Is the Prius for me?

I went through something very similar.... going from looking at Acura TL's and Volvo's to Priuses.. The fault of advertisment on www.wbur.org and seeing them in traffic.... Now I will never go back, driving a prius makes so much sense compared to the bragmobiles I was looking at before... HP is really just clever marketing to insecure people... and the prius is plenty fast... good luck hunting... go test drive one to make sure it's fot you!

The AC should be plenty strong to cool the inside even at hot temperatures, as good/bad as any other car. Using the AC will reduce your MPG number but not by much... speed is the real and only serious killer... the prius also prefers warmth to cold.
The ICE will run when you start your car to get the catalytic converter warm but the AC can run on battery quite some time.

So in the end you will see a hit of a couple of MPG when running the AC a lot. Try keeping it at 75 and you will be fine.

The prius is a hybrid not ab electric car. You might be disappointed in how "little" it runs in pure EV mode. When accelerating it will most likley use the gas engine but when maintaining speed it will shut the gas engine off. The computer does all the calculation for you and running in "EV" mode actually reduced your MPG for the tank as gasoline will be used to firest charge the battery up and then drive your wheels (this is not 100% efficient). The trick is to not try to hard to be in EV mode, the prius will figure this out itself.

For future cars they will probably provide more real EV mode with a real range (say 30 miles) as it stands it's really more of a support feature.
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you will not run in battery mode on the side streets as much as you think but on the other hand you will end up in DV mode on the freeway more then you think!. The prius is not an EV car... it's a hybrid and at that pretty clever at figuring out how to use as little gasoline as possible given current power demands. The prius also does everything it can to protects it's battery and the gadgets won't really wear them down.

Have fun testdriving! I love this car!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Hostage46 @ May 23 2006, 09:19 AM) [snapback]259727[/snapback]</div>

1) Like any other car, the interior of the Prius gets hot when it is out in the sun. That is why many of us have shields for our windows so that the car will stay somewhat cool when it is parked. On the road, though, it needs airconditioning like any other car. And the airconditioner does very well, even with 5 people in the car with luggage on a hot day.

2) The A/C runs on electricity, the ICE does not necessarily have to run to run the A/C. Often it does, though, to keep the charge up in the battery. The computers do know how much charge is in the battery.


3) The Prius will go up to 42 mph on battery alone. One must either drive very carefully or have an EV switch (which is purchased separately). As far as I have heard, the car will go several miles, but I have no experience with that.

4) The computers in the car manage the charging of the battery. So, they turn the ICE on and off as needed. People buy the EV switch so that they can run only on the battery if they are driving short distances or less than 43 mph.

5) The battery will be automatically recharged by the ICE. If one has an EV switch, the battery will take the car only a handful of miles at best, a couple hundred yards at worst. Driving on battery alone such that the battery is completely discharged may shorten the overall life of the battery, and is strongly discouraged.


Hope this helps...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Hostage46 @ May 23 2006, 11:19 AM) [snapback]259727[/snapback]</div>

Dan, WAIT WAIT WAIT! I think you expecting to much from a Prius. Your not going to be able to drive 30 miles with just the batteries on the Pruis even with an EV switch.

The Prius is a GREAT car but to get 30 miles on the batteries Toyota needs to switch our batteries and give us a plug! And who knows if or when that's going to happen.

I can say though that my gas lasts a LOT longer in my Prius.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Hostage46 @ May 23 2006, 09:19 AM) [snapback]259727[/snapback]</div>

As others have mentioned, the Prius will only go about a mile or so on the battery. Used properly, the EV mode may save gas, but if not used right, it will waste gas. As the Prius isn't a plugin, the ICE will have to run to recharge the battery. The computer will figure out when that's needed.

Here's an example of when having an EV switch comes in handy. When the Prius starts up, the ICE runs for a bit to warm it up. Under normal circumstances, that's fine. But let's say you're in the Costco parking lot and you've just pulled into a space and powered off. A space closer has opened and as you anticipate getting a lot of stuff, you want to move closer. What's the point of having that ICE spin up for that short a distance? In my case, I'm at one store in a shopping center and I simply want to move to another store. Another example is the Prius is in the garage and you want to move it out in order to wash it.

Two things you should NOT assume about the EV mod. One is that this is something that every Prius owner wants or needs. The other is that you have to pay for the mod. This is how it works, in one of the connectors, there is a pin missing (#27). If you short that spot in the connector to ground the EV mode will activate, if the conditions are right (correct temperature, battery level, speed, etc), as the software to do this is already in the car. Yes, you can buy the OEM button, or get the kit from Coastal Electronics for about $50, but you can also use the "flash to pass" part of the headlight stalk, or you can itstall a button of your own. The last two are either free or close to it.

I suggest you rent one for a day or so, if possible. I rented one for two weeks to see how the seats felt and what it was like during a normal commute.

 

<_< Howdy Hostage46.... from a Dallas Prius-pilot

We have had our 2004 Prius for a bit over 18 months and here are some of our "real world" experiences. We bought our Prius in another city and did the "fly-drive home" thing to avoid a long waiting period.

Our "around Dallas Metroplex" calculated mileage runs 41-45 MPG driving ±"normally." No extreme methods to maximize MPGs. We consistently get better MPGs on the highway/freeway.

Our freeway/cross-country MPGs have ranged from 49 MPG to 54.5 MPG cruising at 70-75 MPH with bursts to ~80 to pass slower traffic. We find that crosswinds (as in West Texas) have a noticeable negative effect on MPGs.

The accelleration of the Prius is smooth and very peppy - love the "no shifting" power delivery. There's no problem mergeing into traffic.

Our equipment includes the Navagation System which is quite accurate around the Metroplex. We named our Prius "Ernestine" after Lili Tomlin's telephone operator character from LaughIn. Sometimes she makes strange, even innane, responses to verbal requests - thus the nickname. I view her strange responses as entertainment.

We added body side mouldings (~$125) to help prevent door dings - none so far. I changed to Mobil-1 5W30 oil at 10,000 miles. Original tires look very good - I expect to run them for 30,000 to 35,000 miles. I run them at 40PSI front 38PSI rear.

Our overall calculated fuel costs are 5.4¢/mile to date at ~18,500 miles on the odometer.

So, don't expect miracles but we are very pleased with our Prius.

P.S. There was a Prius Meetup Group in the Dallas area until about 6 months ago. Seems the national "Meetup Group" administration required an up front $75 payment which put the "Organizer" in the position of trying to collect from attendees, so he quit. We usually had 20-25 people in attendance at lunches on Saturday or Sunday with as many as 15 Prius - real interesting to see so many parked in a row. PriusChat has just established an online facility (RSVP Danny calls it) which may provide a vehicle to re-establish a new group here. It was a great opportunity to share information.