[Tanada]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('angrybill', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tanada', 'S')omething I have always wondered about, if you disconnect the hybrid battery from the circuit completely, as if the battery had a short, how well does the Prius drive? It is aerodynamic and the gasoline engine is smallish so it should be in the same range as say a Camry, but I don't know of any test data showing one way or the other. Anyone know?

[angrybill]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tanada', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('angrybill', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tanada', 'S')omething I have always wondered about, if you disconnect the hybrid battery from the circuit completely, as if the battery had a short, how well does the Prius drive? It is aerodynamic and the gasoline engine is smallish so it should be in the same range as say a Camry, but I don't know of any test data showing one way or the other. Anyone know?

[bratticus]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')b]FEATURE-Toyota shock hits Japan's auto region By Yoko Nishikawa Reuters January 12, 2009:

NAGOYA, Japan, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Toyota shock has hit Japan's car manufacturing district, leaving factories and small businesses reeling as orders dry up due to a global recession that has put the brakes on car sales worldwide.

Toyota is firing thousands of contract workers, causing a rise in the number of jobless and homeless. The greater Nagoya economy is being hit hard with business slowing at shopping malls and taxi drivers complaining that customers are scarce.

... skip ...

At Takeshiro Kogyo Co., a 20-person factory that produces parts for Toyota car air conditioners and headlights, the fax machine used to spit out piles of orders. These days, faxes are rare.

"Nowadays, we only get faxes that show a decline in orders," said Sumiko Takeuchi, the company president. She points to virtually empty shelves that were once fully stocked with air conditioner parts.

... skip ... About 85,000 contract workers are being laid off across the country in the six months ending in March, of whom more than 10,000 are estimated to lose jobs in Aichi -- the biggest cut among Japan's 47 prefectures, a government survey showed.

... skip ... "I was fired and lost a place to live as well," said Yoshinori Sato, a 42-year-old former construction worker, looking down while finishing his curry. "I am now sleeping in an underground passage." ... snip ...

[yesplease]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tanada', 'S')omething I have always wondered about, if you disconnect the hybrid battery from the circuit completly, as if the battery had a short, how well does the Prius drive? It is aerodynamic and the gasoline engine is smallish so it should be in the same range as say a Camry, but I don't know of any test data showing one way or the other. Anyone know?

[joe1347]

Toyota revealed the next generation (gen III) 50mpg 2010 Prius today. Here's a few of the better links and a photo:
link 1 and link 2
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'D')ETROIT, January 12, 2009 --- Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc., unveiled the all-new 50-mile-per gallon rated third-generation Prius hybrid vehicle today at the 2009 North American International Auto show.

Celebrated as the benchmark for cars of the future, the Prius has delivered superior fuel economy and ultra-low emissions to more than one million owners worldwide for more than 10 years.

The midsize third-generation 2010 Prius will offer even better mileage ratings, enhanced performance, and innovative design features. It will be quieter, roomier, and equipped with advanced standard and available features such as a moonroof with solar panels, four driving modes, Intelligent Parking Assist (IPA) and steering wheel touch controls that display on the instrument panel.

[bratticus]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')b]Toyota shock hits Japan's auto region

... "I was fired and lost a place to live as well," said Yoshinori Sato, a 42-year-old former construction worker, looking down while finishing his curry. "I am now sleeping in an underground passage."

[Eli]

No plug in then, who cares fn cares,

gets 8 miles per gallon better per mile than the current generation big woop d woop.

People will buy these like hotcakes if they have a stinken job.

[mos6507]

Parallel hybrids enable gas cars to "be all they can be". Obviously there is a point of diminishing returns until you go the plugin route, but since it will take some time before plugins are cheap enough for the masses, parallel hybrids really should comprise the vast majority of the ICE fleet. The effort Honda has put forward lately in cost-reducing the new Insight is a case in point. Hybrids have to become not so much a showcase of advanced technology, but totally routine features of cars just as fuel injection, ABS brakes, and airbags have become.

[Serial_Worrier]

Cue Global Depression 2.0....

[Tyler_JC]

The incredible thing about this car is that not only has the fuel economy improved by 20%, but they've added a bunch of new electric features like "Intelligent Parking Assistant".

The car's fuel economy would be even better if you never turned on that junk.

This car is an impressive example of how quickly car manufacturers can adjust to higher fuel economy standards if the need arises.

Here's a vehicle getting 50MPG and in America the carmakers are whining about a 35MPG standard in 2020.

The next generation of Priuses (Prii?) will likely include a plug-in option. Or more likely, all cars will have to be plug-ins beyond a certain point because no one will be able to pay for the gas.

[bratticus]

[flash width=425 height=344]http://www.youtube.com/v/Ws5Ttd0_gMY[/flash]

[Schmuto]

The 09 prius gets 48 mpg, according to toyota, so it's a 4% increase at best.

The Prius is to idiot liberals what the Escalade is to moronic conservatives.

So let's see. You pay 25 large for the right to drive a car that gets about 10 mpg more than, say, a Honda Civic. At 4 dollars a gallon, over 100,000 miles, you save 2,000.

So the math is, spend 10 grand more to save 2 grand over the next 5 years?

That's at 4 bucks a gallon. At 2 bucks a gallon you're barely saving anything.

Nothing says, "I'm an idiot douchebag liberal with lots of money to spend trying to look like an environmentalist" like ownership of a Toyota Pious.

Want proof?

OK - Honda had to redesign its first hybrid because they weren't selling. When the idiot douchebag liberals were asked why they weren't buying the hybrid, the main answer was, "it doesn't look like a hybrid."

Oh lord.

[yesplease]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Schmuto', 'S')o let's see. You pay 25 large for the right to drive a car that gets about 10 mpg more than, say, a Honda Civic. At 4 dollars a gallon, over 100,000 miles, you save 2,000.

[yesplease]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tyler_JC', 'T')he incredible thing about this car is that not only has the fuel economy improved by 20%, but they've added a bunch of new electric features like "Intelligent Parking Assistant".

The car's fuel economy would be even better if you never turned on that junk.

[Munqi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Schmuto', 'T')he 09 prius gets 48 mpg, according to toyota, so it's a 4% increase at best.

The Prius is to idiot liberals what the Escalade is to moronic conservatives.

So let's see. You pay 25 large for the right to drive a car that gets about 10 mpg more than, say, a Honda Civic. At 4 dollars a gallon, over 100,000 miles, you save 2,000.

So the math is, spend 10 grand more to save 2 grand over the next 5 years?

That's at 4 bucks a gallon. At 2 bucks a gallon you're barely saving anything.

Nothing says, "I'm an idiot douchebag liberal with lots of money to spend trying to look like an environmentalist" like ownership of a Toyota Pious.

Want proof?

OK - Honda had to redesign its first hybrid because they weren't selling. When the idiot douchebag liberals were asked why they weren't buying the hybrid, the main answer was, "it doesn't look like a hybrid."

Oh lord.

[Heineken]

It's amazing to me that the automakers are making this big push toward expensive hybrid and electric cars at exactly the same time oil and gasoline prices are tumbling and people's incomes are falling like stones, if they have jobs at all.

These vehicles just aren't going to sell, and the economic fallout will further depress the economy . . . the vicious circle goes on.

[yesplease]

We gotta compare the two situations IMO. Even if EVs do cost more, that's money staying in America's economy for the most part. We can't say that for oil consumption since most of it ends up going overseas. That said, EVs only seem to cost more initially, w/ lower fuel/maintenance costs, and even at $1.50/gallon their lifetime costs seem to be about the same as conventional vehicles at volume. A benefit is less pollution, less energy needed for transport, fewer GHG emissions, ease of use w/ renewable electricity, the ability to act as a cheap buffer for electricity demand spikes, etc...

As a whole, even w/ gas at $1.50/gallon, they appear to be cheaper overall. The question then is, will America as a whole pay more up front in order to pay less down the road, both in upkeep and also in terms of overall costs.

[AirlinePilot]

The only reason we are not driving 60-80 mpg cars in the US is becasue the market does not want it. The tech exists, but the will to use it in lieu of the SUV paradigm does not. We just had probably the first big introduction to where fuel prices will go in the next 2-3 years. After that it probably gets worse. We have a small window here, albeit crippled by a probable depression, to get a massive effort in conservation going, but we obviously will fail.

There is no leadership on the road to efficiency right now. No corporate, or government recognition that we may have a serious problem. Without education and an aggressive effort to move in the direction of efficient and logical transportation...we wont.

This vehicle is direct proof of that. Its not a big enough step. I agree with the poster above, except for some left wing image seekers these will not sell very well with gasoline in these price ranges.

Silly Humans have short memories.

[Heineken]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('yesplease', 'W')e gotta compare the two situations IMO. Even if EVs do cost more, that's money staying in America's economy for the most part. We can't say that for oil consumption since most of it ends up going overseas. That said, EVs only seem to cost more initially, w/ lower fuel/maintenance costs, and even at $1.50/gallon their lifetime costs seem to be about the same as conventional vehicles at volume. A benefit is less pollution, less energy needed for transport, fewer GHG emissions, ease of use w/ renewable electricity, the ability to act as a cheap buffer for electricity demand spikes, etc...

As a whole, even w/ gas at $1.50/gallon, they appear to be cheaper overall. The question then is, will America as a whole pay more up front in order to pay less down the road, both in upkeep and also in terms of overall costs.

[Revi]

Do you mean idiot liberals or smart people?