The Toyota Prius is a 4 door hatchback carrying up to 5 people. It is a little smaller than the Camry. The price starts at $23,000. (A new Camry starts around $20,000.) We paid around $27,000 with the extras and tax.
Yesterday, Toyota sold the 1 millionth Prius in the US. They have been selling them here for about 11 years. But I find most people do not know anything about them!
The Prius is powered by both a gasoline engine and an electric motor, gets an estimated 51 miles per gallon in the city and 48 on the highway. It is the most fuel-efficient car in the U.S. according to the Environmental Protection Agency. You do not plug it in (although a pluggable Prius is planned for 2012). Its battery is charged up by the gas engine when it is running and by the electric motor acting like a generator when slowing down or braking. This is why the car gets great mpg in the city because it captures the energy normally lost every time one brakes. Also, the gas engine will shut down when stopped at a traffic light and only comes back on when it is needed. Click here for more information on the car from Toyota.
There are other hybrid cars besides the Prius. Check out the Ford Fusion Hybrid it is rated 41/36 mpg city/highway by EPA. Also look into the Lexus CT 200h (43/40), Honda Civic Hybrid (40/43) and Honda Insight (40/43).
U.S. Autos Account for Half of Global Warming Linked to Cars Worldwide. Car are responsible for 35% of the overall carbon dioxide output. So upgrading to cars that are much more efficient will make a big impact of the global climate change caused by humans.
In the US gasoline accounts for almost 45 percent of all oil use. US uses about 21 million of barrels of oil per day, but domestic production is only 6 million. Thus 9.45 million is used by cars. Currently, the US imports most of its oil from North, Central and South America, but it does import about 2 million from the Middle East countries. Thus if people were to switch to cars like the Prius we might reduce our imports by up to 4 million and US would no longer need oil from the Middle East.
Someday, hopefully, we will have reasonably priced electric cars with decent range between fast charges, but in the meantime there are numerous hybrids to choose from.
The benefits of switching to cars like the Prius: lower our gasoline costs, significantly help the environment and perhaps fight fewer wars over oil!
 |
| Dashboard showing 50 mpg consumption after driving around the suburbs. Actual consumption which we calculate when we buy gas comes out a bit lower - around 48 mpg. |
Today went to get gas and a free car wash. Gas was $4.329/gal. Filled up with 8.173 gallons costing $35.38. Had traveled 409.4 miles in the suburbs with this. So got 50 miles per gallon!
ReplyDeleteThen went to get the free automatic car wash. Should have practiced first on how to get into neutral! When the guy said put it into neutral I pushed the shift lever to N and released, but it did not go into neutral! Tried again. The guy realized we were not in neutral and stopped the line. I said I could not get it into neutral. It was my first time in the car wash. By this time I was panicking and I turned it off and then on. Still having problems. He called someone and they said to hold down the brake pedal. Finally, got it into neutral but all the dash board warning lights were on during the car wash. Then at the end I had trouble getting it into drive as the car behind me was closing in!
Got home and read the manual and then did some practicing. All I needed to do was to move the shift level to N and HOLD it for 2 seconds! Did not need to press on brake pedal. Same to go into drive. Still getting use to this car...
HOLD what for 2 seconds?
ReplyDeleteYou have to hold the shift lever in the N position for a second or so. The shift lever is different from most cars in that you move it to a position but when you let go the lever moves back to a middle position. So if you don't hold it long enough in its new position it does not register evidently. Maybe it is a safety feature to prevent one from accidently getting into neutral.
ReplyDeleteTo put car in drive, you need to press on the brake pedal while moving the lever to D position. But you don't need to press on the brake pedal while moving to N (which is how it is in most cars), just need to hold it a bit before releasing it.
Wow - 71 mpg! In the 4 miles home from the gas station (where we calculated we had gotten 50 mpg over the last few weeks) the traffic was heavy so no fast accelerations, our Prius showed we averaged over 71 mpg! See if Bev can keep that up on her way to work tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteRecently, Bev has been averaging 54 mpg going to and from work according to the readout on the dashboard. When we fill it up we calculate the actual gas usage which we have found to be usually about 2 mpg less.
ReplyDeleteLast weekend we drove downtown Chicago. The traffic was terrible - stop and go. But the Prius loved it! Many 5 minute intervals getting over 100 MPG! That's because often the Prius was running on just the battery and the gas engine was not even running! Overall, we averaged 60 mpg on the about 60 mile trip. Meaning we used about a gallon of gas to go to Chicago and back!
ReplyDeleteI never really enjoyed driving a car; turned on the radio for enjoyment. But now forget the radio, especially when the traffic gets bad. Driving the Prius I now enjoy watching the MPG. There is the instantaneous Miles Per Gallon and there a chart that is updated every 5 minutes. This chart just goes up and up - 50MPG - normal- but then 60, 70, 80, 90 ... goes higher and higher the more stop and go the traffic!!!
ReplyDeleteIt is March 2012 and we have had the Prius now for a year. Generally, we get over 52-55 mpg in suburb driving! Even better driving stop and go in downtown Chicago! On the highways we get around 50 mpg. However, in the winter time, the gas engine runs richer because it is very cold and more because of the internal heater. So we tend to average about 46 mpg.
DeleteDon't know why everyone isn't driving some type of hybrid!
Toyota now offers 4 varieties of the Prius. Check out the Prius family: http://www.toyota.com/upcoming-vehicles/prius-family/
We have a Toyota Sienna (minivan) and a Toyota Prius (hybrid). I noticed that recently we went about the same number of miles before filling up.
ReplyDeleteOn the Sienna we went about 314 miles bought 17.5 gallons at $4.30 for a total of $75!
On the Prius we went about 324 miles bought 6.3 gallons at $4.36 for a total of $27!
The Prius is costing us about 1/2 to 1/3 the cost of the Sienna! It is averaging around 50 mpg where as the Sienna averages 18 to 23 in city driving.