Discussion
Can someone who owns or drives a hybrid please explain when its electric and when its petrol
I.e under what speed ? at night ? when all electrics are on ?
It was a thought for the mrs new car but dont really know much about them
Also do the batterys need changing every so many years or is that internet hearsay ?
thanks
I.e under what speed ? at night ? when all electrics are on ?
It was a thought for the mrs new car but dont really know much about them
Also do the batterys need changing every so many years or is that internet hearsay ?
thanks
Toyota Prius (and ones derived from it - Auris HSD, Lexus CT200h) will move under battery power only below about 30mph. Assuming a full battery, they'll do that for about 2 miles.
Essentially the engine starts when it's needed and switches off when it's not. If you accelerate hard, you get the engine power plus assistance from the battery. With high-speed cruising, you have the engine going but any spare power is going to charge the battery. When you coast down or brake, that energy is going to charge the battery, and it'll cut the engine too. For typical city driving (creeping along in traffic) it'll happily do that silently on battery. They have an EV button that will make it just use battery until it either runs out or you floor it.
If there's a lot of stuff running that needs power (lights, aircon, stereo, etc) then it just means there's a bit less capacity for driving the car forward so the engine will cut in earlier.
Toyota are offering a plug-in hybrid version of the Prius now which has more battery capacity and will do about 17 miles on battery, and get up to 60mph in EV mode. The idea is you top it up at home from your electricity supply and you can do most of your everyday journeys using very little petrol.
Others like the Honda hybrids and large Lexus hybrids (RX, etc) have less battery and electric motor power so can't operate on electric only, but it means they have more power available when you want it and a fairly small efficient petrol engine (that does stop-start) when you don't.
They drive just like a normal automatic car really. They can be very efficient if your journeys involve more than a 70mph cruise up the motorway - creeping along in traffic is where they excel because you don't have an engine sat there idling away your fuel.
As for batteries, there are plenty of taxis in Australia, NZ and the US with 300k+ miles on them on original batteries. Worst case they'll be losing some capacity with age and mileage so be less efficient - they won't just die one day and need replacing. Current Toyota hybrids have an 8 year / 100k mile warranty on the hybrid stuff.
Essentially the engine starts when it's needed and switches off when it's not. If you accelerate hard, you get the engine power plus assistance from the battery. With high-speed cruising, you have the engine going but any spare power is going to charge the battery. When you coast down or brake, that energy is going to charge the battery, and it'll cut the engine too. For typical city driving (creeping along in traffic) it'll happily do that silently on battery. They have an EV button that will make it just use battery until it either runs out or you floor it.
If there's a lot of stuff running that needs power (lights, aircon, stereo, etc) then it just means there's a bit less capacity for driving the car forward so the engine will cut in earlier.
Toyota are offering a plug-in hybrid version of the Prius now which has more battery capacity and will do about 17 miles on battery, and get up to 60mph in EV mode. The idea is you top it up at home from your electricity supply and you can do most of your everyday journeys using very little petrol.
Others like the Honda hybrids and large Lexus hybrids (RX, etc) have less battery and electric motor power so can't operate on electric only, but it means they have more power available when you want it and a fairly small efficient petrol engine (that does stop-start) when you don't.
They drive just like a normal automatic car really. They can be very efficient if your journeys involve more than a 70mph cruise up the motorway - creeping along in traffic is where they excel because you don't have an engine sat there idling away your fuel.
As for batteries, there are plenty of taxis in Australia, NZ and the US with 300k+ miles on them on original batteries. Worst case they'll be losing some capacity with age and mileage so be less efficient - they won't just die one day and need replacing. Current Toyota hybrids have an 8 year / 100k mile warranty on the hybrid stuff.
All the Toyota systems are basically the same. The comments about the Lexus ones above are false.
They use what they need to. Sometimes the engine will run when stationary, sometimes the engine will be off at 50 mph or more. There are no set speeds where things change over.
Don't have much experience of the Honda ones but don't think they can do 'milk float mode'!
They use what they need to. Sometimes the engine will run when stationary, sometimes the engine will be off at 50 mph or more. There are no set speeds where things change over.
Don't have much experience of the Honda ones but don't think they can do 'milk float mode'!
Honda does have an Ev mode with the civic shutting all valves such that they acts as air springs with the pistons not shifting air and reduce pumping losses. Fundamentally Honda IMA is an extra cylinder as its always crank side of the clutch as the flywheel the engine has to be turning for the electric motor to provide tractive effort. EV mode is only really an asset if you can charge off the grid IMO.
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