1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Prius equivalent total mileage?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by sullidj, May 1, 2012.

  1. sullidj

    sullidj Junior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 15, 2011
    13
    2
    0
    Location:
    albany
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    I am looking to buy a used car. I had read somewhere that because of the work of electric motor of the prius that the wear on gas engine could be reduced by 40%. For ex a prius with 200K on odometer would have have the same wear as a reg gas car with 120K? Reasonable????
     
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    107,571
    48,862
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    :welcome: i think it is reasonable. most of these cars are doing 150 to 200,000 miles without any major work. and when there is, it's the battery or inverter. don't hear much about the engine. all the best!
     
    1 person likes this.
  3. cnschult

    cnschult Active Member

    Joined:
    Jan 9, 2008
    772
    95
    0
    Location:
    Michigan
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    the engine mostly turns off at stoplights or as you're pulling up to a stoplight, so a prius with 200,000 miles probably had the engine on for 190,000 of those miles. It'll be even higher in he north as the engine tends not to shut off in cold winters to keep the engine and/or the passengers warm.

    if the difference was 40% toyota would have put a meter like in boats that records how many hours the engine was running, not miles. Following the maintenance schedule for motor oil, tranaxle fluid and both engine & inverter coolant is all you need to achieve 250,000+ miles of service from a Prius, or any other Toyo for that matter.
     
  4. cnschult

    cnschult Active Member

    Joined:
    Jan 9, 2008
    772
    95
    0
    Location:
    Michigan
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    I'd buy a Prius with 150K miles properly maintained with service records than one with 100K miles with no service history whatsoever.
     
  5. sullidj

    sullidj Junior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 15, 2011
    13
    2
    0
    Location:
    albany
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
     
  6. sullidj

    sullidj Junior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 15, 2011
    13
    2
    0
    Location:
    albany
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
     
  7. David Beale

    David Beale Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2006
    5,963
    1,979
    0
    Location:
    Edmonton Alberta
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    The Prius is powered by gasoline burned in an internal combustion engine. It is a more efficient engine due to the electric portion of the Hybrid Synergy Drive allowing it to be tuned that way, but it's still an internal combustion engine. I doubt you could equate increased longevity to the fact it's a hybrid. You do get longer life on the brakes, due to regenerative braking.

    I suspect the reason we get long engine life is because it's a Toyota. Not because it's a hybrid.
     
    1 person likes this.
  8. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2008
    18,198
    6,461
    0
    Location:
    Green Valley, AZ
    Vehicle:
    2015 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    No. The electric motor is powered by the traction battery. The gasoline engine provides much of the power required to recharge the traction battery (some of the power comes from regenerative braking.)

    Since the gasoline engine has to recharge the traction battery and some inefficiency is associated with the charging and discharging process, the gasoline engine performs approximately the same work that the electric motor did, along with a "tax" to account for heat and other efficiency losses.

    The gasoline engine can operate more efficiently in a hybrid since it is smaller than a normal gasoline engine would be in a comparably-sized vehicle and also operates under Atkinson cycle instead of Otto cycle. The Atkinson cycle is more efficient but produces less low-end torque. The electric motor provides the low-end torque and supplemental power required under heavy acceleration.

    Compare to a vehicle of conventional design which has a gasoline motor large enough to provide adequate freeway acceleration. Most of the time the motor is operating at a small fraction of maximum power output, but fuel economy is constrained due to the size of the engine (the larger the piston displacement, the higher the fuel consumption.)

    That is why the Prius mpg is much better than normal vehicles of similar size.
     
    1 person likes this.
  9. tdelker

    tdelker Junior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 6, 2012
    46
    4
    0
    Location:
    Colorado
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    Model:
    II
    This makes is sounds like the combustion engine does not drive the wheels directly, which in fact, it does. Maybe that's what was meant, but I got confused reading the post.
     
  10. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2008
    18,198
    6,461
    0
    Location:
    Green Valley, AZ
    Vehicle:
    2015 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    The gasoline engine and the electric motor can individually or collectively power the wheels via the power split device. The power split device is basically like a differential from a normal vehicle except that the engine and MG1 are connected (as power inputs) where the wheels would normally be while the output shaft is where the engine would normally be; and that is spun by MG2.
     
  11. bobeast

    bobeast Junior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 24, 2006
    39
    23
    0
    Unless you have a plugin, its useful to remember that ALL of the power used by a Prius is ultimately produced by the ICE. So in terms of actual "work" there is really no difference. Any gains in longevity are a function of increased efficiency and perhaps some gain from turning the engine off when stopped.
     
  12. sullidj

    sullidj Junior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 15, 2011
    13
    2
    0
    Location:
    albany
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    N/A

    I appreciate the technical and the theory regarding how the hybrid engine works, but I am more interested in the longevity of its gas engine. I have done some additional research on prius chat and the internet. (See PriusChat Forums Prius engine has an easy life and 1.5 Million Kilometre Taxi) Which continues to lead me to the conclusion I that either as the result of the hybrid design or toyota craftsmanship the ICE should be a longer lasting engine than the triditional 4 cylinder ICE engine. I was hoping there might be some real time data to indicate what that additional longevity might be.
     
  13. Danny Hamilton

    Danny Hamilton Active Member

    Joined:
    Apr 30, 2007
    926
    94
    0
    Location:
    Greater Chicagoland Area
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Perhaps. But in a non-hybrid, the engine continues running at stop lights, stop signs, and in stop-and-go traffic. So given a Prius with 200,000 miles and a non-hybrid with 200,000 miles each driven identically, the engine in the non-hybrid will certainly have been running longer than the Prius. I'm not sure if it is 40% longer, but I suspect it might be more than 5%.

    Also, since the Prius uses MG1 to spin the engine up to nearly 1000 RPM and builds up oil pressure before lighting up fuel with spark, the engine starts on the Prius are not as hard on the engine as they are on non-hybrids.
     
    1 person likes this.