Tweaked Toyota Prius Gets 125 MPG

Very impressive! Could this really be executed?

— Caddyman07 (View Profile)

Posted on 5/31/2007 10:46:06 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

Impressive! But then again let's not forget the VW 1L, VW 3L and the Audi 2L.

— SevorbeupstryIsBack (View Profile)

Posted on 5/31/2007 11:13:44 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 4   

SO we plug it in, the coal burning plants to generate the electricity pollute the environment and my electricity bill costs more than it requires me to refuel my car all the time.

What was the purpose of the prius again?

— kpaxx (View Profile)

Posted on 5/31/2007 11:25:38 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 4   

isn't it misleading claiming 125 mpg if you have to plug it in?

— 1995e34 (View Profile)

Posted on 5/31/2007 11:31:23 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 3   

he has a trust fund, and sails yachts on the weekend.

— 1995e34 (View Profile)

Posted on 5/31/2007 1:12:08 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: -2   

america needs more boring people. we should start importing them. i'm not joking.

— 1995e34 (View Profile)

Posted on 6/1/2007 10:42:38 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 3   

I read somewhere (can't remember if it was on here or in the paper) but there are compaines out there that already do this. For about $11,000 they'll replace the batteries and add a plug-in feature, however, this voids the warranty entirely.

— huu76 (View Profile)

Posted on 5/31/2007 12:07:32 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 3   

Power from the grid is much cleaner than power from ICEs. First, most charging would be done at night, non-peak times. Second, many plants use clean(er) fuel sources, esp in areas where hybrids sell well, like CA.

— 1970toyotamarc (View Profile)

Posted on 5/31/2007 12:10:13 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 3   

RQ,
So why do the not sell them anymore? The battery they're using on this modification are nearly the same as what will be in the next Prius.

To answer my question, VW couldn't make any money on those 3 tin cans so they cheaped out and dropped it from the lineup. Heaven forbid the Germans would take a financial hit to make the world a better place.

Sailor,
I thought the same but my friend pointed out that powerplants run 24/7 and cannot retain any of the power, so excess capacity is wasted. You might as well use it if it's going to be created anyway. Saves you from having to use the gas motor to recharge the batteries.

— huu76 (View Profile)

Posted on 5/31/2007 12:11:18 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 4   

A typical factory Toyota Prius has the potential of getting 125 mpg.

— silent_power (View Profile)

Posted on 5/31/2007 12:19:32 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: -1   

This is essentially an electric vehicle (95%?). They just put the little bit of gas in there to get a really high MPG figure. Now, someone else should do the same thing but make it 99% electric/1% gas to get a 500mpg figure.

Silly, right? They should just call it what it is, an electric vehicle (you have to plug it in). Like you can't say something is "organic" unless it is 70% or more organic, you shouldn't call it a hybrid when it's almost completely electric. Sounds like marketing (hybrid sounds better than electric).

— Auto_expert (View Profile)

Posted on 5/31/2007 1:01:13 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

thats crazy!!!

— trd1 (View Profile)

Posted on 5/31/2007 5:34:17 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

actually - no matter what kind of battery you stick in the Prius - if you drive 55mph, you will NOT get 125mpg...it will be running on the ICE only...so what good is spending $10K+ on a better battery? it can only power the car up to about 25mph, after that all the power is provided by the ICE...sure it will assist in acceleration, but it cannot run on the electric motor alone. Personally I sold my Prius and bought an Insight. I drive approx 27 miles to work at 65-70mph and get 71mpg (902 miles on my last tank of gas), the same run in the Prius would net about 47mpg.

— bagwell (View Profile)

Posted on 6/1/2007 8:44:39 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

I don't care if its bigger or smaller.....just looking for the best possible MPG for my daily commute (IS350 is my weekend fun car BTW).

— bagwell (View Profile)

Posted on 6/1/2007 10:45:18 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

A typical Prius can get 125 mpg considering you have a clue about how a Toyota Prius works.

Some facts. Firstly, Prius CANNOT run on ICE only, even if battery is depleted.

Speaking about prius economy, you should learn to use generator power, not battery power.

Ignorance was always substantial on prius case.

— silent_power (View Profile)

Posted on 6/1/2007 2:43:14 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

Oh yeah? Have you ever heard of warp stealth mode?

— silent_power (View Profile)

Posted on 6/2/2007 4:27:35 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 3   

"at cruising speed ONLY THE ICE is running - not in conjunction with the electric motor."

Are you nuts? if electric motor would be "off" at speeds over 68 km/h then you could not move at all!

— silent_power (View Profile)

Posted on 6/2/2007 4:47:21 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

It s obvious that you don' t know how a Toyota Prius works. The equivalent in a manual gearbox car would have been, ignorance about gearbox role! Which means that you ruin mpg, performance, everything... Prius ICE engine is too weak to be able to move Prius on its own(speeds over 68 upto 180 km/h... no way). Furthermore, if you see how it works, you ll realise that Toyota Prius is the closest to electric car, because electric motor is vital across all speed range.
Warp stealth mode is a Prius function (G spot) that if you learn you can run over 68 km/h without fuel (given the fact that 60 hp enough for coasting).

— silent_power (View Profile)

Posted on 6/4/2007 1:52:00 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 0