$1.51 For Regular Gas?!?!?

[davekeim]

just because I'm a courious person, what is the price of gas at Lilley's?

[Al Agnew]

$1.33 at the Costco in St. Louis today. We just bought a Prius a couple months ago, when gas was close to $4 a gallon. At that price it would pay for itself pretty quickly. At less than a buck fifty, we only get the satisfaction of knowing that we're not enriching the Arabs and oil companies quite as much.

But I don't expect it to stay low. In fact, if it DOES stay low, it'll probably mean the whole economy is still in the toilet. Good news bad news.

[jdmidwest]

Al, just curious, how much does the electric bill go up with the Prius on charger?

I have still not been able to comprehend the concept of Hybrids. They still use fossil fuel, but have a higher MPG due to the electrical supplement. Most electricity is still generated with fossil fuels so what is the net gain? And the batteries are made of lead which is a hazardous material.

I am awaiting the hydrogen fuel cell technology, then we will be independent of fossil fuel.

[bigredbirdfan]

Don't worry Al. By the time we bancrupt the coal industry and tax the hell out of the oil companies we will all be back on horse and donkey and gas price won't even matter.

[Al Agnew]

Jd, the Prius is not a plug-in hybrid. The battery bank recharges as the vehicle is driven...I don't know exactly how it works but applying the brakes does a lot to recharge the batteries. So you're not using any electricity other than what the vehicle itself produces.

We bought a Toyota Highlander hybrid SUV about three years ago, and really like it, so we went with the Prius. Supposedly, these vehicles get their best gas mileage in stop and go city traffic. The braking continually recharges the batteries, and if you don't accelerate heavily between stops the gas engine seldom turns on. However, I've found that under the mixed driving you do in a city like St. Louis, it's too far between stoplights and you do too much freeway driving, so we don't get any better mileage when we go to St. Louis than we do on average. We get the best mileage when driving curvy paved country roads where you don't go much over 50 mph. The Highlander was rated (under the old EPA guidelines) for 27 highway, 31 city. When driving on country roads we've gotten as much as 35 mpg, but on the interstate we get a pretty constant 25 mpg. With the Prius, which was rated something like 41 highway and 51 city, we average about 45 mpg, and get better than 41 even on steady interstate driving.

Toyota warranties the electrical system in their hybrids for 8 years or 100,000 miles, and every indication is that the batteries will last for at least 150,000 miles. The batteries are not your typical lead, but nickel metal hydride. When they finally go bad, they are recycled.

[jdmidwest]

Interesting, I thought you would have to plug it in like a golf cart. There is a dealer in Farmington selling all electrical cars, I was wondering what the increase in a normal electric bill is. If the car charges when you brake, the rotors and the pads must make the charging field.

What happens when it is parked for a while?

[Kayser]

The brakes/rotors don't charge the battery, but the electric engine can be turned into a generator by flipping a switch. This is triggered by pressing the brakes, and basically switches where the + and - wires enter the engine, while the wires remain attached to the batteries in the same orientation. The engine, now a generator, uses the kinetic energy of the cars momentum (the spinning wheels) to power the generator and thus charges the batteries. This helps to slow the car some, due to the magnetic resistance in the generator (engine). The brakes are entirely independent of this system.

If a hybrid is parked for too long, the batteries can go bad. Don't quite know how that works, it might have something to do with the formation of hydrogen gas in the batteries, but I'm not sure.

Rob

[Al Agnew]

I'm not sure, but according to the owner's manual...

Regenerative braking

The motor generator converts kinetic energy to electric energy when:

The accelerator pedal is released.

The brake pedal is depressed with the shift lever in "D" or "B".

When stopped/during take-off

The gasoline engine stops when the vehicle is stopped. During take-off, the electric motor (traction motor) drives the vehicle. At slow speeds or when traveling down a gentle slope, the engine is stopped and the motor is used.

During normal driving

The gasoline engine is predominantly used. The electric motor (traction motor) charges the hybrid battery (traction battery) as necessary.

When accelerating sharply

The power of the hybrid battery is added via electric motor to that of the gasoline engine.

When braking (Regenerative brake)

The electric motor (traction motor) charges the hybrid battery.

Owner's manual also says that to keep the battery from being discharged, the vehicle must be driven for 30 minutes or 10 miles "at least once every several months".

[bigredbirdfan]

When will we get something like this for bigger vehicles like trucks that can haul boats? Right now you can get 21 out of a 4 Runner or 19 out of a half ton truck that is substantially safer. I would like something bigger, safe, 4X4 and get 28 to the gallon. I don't really by the conspiracy that there is some magical motor that gets good mileage, but they are just holding in back. Are you kidding me, if GM or Ford had something like this you can bet your rear end they would have it to market.