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Economy Race - Prius v vs Man On Bike

Discussion in 'Prius v Main Forum' started by Colin, Aug 27, 2013.

  1. Colin

    Colin Junior Member

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    Vehicle:
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    Model:
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    Who gets better mileage, a Prius v running on 87 or a man on a bike running on 2% milk ?

    The race will be over 20 miles, including a mix of urban traffic jams, highway driving, and suburban roads.

    Car:
    2013 Prius v
    Package Two
    Michelin Energy Savers
    Average Mileage: 48 mpg (there's traffic lights on the highway)
    No Hypermiling

    Man
    31
    190 lbs
    10 lb pack
    Avg Speed 15 mph (traffic lights and hills)
    No hypermiling

    Some calculations:

    Calorie use of man biking at 15 mph = .2Cal/pound
    200 lbs * .2 * 20 miles = 1000 Cal

    Calories in milk = 488 /quart. (We will be burning 2 quarts this journey)

    4*488 Cal = 1952 Cal/gallon
    1952 Calories / 50 cal per mile = 40 MPG (2%)

    Prius v wins easily, but what if we step up to whole milk?

    Calories in whole milk = 592/quart * 4 = 2368
    2368 Cal / 50 Cal/mile = 47.36 mpg.

    There you are. The prius v uses less fuel then a man burning 2% , and about the same as a man burning 3.25%. Although I am not sure what the health effects of that much whole milk would be. For the record, that is nearly double the daily recommended intake of saturated fat.

    Happy driving.
     
    #1 Colin, Aug 27, 2013
  2. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    Milk is seriously watered down. How about a hunk of cheese or lard as 'fuel'?

    From another site:

    or 28,750 Cal/gallon, translated from Wikipedia figures: Gasoline gallon equivalent
     
    #2 fuzzy1, Aug 27, 2013
  3. jlaibson

    jlaibson Junior Member

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    LOL this is hilarious. I think if you're running that far, you can have as much milk as you want.
     
    #3 jlaibson, Aug 27, 2013
  4. Colin

    Colin Junior Member

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    Well 1 gallon of Nacho Cheese has 5120 Calories. Almost exactly 3 times that of 2% milk. A human with a sufficiently rugged digestive tract could get 119.4 MPG Nacho cheese. Our journey would require a modest 3 cups. You'd need to stay hydrated though as you would be consuming 7560 mg of sodium or over 3 times your daily recommended intake.
     
    #4 Colin, Aug 27, 2013
  5. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    As a frequent bicyclist, I just can't let this go.
    Ah, how about olive oil? The first convenient bottle in my cupboard has a nutrition label showing 120 Calories per tbsp (15 ml), which corresponds to just over 30,000 Calories per gallon. That puts the cyclist at just over 600 miles per gallon, more than an order of magnitude more efficient than the Prius.
     
    #5 fuzzy1, Aug 31, 2013
  6. 2k1Toaster

    2k1Toaster Brand New Prius Batteries

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    Or he could eat 3 pounds of bacon... I hear people like bacon...
     
    #6 2k1Toaster, Aug 31, 2013
  7. Colin

    Colin Junior Member

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    Yay more math!

    Fuel cost to drive the v to work: $2.10 ($5/gal here)
    Milk (2%): $2.24 (112/quart)
    Milk (whole): $1.90
    Nacho Cheese: $1.40 ish ($7 can, *1/5th of can)
    Olive Oil: $0.87 (8 tablespoons @ 28$ gallon)
    Bacon: $1.85 (5$ per pound)

    Olive oil seems to be the winner but it contains no protein and must be disqualified. Nacho cheese is disqualified for being lethal to humans with over 7000 mg of sodium. Low sodium bacon seems like the most reasonable option but I think it should be disqualified for not being a liquid. Liquid bacon is available online but at 8 dollars per pound after shipping is not cost competitive.

    The winner seems to be either the Prius v or a bacon and olive oil slurry.
     
    #7 Colin, Sep 1, 2013
    VTAERO likes this.
  8. Corwyn

    Corwyn Energy Curmudgeon

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    This says more about the fact that gasoline is higher energy density, than about the relative merits of the vehicles.
     
    #8 Corwyn, Sep 1, 2013
  9. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    For energy density, gasoline and olive oil are virtually identical.
    I picked olive oil just to minimize the yuck factor. Other vegetable oils, lard, Crisco, etc. ought to provide the same energy for a much lower non-gourmet cost.
     
    #9 fuzzy1, Sep 1, 2013
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