hardly anyone buys a sports car with fuel economy in mind. Wackos like us might like to see these things, but there's not enough percentage of the general populous interested to make a decent market of it.

 

I wouldn't even mind having a 2 seater with those 2 miniature seats in the back like the Mini has for scaling down - I'm usually driving just myself around. No matter what I buy it's not going to be any good for hauling things around... and I don't want to be driving something that big around every day for the one day a year that I am hauling something.

For that one day a year I need to move some furniture, or that say once a month I'm driving more than me and a friend around, I can either rent or use one of the Car Sharing companies:
West Coast: FlexCar
East Coast: Zipcar
(Google'em)

With either there's cars parked around the city, you go online and say "I need this car" then pay hourly to use it. If you only need a car for 4 hours it's cheaper and they tend to have better options than rental companies - for example they have Civic Hybrids and Priuses. This is already how I get around when I go back home to Boston periodically.

To be honest, living that way is more fun anyway - I miss alternating between the subway and random Zipcars back in Boston - it was fun to drive a different car every week.

In any case, my most selfish reason for wanting a mini-HSD is the fun - smaller cars are just more fun to drive - you can feel how much lighter it is in the way it drives, and of course it takes less energy to move it around. I would hope that although HSD is heavy, it could be scaled down to be somewhat less heavy when it has less to move.