Everyone wants to buy a hybrid now.

Batteries are the only near term solution. The main problem is overcoming the oil lobby and car company inertia. Funny how gas prices can change the market overnight. Unless gas prices come down soon, the car companies will have to go to batteries and hybrids, quickly and massively. Prediction: gas prices will come down soon.

 

Well for me it is not about 5 dollar gas or going green. It is about having transportation. A Prius has a 500 mile range on 9 gallons of gas. My V8 can go 350 miles on 21 gallons of gas. When I convert my Prius to plug in capable I will be able to go to work/store and back with basically using no gas. So having a 30k car is great but what happens if you can not buy gas for any price because it is being rationed or worse?

If I am wrong, who cares. I know more people that waste more money on BS than I will "lose" on making the switch

 

Hi folks! This is my first post on PC. We bought our green '08 touring/6 last month and I took some heat at work for getting such a little car (we came out of a van). One guy said "don't be stupid". A long discussion on gas prices and the future ensued and let's just say I felt a little smarter than everyone else in the room. That was a month ago. Today I drove the car in to work (it's my wife's) and now everyone wants to go out and look at it on our first break. Today the conversation is: "how do I order one?". "what's my Tahoe worth". "How long is the wait?" One guy, the guy that implied I was stupid, now wants to trade his 1 year old Civic for one. Hehe!

We will be a two Prius family when my black touring/6 comes in ???? Luckily the deal is already written with a thousand off sticker.

Yak

 

That is great. It is a great feeling to be the first to do something right and have everyone else realize it AFTER they have ridiculed you for it. :first:

Now if you can work the other social and evironmental benefits (and how those benefits effect us all) to using less fuel your co-workers will be less likely to jump back into a gas guzzler if prices drop or they recieve a significant raise.

 

Due to demand and the fact that manufacturers and dealers make huge profit margins on "optional equipment," a Prius sales manager reported that zero base-model Priuses are being shipped today. If you want a new Prius, don't expect a base-model.
Hybrid sales are zooming - Los Angeles Times

Motorcycles get worse mileage than Priuses? Really? Just as some people driving Priuses get less than 40mpg, and some get 70mpg, I'm sure motorcycle mpg varies just as widely. Most people I see on motorcycles drive them like race cars.

I think the economy would come to a stand still and governments would intervene before diesel fuel got to $12 - $15 per gallon. Maybe ten years from now when everyone is driving hybrids and EVs, but not in 2009. The world would come to a complete stand still. Governments would intervene on conditions of national security.

How much would it cost to drive a Tahoe (14mpg) for one month at $12/gal? (1500miles) (1500mi/14mpg)($12) = $1286 !

Oil Sands/Shale? Arctic National Wildlife Refuge? My prediction is that as China and India demand more oil, the Middle East will slowly divert more and more oil to those countries, and as that occurs, the U.S. will slowly begin providing more and more of our own oil. EVENTUALLY, the Middle East oil supplies will get low enough that they will cut off all exports and retain the oil for their own future. By that time, half of the cars in the U.S. will be hybrids and the other half will be full EVs. Where will the electricity come from? Solar, wind, ocean, and nuclear. Wait, doesn't nuclear generate a lot of heat? Yes, but so does coal. Nuclear does not emit greenhouse gases though. Greenhouse - think of your car on a hot summer day with the windows up. The sun contributes far more heat than a nuclear power plant. In fact, the heat generated by a powerplant is negligible by comparison.

Daniel, EXCELLENT explantation of how hydrogen is a carrier and not a source. Thank you.

Does anyone notice a trend with GM? They made the EV-1, but from day one, would only lease the car ... only later to have their public relations tell the public it was a failure. Then they tell the public how great hydrogen is ... but those of use that are scientists and engineers know that hydrogen is not a source of fuel, but rather takes a lot of energy to create. It just makes you wonder what is going on inside GM.

Burritos, nice video. I was waiting for the giraffe to touch the bottom the whole time, lol.

Police Blotter: We have a report from a local business that when an employee went out back for a cigarette break, he saw a frightened plug-in Prius driver yank a power cord from the building and speed off.
... am I the only one that foresees such reports in the future? Haha! this should be interesting. South Park, the Simpsons, anyone?

 

Not unless it's all slow-speed residential streets and you're willing to accelerate from 0 to 25 in about 45 seconds. Over 42 mph a Prius (even one converted to plug-in) will run the gas engine. And if you apply more than feather pressure to the accelerator, or have to climb a hill, it will start the gas engine.

A future PHEV Prius from Toyota will likely have different characteristics, but a current Prius converted to PHEV will typically burn gas for half its energy until the charge obtained from the grid is depleted. That's why I prefer the series hybrid concept. Or my present configuration: Zap Xebra 100% electric for all my in-town driving, and the Prius for out-of-town and road trips.

 

If you gently accelerate to 39mph, then coast until the car comes to a complete stop, then repeat, would you make it? (assuming flat ground or very gentle grades) If you are going downhill, over 42mph, in neutral, will the gas engine remain off?

 

Second question first: Over 42 mph the gas engine must turn, due to the geometry of the PSD and the spin limits of MG1. I do not know if this can happen without starting the engine, and once started it will run and consume gas until it is hot enough to satisfy the computer. NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER drive in neutral. This is exceedingly dangerous and it is illegal!!!!!!!!!!!

First question: The operative word here is "gently." My Xebra will accelerate faster than the Prius will tolerate without starting the gas engine. You'd have to accelerate so gently that I assure you you would become extremely frustrated, and anybody behind you at a stop would have steam coming out their ears and a stream of cussing coming out their mouth.

The Prius is not intended to accelerate on electric only. It's intended to run the gas engine during acceleration, and that is the most efficient way to operate it. And this is why I do not like the Prius as a platform for a PHEV.

But if you did bring it up to 39 mph without starting the engine, you could maintain that speed (on level ground!!!) for as long as you had enough charge on the battery.

The real benefit of the plug-in Prius is that it is the only car today that actually can be conveniently converted to become a PHEV. (Or perhaps also the Fords that use the Toyota technology.) The Plug-in Prius can allow you to get half your energy from the grid during the first 60 miles. It does not allow you to drive as though it was an EV during the first 30.

For what it was intended to do, it does it well, and I applaud those who have done it. Just be sure you know what it does and don't expect something it cannot deliver.