Any Prius owners out there?

[Banjo]

Mark,
The traction control system on the Prius can give you trouble in certian conditions. We've had customers come in ans tell us they got stuck in just a tiny bit of slippery snow in thier driveways. I believe Toyota is working on that issue right now. Most of our other cars have the "trac off" option. But for now Toyota won't let the hybrids do that because of the massive amount of potential torque available at a dead stop. Think about the average Prius owner, and you decide from a legal liability standpoint if you want to allow them that option.
But they need to do something. because of exactly what you state. they take all your power away if the wheels begin to spin, and if you're trying to power across some ice or snow, you're outta luck.
There are ways to bypass that system, but not as common knowlage.
As for the dead on the road issue, yes that has been addressed. there were very few actual incidents of that occuring, but the media jumped on that one. It was a simple fix, and was done to all potentially affected cars.
Also, if someone did have that occur, the cars almost always restarted once they were on the side of the road.

They'rd gonna have weirdy problems. Any new technology does. But we really haven't seen any major bugs, and personally, I'd like to have a prius. I think they're nice little cars, and are rather well trimmed for thier price.
I just can't even think of affording one. I had to buy a 2 year old Scion XB with 65k miles, and even then I'm pushing the bank.

 

[aerog]

I dunno about all this Prius stuff. I was just curious about the oil thing. My next car is either going to be a new Mini or a Mazdaspeed Mazda-3 (or...maybe a 5-door 6).

Or... OR... if I end up having to do a long commute maybe a TDI for the mileage /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif

 

[Morris]

Speaking of hybrids, have you guys seen the GM Volt concept car.

https://www.chevrolet.com/electriccar/

As I understand it, it's an all electric car with an on-board internal combustion powered generator. It's a pretty neat concept, though, we will probably never get to see it on the road. It seems to me that it is just a GM marketing ploy.

 

[sparkydave]

Can't say I own one, but one of my coworkers does. He took me for a ride in it, and I'll say from a engineer's perspective it's a neat car. Bear in mind we're both electrical engineers, and he's determined to convert it to all-electric power someday; he's been finding all the hacks and tweaks that other Prius owners have discovered, including a few folks who have converted it to all-electric power. I'll admit it's weird having the thing take off without a sound and then later hear a faint engine noise when it starts. For the record, he's been averaging around 48 MPG in it. Not bad for city commuting.

 

[Banjo]

They actually get better mileage in the city than on the highway.
In town it can run on the electric motor alone for a while.
In the highway the gas engine has to run all the time. It can only run up to about 45 MPH on electric alone, then it needs the rotation of the gas engine to go faster.(double planitary gear sets).

 

[piman]

Hello all,

as all this is environmentally driven, how about if we stop all this 'development' and just make sufficient new vehicles, with the existing designs to replace those that are totally worn out? That is, repair, not consume?

Aston Martin (pre Ford), and I believe Porsche at one time were talking about their 'car for life philosophy'?

Alec

 

[Bret]

You've got a point Alec, But I don't see that happening until they (the manufactures) can develope huge Cars, Trucks & SUVs that folks so desire.

Likewise cost is another concern - it's rather hard for someone to digest the idea of paying as much for one of these little clown cars as they would for a full sized sedan or minivan that gets about 25-35 mph on the highway.