Hybrids, the debate starts here.

Own a hybrid? Don't feel left out; heres a little corner just for you.
User avatar
ChrisB
Posts: 4657
Joined: Fri Jul 14, 2006 11:33 am
Location: Hampshire on the Southcoast
Contact:

Postby ChrisB » Fri Jun 01, 2007 11:14 pm

Now your dangling carrots in front of me :lol:

Had hoped that your El was going to be there mind you :cry:

ChrisB
I reject reality and substitute my own !!!!!!

User avatar
aminorjourney
Posts: 1084
Joined: Thu Sep 14, 2006 5:24 am
Location: Bristol
Contact:

Postby aminorjourney » Sat Jun 02, 2007 6:09 am

Yes, but my El only has one seat. I'll be driving that and 'MeriKate will drive our Prius.

Sadly the other local City El won't be there as it has a broken leaf spring :(
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield

EVangelist and Media Relations Coordinator, www.ZeroCarbonWorld.org
Host, www.transportevolved.com

http://about.me/aminorjourney/bio

marktime
Posts: 179
Joined: Thu May 10, 2007 11:36 am
Location: Littlehampton, West Sussex

Postby marktime » Sun Jun 03, 2007 7:28 pm

Chris, you don't want the 'most' little green cars (LGC's) you want the fewest for better fuel economy.
Lot's of LGC's suggest accelerating towards red traffic lights and late braking, not the stuff an EV driver would do.

Nikki, don't loose heart, not only is there a knack to good MPG you also need to get the 'average' gauge on your side.

I will repeat here a post of mine from the Prius forum with some additions for clarity.

If like me you reset the MPG at refill you will see that when you first set off or within the first 100 miles it is very easy to influence the MPG one way or the other as you get towards 500 - 550 miles it is much harder to
influence the MPG.

I once 'sold tickets' to show off that I had got to the office car park with 90+MPG on the display, I had just filled the tank the car was 'good and warm' and I arrived with less than 5 miles on the counter. If you just reset the MPG at any time you can get very good or very bad figures in the first 100 miles that can be much harder to influence later.

This is very apparent if you ride a bike and have a cycle computer
that gives average speed. If you set off at a fast pace your average
speed will be high but to try and sustain that average over about 8 -
10 miles kills me!! If you set off at a slower pace you can
certainly maintain the average over a greater distance and might
even be able to push it up if you put on a spurt.
Weather it is Miles per Hour or Miles per gallon the more miles you
are dividing into small variations in the divisor have little
influence.


Try these examples: If you use 1 Gal to drive 50 miles or 10 gals to
drive 500 miles that is still 50 MPG but if you vary the fuel used
in the first 50 miles i.e 0.9 Gal for 50 miles = 55.55MPG or 1.1 Gal
for 50 Miles = 45.45MPG. Big difference! These figures will carry forward and influence your final average for the tank full.
Over 500 miles the same variation in fuel used gives a much smaller
variation. 9.9 Gals for 500 miles =50.5 MPG and 10.1 gals gives 49.5
MPG. This is why it is so much harder to influence the avarage at the end of a tank full.


I do hope that this makes some sense.

Mark
Soft as Graphite, Hard as Diamond, Black as Coal & clear as CO2, It's a Carbon thing!

User avatar
aminorjourney
Posts: 1084
Joined: Thu Sep 14, 2006 5:24 am
Location: Bristol
Contact:

Postby aminorjourney » Tue Jun 05, 2007 12:29 pm

Thank you Mark. I don't feel quite so inadequate now in my Prius driving skills! ;)

The car is due a fill-up so perhaps I can play with it again after filling it up! :)

Nikki.
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield

EVangelist and Media Relations Coordinator, www.ZeroCarbonWorld.org
Host, www.transportevolved.com

http://about.me/aminorjourney/bio

marktime
Posts: 179
Joined: Thu May 10, 2007 11:36 am
Location: Littlehampton, West Sussex

Postby marktime » Wed Jun 06, 2007 11:45 am

Of course all this showing off with the maths can distort the results, for a more realistic result measure fuel added and distance travelled.


Mark
Soft as Graphite, Hard as Diamond, Black as Coal & clear as CO2, It's a Carbon thing!

marktime
Posts: 179
Joined: Thu May 10, 2007 11:36 am
Location: Littlehampton, West Sussex

Postby marktime » Fri Jun 15, 2007 11:47 am

New challenge for you Nikki, I performed the 'filling the prius with petrol' ceremony yesterday and before filling I snapped the consumption display.

Image

It's a bit fuzzy but that is 66.8MPG over 630 miles, I know I posted one with 66.4 MPG earlier but that was over very low mileage, it's a real acheivement sustain these values over a whole tank full.
So I am giving myself a pat on the back for my personal best.

Mark
Soft as Graphite, Hard as Diamond, Black as Coal & clear as CO2, It's a Carbon thing!

User avatar
aminorjourney
Posts: 1084
Joined: Thu Sep 14, 2006 5:24 am
Location: Bristol
Contact:

Postby aminorjourney » Fri Jun 15, 2007 2:31 pm

WOW!

After driving a large LDV van all weekend I'm sure I'd love to give it a go ;)
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield

EVangelist and Media Relations Coordinator, www.ZeroCarbonWorld.org
Host, www.transportevolved.com

http://about.me/aminorjourney/bio

User avatar
aminorjourney
Posts: 1084
Joined: Thu Sep 14, 2006 5:24 am
Location: Bristol
Contact:

Postby aminorjourney » Fri Jun 22, 2007 3:09 pm

Well, I'm now a member of the 60 mpg club :D

Image

Do I get a sticker now? :)
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield

EVangelist and Media Relations Coordinator, www.ZeroCarbonWorld.org
Host, www.transportevolved.com

http://about.me/aminorjourney/bio

marktime
Posts: 179
Joined: Thu May 10, 2007 11:36 am
Location: Littlehampton, West Sussex

Postby marktime » Fri Jun 22, 2007 5:15 pm

Well done Nikki, you get a virtual pat on the back an the right to wear a smug grin!

I had been thinking that you would be at a disadvantage not being the regular driver as it takes a bit of practice to get your technique together.
I had better go out now and check my tyre pressures and see if I can do better!!


Mark
Soft as Graphite, Hard as Diamond, Black as Coal & clear as CO2, It's a Carbon thing!

theinsightfullone
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Sep 16, 2007 3:29 pm

Postby theinsightfullone » Mon Sep 17, 2007 12:51 pm

aminorjourney wrote:Well, I'm now a member of the 60 mpg club :D

Image

Do I get a sticker now? :)


[smug Insight driver mode on]

Ah but can you get into the 90mpg club????????

[smug Insight driver mode off]


Return to “Hybrid's Corner”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 17 guests