Pay Less at the Pump: The Hybrid Revolution
(Page 6 of 8)
October/November 2005
By John Rockhold
Down the Road:
Chevrolet Equinox (SUV)
Chevrolet Malibu (midsize)
Chevrolet Tahoe (SUV)
Dodge Ram (truck)
Ford Fusion (midsize)
GMC Yukon (SUV)
Mercury Milan (midsize)
Porsche Cayenne (SUV)
Toyota Sienna (minivan)
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THE PRIUS YOU CAN PLUG IN
By Scott Hollis
A modified hybrid Toyota Prius sedan averaged 102 miles per gallon during the 2005 Tour de Sol advanced car rally held in New York state. The Prius used less than $1 in electricity and only $4 in gasoline to sustain it during the 150-mile race! The prototype Prius (called a plug-in hybrid) was a message to automakers and consumers that the technology to take hybrids one step further is here.
WHAT'S A PLUG-IN?
This modified Toyota hybrid, developed by Energy CS of Monrovia, Calif., operates just like any other Prius, but it can get more than 100 mpg on long trips because the 1.3-kilowatt hour (kWh) battery has been replaced with a more powerful 9-kWh Valence Technologies lithium-ion battery pack that can be recharged from a standard electrical outlet. At residential neighborhood speeds (less than 35 mph), specialized monitoring and control circuits in the Energy CS Prius automatically select electric operation — resulting in almost zero tailpipe emissions — during the first 50 to 60 miles, minimally “boosted” by the gas engine until the battery charge is depleted. After that, the Energy CS plug-in falls back to the mileage of a standard Prius.
As a result, the Energy CS Prius would stay almost exclusively in electric mode for short, local trips and use only a small fraction of the gasoline consumed by conventional cars. In low-speed city driving and 55-mph highway driving, it’s possible to average more than 200 mpg. Faster 65-mph driving, however, will result in 100 mpg or less, and 75-mph highway driving will average less than 80 mpg. For longer, mixed-driving trips up to 70 miles, the modified Prius averages between 120 and 180 mpg, depending on driving habits, hills and car speed. Because electric motors are much more efficient than gas engines, the air pollution from a plug-in is much less than that produced by an internal-combustion, gas-powered vehicle (for more information, see The Potential of Plug-ins, which is available in the October/November issue; subscribe today to receive the issue).
“They’re basically like some current hybrids, but with larger batteries and the ability to recharge conveniently so local travel is electric, yet the vehicle has unlimited range when it switches to the gas engine,” says Felix Kramer, founder of The California Cars Initiative (CalCars). “While currently available hybrids may cut gasoline use by one-third, plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles can cut out another third.”
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