toyota prius wallpapers
toyota prius photos
Electric cars are fair-weather friends of a sort—more efficient in warm weather. My recent experience with the plug-in Toyota Prius due to go on sale next year illustrated that well. Although I recharged the batteries every night of that frigid week of the big blizzard, I averaged only 47.1 mpg — about 3 mpg less than the EPA's estimate for a regular Prius, a hybrid you can't plug in.
Yet Toyota's New York public relations chief, who I've known for more than two decades and believe to be a truthful man, says that during the fall, when the weather was much warmer, he averaged 73.2 mpg on his 42-mile commute into Manhattan after a full battery recharge, compared with 51 mpg on the same trip in a conventional Prius. Since he couldn't recharge the car at his office, his fuel economy fell to 48.8 mpg on the return trip in the plug-in, he said.
Why the differences? Batteries lose power in the cold — as anyone knows who has found their battery dead and unable to start their engines on a frigid morning. And in cold weather the Prius plug-in's gasoline engine cycles on to warm the engine coolant for cabin heat and to keep the engine ready to start when its power is needed. Note also that real-world mileage for the regular Prius is less than the EPA's 50 mpg estimate; Consumer Reports, for example, averaged 44 mpg.
So whether your actual mileage is closer to mine or the PR man's, there should be a gain with the plug-in. Whether it's worth what is sure to be a higher price will depend on what that price is — a figure that Toyota has not released — and, of course, on the price of gasoline when you have to make the decision.
The plug-in Prius is supposed to operate as a pure electric vehicle for the first 13 miles up to 62 mph on a full charge. But, at least in cold weather, unless your accelerator foot is as light as a sparrow's, the gasoline engine will jump in to assist in acceleration on every standing start. In contrast, Chevrolet's new Volt offers between 25 and 50 miles of pure electric driving, with the gasoline engine assisting only occasionally in propelling the car.
After 13 miles, the plug-in Prius operates like any other Prius, offering comfort for five, a good ride and acceptable handling, except for overboosted power steering. A recharge takes three hours on an ordinary 110-volt household outlet — 90 minutes on a 220 outlet.
The regular Prius is deemed much better than average in reliability by Consumer Reports and gets a good, if not outstanding, crash protection rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
toyota prius
toyota prius pictures
toyota prius wallpapers
toyota prius photos
toyota prius
No comments:
Post a Comment