Just saw a new Prius today. If any car needs a massive rear spoiler less, I'd like to know. ;-)
- posted
6 years ago
Just saw a new Prius today. If any car needs a massive rear spoiler less, I'd like to know. ;-)
Their spoiler is to reduce drag, not increase down force.
Does that mean they will manage to get up to the speed limit on a motorway?
They do seem to attract slow drivers, but a Prius is certainly easily capable of getting over a ton and a long cruise at 80 plus is no problem.
I think the gentle driving they pootle about with is because of the very tempting lifetime mileage display, but there is no need to be very slow, just smooth, as is common with any economical driver.
I'd thought it was just Uber drivers trying to make a living out of their meagre fares.
There are a lot round me that are proper taxis, but they don't hang about.
I saw an interesting video about uber drivers pay, turns out that their pay system is more like a short term loan. (in the USA, presumably it is similar here)
I drive a hyrid. It will 'go' when on EV but, if you really push it, the petrol engine cuts in.
I find driving the car perfectly responsive on battery- it as a 4x4 and weighs 1.7T or so. It doesn't hang around if I need to pull out etc.
Being a hybrid it isn't intended to give a huge range on batteries. Short trips would typically be battery, then the engine cuts in. You can charge on the go, if you want.
We've had ours since Oct and are very pleased with it. We can do local trips and use no petrol for a couple of weeks. On longer runs, it is better than my CRV was, even though the car is heavier.
Batteries have an 8 year warranty so we will probably change cars before then.
We decided against pure electric due to concerns over charging on long trips- otherwise I was very tempted by the Tesla 4x4.
They do seem to attract slow drivers, but a Prius is certainly easily capable of getting over a ton and a long cruise at 80 plus is no problem.
I think the gentle driving they pootle about with is because of the very tempting lifetime mileage display, but there is no need to be very slow, just smooth, as is common with any economical driver.
****************************************I drive gentle, and I drive smooth.
I often do 85mph on a long motorway run when safe to do so.
What I don't get is the huge numbers of drivers who seem to think safe drivers are a problem.
(They usually drive an Audi)
For most of the people on the road, driving isn't a hobby, where going fast and dangerous is fun.
I think the hobbyists need to get over this. And soon. And develop some respect.
My Mk2 would quite comfortably hit the 105mph limiter.
Much faster than you'd expect them to be, actually. Really enjoyed winding people up by punting it down the inside at roundabouts and letting the electric motor fire me out the other side.
I have 2 years before I can order a replacement for my 520d - and will almost certainly be ordering some kind of hybrid to replace it.
It's not for me. Hybrids are petrol/diesel cars with electric assist. Why don't they make it the other way round: Electric with Petrol/Diesel assist? Taking care of 'Range anxiety'.
The simple answer is that such cars don't qualify as an EV. Only tiny fuel tanks is allowed, e.g. IBMW i3.
REx hybrids are only useful if you rarely drive long distances. Using a small range extending engine to power the electric drive train isn't all that efficient - so these kind of hybrids need plugging in to charge them.
A petrol with electric hybrid assist works better for long distance work
- you can charge the battery on a long distance cruise and take advantage of low emissions in urban situations.
Of course, the real answer is the hydrogen fuel cell - which, in theory, is a much more efficient way of storing electrical energy, as you don't need to carry half a tonne of batteries everywhere.
I don't think I've ever seen one doing that sort of speed. But of course round here the vast majority are mini-cabs. Where running costs are going to matter.
Strange you never see one going fast, but perhaps you don't use motorways very much.
But all cabs (believe they) have a mandate to go +10mph on posted speed limits. One told me that Friday and Saturday nights the cops like the town centers cleared as quickly as possibly and people hanging around on the street waiting for cabs cause trouble.
Yeah, and people living on 5'th floor in a high rise with only street parking; not easy to charge overnight.
For whom the H fuel cell car will be perfect.
All the more reason to notice then going slowly. Prompted by being on the M4 the other day with loads trundling out to the airport.
I'd certainly notice if one overtook me. ;-)
The M4 has been very congested or stopped almost everytime I have needed it (which is not that often)
Hydrogen may well be abundant, but a method of separating it to be used as a fuel is at this moment extremely inefficient. And likely to remain so for a long time to come.
Advantages of hydrogen are that it nearly matches the portability of petrol/diesel, at the same time as providing energy storage more effectively than storing electricity in batteries.
The existing petrol fuelling infrastructure could be adapted to provide electrolysis (to extract hydrogen and oxygen gases from water), to compress the hydrogen, and store the compressed hydrogen in suitable tanks which could be swapped in/out of cars. Given that oxygen gas is also industrially useful this could also be collected and stored.
Petrol filling stations with nearby solar panels could capture sunshine could go some way to meet this need; while other renewable or low-cost electricity sources could deliver power to the filling stations at other times.
This may in time become cheaper than extracting crude oil with its asociated production costs; and if the electricity is from renewable sources the carbon cost would be much lower.
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