Plugin Article - Natonal Post

disappointed by real world hybrid fuel economy? what other car can you get 60 mpg?
how do these morons get employment? dufus!

 

Well, it is the National Post, so you can't trust a word they print. I take this as an endorsement.

 

Facts are stubborn things. Substituting arguments about what you don't like, in place of evidence is pointless denial. We consistently get between 53 and 58 MPG in our 2010 Prius, while driving the way we have driven other cars that we have owned. Many of our previous cars were economical, although none ever delivered this kind of mileage. I don't like the fact that I cannot flap my arms and fly, but I accept the reality of the facts.

 

It's hard to believe such blatant greenwashing still takes place.

If that were true, how in the world does Prius deliver 48 MPG on the highway... a driving condition where braking & coasting are virtually non-existent... using a 1.8 liter engine?
.

 

Hi All,

The first two paragraphs are the ravings of either an ingnoramous, or a lier.

 

I have a close friend who recently when I happened to mention that I was considering a Prius, his wife looked at me and venemously spitted out "they run on gas you know...".

It wasn't that she was wrong. Yes, current Prius "hybrids" do have a gasoline engine and they burn gas. What was somewhat shocking to me was her venemous and sarcastic reply.

I've never bought into the "some people hate The Prius" mantra. But I did find her reaction to my simple consideration of The Prius interesting. To me, any way you slice it, the current Prius in it's purchaseable form is the vehicle that offers the best MPG's of any vehicle you can walk onto a lot and purchase. Does HSD play a shell game with assets such as gas and electricity? I suppose you could look at it that way, but it does it brilliantly and with real tangible advantage.

The author of this article and others seem to like to work overtime to find and create reasons to not like The Prius. Even if that dislike becomes born out of the fact that The Prius is NOT magical. Sure, it has a battery, sure it runs a gasoline engine. But that doesn't negate the fact that while employing many other tools such as sophisticated computer technology, regenerative braking and a powertrain with a planetary gear system unlike anything found in coventional automobiles The Prius in it's current form offers owners 40+ MPG at least...usually better.

I just think people need to be realistic. The Prius isn't magical, I think Toyota's own advertising sometimes hurts Prius in this manner, suggesting that it somehow nurishes the enviroment. But count the positive as well. Yes The Prius is a machine and in being a machine there is no way it operates without using some source of energy...but right now, The Prius offers owners the chance to visit the gasoline pump the fewest amount of times.

I've delayed my entry into the Hybrid/Electric vehicle ownership circle. But I'm realistic. I bought a full gasoline Honda Fit. Right now I'm getting almost exactly what the EPA estimates suggest. Which is about 28 city, 33 highway. Compared to my aging 1993 Honda Accord? I'm very happy with the gas mileage. But I'm realistic. My Fit at it's best, isn't getting the gas mileage of a Prius at it's worst. Does this make me spit out venemous statements about how The Prius is "flawed" because it's not a magical vehicle that can run on good vibes? Nah, the reality is The Prius still represents a difference in technology and product and IMO a difference that is postive for consumers and the enviroment. I'm not going to dig deep to construct reasons to almost purposely misunderstand or hate The Prius. Unfortunately, for a lot of people change is still met with great resistance and fear.

 

This author is an idiot, but he does have a few good points. Among them, *all else being equal* it would make logical sense that transforming gasoline into electricity, storing it in a battery, and then using it in that form would incur some losses. At each stage, you lose some more.

So, given a very half-assed analysis, he's right.

Of course, if he was a real journalist instead of a hack, he might have done some homework and learned how/why the Prius *actually* works...but journalism is dead and has been for a long time.

Good riddance, journalistic hacks.

 

and, he's got it backwards. as much as many of us want a plug in hybrid or electric only, the real paradigm change was done in the gen I in capturing potential lost energy for future use, sutting the engine off when not needed, etc. plug in's will simply be the icing on the cake.:rockon:

 

C'mon john ... you already know that an idiot can't grasp straight forward facts like that. You'd make his head hurt. The part he cracks ME up with, is where he whines that the reason the Prius is crap, is because when he drives like the moron he admits to being, he gets bad mpg's ... and thus the Prius is crap. So ... it doesn't matter that with his crappy/moron mpg's ... he's spewing less poisons into the air he and his kids (gawd forbid he passes on stupid genes to anyone) have to inhale. There I go again ... making his head hurt.

.

 

Ah, the ire of the sanctimoniously virtuous. It is indeed wonderful to watch. Green is the new religion and the Toyota Prius is its altar. And like all religions, we shall broach no criticism or even the slightest bit of controversy.

Now if I am such an idiot (and by the way guys, my university degree is in engineering of the mechanical/automotive variety), please explain to me where the energy to recharge the battery (other than the pittance that comes from regenerative braking) comes from that recharges the battery when the nickel metal hydride cells get run down?

Magic beams of electricity from the Greenpeace gods? From your good thoughts?

Again, please explain to me where the energy comes from other than the internal combustion engine fed by gasoline?

I read a bunch of hoo-hah here, but how about addressing my idiocy specifically and answering that question without going into one big diatribe about how I need to change the way I drive (an oh yes, the average North American really, really is going to do that so he can feel as virtuous as you) or that EPA or Transport Canada figures can be achieved if I drive with the wind at my back, pulsing and gliding the whole way.

The point of the articles, in case you guys missed it (and note here that I am not calling you idiots for not being able to read simple English) is that an alternative to the conventional automobile will not be found in technologies like the standard Prius that requires modifications to the average person's driving techniques (pulsing and all the other stuff you guys get all bothered about) but by something that requires no change in driving habits to achieve less emissions and less fuel consumption. The plug-in I tested did that much better than the standard Prius.

And once again, thanks for all the fodder for future columns. Keep up the fanaticism. It makes writing about it that much easier.

David Booth

 

Circulation must be down, eh.

 

internet is killing them.

 

"i am not a fan of hybrids" but i own one?

 

25-40% fuel economy increase without changing driving habits isn't good enough for you? typical gearhead, always finding excuses to put down new technology that doesn't meet your 'criteria'.

 

friends and relatives laid off at GM? sour grapes leave a bad taste.

 

and the plug in only trades energy source from gasoline to whatever is creating electricity. hydro? nuke? natural gas? coal? choose your poison.

 

If this journalist is an engineer and he thinks that all the energy in the prius goes through the battery, then he's either not a good enough journalist to look up a few wiki pages, or he's not a good enough engineer to understand them.

Also.... is he under the impression that the Transport Canada tests use pulse and glide? Wow. I wonder where the National Post finds these guys.

 

Dear Gentlemen,

I asked one question. You gave me all manner of piffle in return. Insults, quotations of Transport Canada and EPA figures that are essentially meaningless and a lot of other malarkey. But, as is so often the case when I discuss points of engineering with true believers, you did not address the specific question I asked with engineering facts. So, once again, since you obviously did not hear me the first time

"Ignoring the relatively minor amount of energy that comes from regenerative braking, where does the energy to recharge the battery come from, if not from the gasoline fueled internal combustion engine?"

Anyways my thanks again for your viewpoints.