One of the great characteristics of Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive is the ability for the vehicle to move on battery power alone. Case in point - you enter a parking lot, spaces hard to find, less stress in Prius because you are creeping around the lot on battery power.. or the drive through.. or in the terrible traffic jam Isn't it true that every time you want to move even one foot in an IMA car, the ICE kicks on because it has to kick on to move the car?
Just drove my girlfriend's new Honda Jazz hybrid for the first time. The second you take your foot off the brake pedal, while stopped, the gas engine starts up. If there's a way to drive this car at any speed solely on the electric motor, I haven't figured it out yet.
The civic Hybrid does have an EV mode of sorts. Basically the valves get deactivated and turns the pistons into air springs. In this mode it takes very little energy to turn over the gasoline engine. Now, the upside of the IMA system is that if the battery ever dies, you can continue to drive the car indefinitely without any battery at all and use it as an efficient gas powered car. You can't do that in a Prius. In a Prius, when the battery dies, you will have to replace the battery or the car won't be able to move.
I have both a first generation Honda Insight and a second generation Toyota Prius. They both have their good points and bad. One of the good points about the Toyota is the ability to move on battery only. One of the bad points about the Toyota Prius is that inability to drive it if the traction battery dies. My Honda Insight gets better mpg on the highway than in the city where the Toyota Prius loves stop & go and gets its best mpg in the city. In the Prius I can sneak up on someone only in EV when in a parking lot. The Prius has another big plus... The air conditioner keeps blowing when the ICE is not running. Not so in the Insight. Plus I love the Prius cruise control. That said, I still find my self driving the Insight more.
Looking over the Insight brochure, it does say that it may move under electric power only under certain circumstances.
It is not false. You can travel in EV mode for some distance as long as your SOC is good and on the flats you can maintain your speed with electric only. You can use up to 4 rejen bars that will power you along! The Civic hybrid air is electric and works when in engine off mode. I have had very good luck with my Civic Hybrid, lots haven't. I personally prefer to drive it on trips versus the Prius. Prius kills it in town and for storage however. Hal
