For what it is worth, here are some estimates in Wh (Watt-hours), the unit of energy used for the green leaf on the Prius display. A gallon of oxygenated gas contains about 36,000 Wh, and a 30% engine will convert that into 10,800 Wh. Assuming 80% efficiency of the electric motor, 50 Wh of recovered energy (one grean leaf) gives you the equivalent propulsive energy of about 1 tablespoon of gas. The kinetic energy of a Prius traveling at 60 mph with 300 pounds cargo is about 150 Wh. Further details are at [web]http://xray1.physics.sunysb.edu/~jacobsen/priusenergy.pd[/web]
That thing is a leaf?!! :crazyeyes: I thought it was a little car icon. I will have to go out and look at it more closely. This is like finding out the real words to a song you have been singing wrong for 20 years!
Henry: it is a car. now canadian Priuses might use a maple leaf (wonder where they got that idea??) but here its a car.
WRONG!! its a car. i admit its a car with a weird paint job. tell me have you ever seen a green car? or even a green car with white stripes?? well i have. have i seen a leaf shaped like a car?? nope...have you?
take out your 2004Prius Owners Manual Supplement and look at the lower left hand corner at the Leaf Car, that is the indicator. on the 2k1-3 it's the same symbol just as the picture on the 2k1-3 Supplement Manual upper right hand corner.
no no no... remember the old town and country station wagons with the wood paneling of the 60's?? how many of them were accused of being trees?? or plywood?? or lumber of any kind?? so just because the things look like trees OR leaves, dont mean that they are... lets face it, they were still CARS!!
the first time the wife saw a 91 Buick station wagon she said it looked like a sow bug in a plywood plant. The Leaf Car is Toyota's picture of an earth friendly car. I do believe there is a thread on this back in january or february.
No it is a hybrid! Using recombinant DNA technology Toyota altered an oak leaf to look like a little car. That was the model for the icon used in our cars. We will find them planted around the factory!!!
ok .... maybe its a leaf... actually i couldnt find any green tires...so it may not be a car after all.
Or there's the Keebler Elf fantasy: Toytota grows Prii on magic hybrid trees.... (And then ships them to the USA where American dealers charge a :cussing: of $$ for them)
Another way of looking at the energy estimate is that one green leaf is enough to drive MG2 at full power for 3½ seconds. (1 leaf = 50Wh; 1 hour = 3600 seconds; MG2 at full power = 50kW. Therefore time at full power is 50 x 3600 / 50000 = 3.6 seconds)
It's always funny to see how the Prius keeps the battery on the blue bars and I hardly see any green bars (not many hills over here), but when I'm driving 120 km/h in pretty heavy traffic and we all have to break suddenly, there's almost always a row of green bars to 'reward' me for my reckless braking
