Just wondering if all the start-ups and shutdowns of the ICE is wearing out something?? And if so what will be breaking/wearing out first: starter motor, other engine components? Has anyone ever counted the number of times the ICE has cycled on routine trips that may be repeated during the course of a week?? We try to drive our FEH with a minimum of ICE s/s but its tough especially in traffic..
Just wondering, anybody else??
Mike

 

Mike, you have your theory backwards. You WANT as many engine shut-downs as possible, not fewest. I go though as many as 30 s/s cycles per hour, and get about 50-60 miles per gallon when I do.

#1 you have a HUGE ( like 50 horsepower ) starter that starts your engine with the 330 volt battery, not the 12v one. ( the 12v one is almost not required in this car )

#2 no gas is injected into your engine until the RPM's are over 1000 via the electric motor.

#3 no gas is injected under 1000 RPM's when your engine spins down

Having your engine off for the greatest number of miles, and MINUTES is what hybrid driving is all about.

In the city, without A/C, I have my engine on for about 12 minutes per hour.
This keeps the engine very cool ( Like 150-160'F) and will make the oil last a long time also. This is more gentle on the car than constantly on at idle.

Hope that helps!
-John

 

John,
Thanks for the explaination, I'm just always thought that stop and go operation of a
vehicle is the hardest on any vehicle.. Apparently on a Hybrid it's engineered to do this, I have to rethink my driving habits, as all Hybrid owners should.
So there is a 12v starter and it's only used on keyed starts, right? During normal
driving restarts are done by the traction motor through the CVT,hopefully with minimal
wear and tear.. I need to study the CVT's operation to understand this feature..
The s/s I would like to avoid are the starts right after a ICE shutdown, ie. a start
after a stoplight (full charge) slowly pulling away feathering the go pedal and ofcourse there's always someone pushing from behind... With only 3500 miles we
are still learning, currently getting around 30.5 mpg.. and improving..
Thanks again
Mike

 

There is no 12V starter and the traction moter doesn't start the ICE either. The smaller motor/generator and HV battery is the only way to start the ICE. Like John has stated, go EV all you want to improve MPG.

GaryG

 

Gary,
So how does this starter /generator motor engage the ICE? Hopefully this is one of the
extended 10/150 CA warranty covered parts...
I've heard they're some FEH taxis with over 100K on them in service in San Francisco, would like to know how they're performing... I'll try and find out.
Thanks
Mike

 

The Prius has been used as a taxi in a number of cities. Some have over 200,000 miles on them. So far the naysayers predictions of doom and gloom have not been realized. There have been very few battery failures and they've been running very reliably.

 

Hi Mike

The small motor/generator and the traction motor/generator (regen) are sealed internal components of the eCVT (automatic transaxle). They are both connected to the gear set which is directly and indirectly conected to the crankshaft of the ICE. For instance, when you are in reverse, the traction motor changes direction and turns the output shaft and drive wheels the other way, but the ICE can be started at the same time with the small motor/generator to power the traction motor with current. This is all strange information, but is found in the patents, GH threads and on the FEH Yahoo site.

The good news is, it is all covered under your 10year/150,000 mile and my 8yr/100,000 mile warranty. The eCVT cannot be internally repaired except for flash programing of the Transmission Control Module. Ford must replace the eCVT as a unit if it fails. Great Unit if I do say so myself.

GaryG

 

A frog led me to this http://auto.consumerguide.com/Articl...RID_TAXIS.html
I guess San Francisco was the first US city to put FEHs to work as taxis.. One cabbie claims he saved 3000$ in one year on fuel... Still waiting to hear how they're holding up mechanically..
Mike

 

Remember that this engine is designed for this... the stuff that I understand wears out a normal engine from repeated starts doesn't apply here... namely:

1) it doesn't use a tiny starter motor and a ring gear that is underpowered and has to crank like heck.. it starts in less than a second with a large motor.

2) The engine has not sat overnight allowing the oil to drop down into the oilpan leaving the engine starved of oil when its rolling over (well the first start in the day but thats every engine) When the engine is re-starting it will still be well oiled reducing that initial friction

3) These are warm/hot starts, not starts on a cold engine block.

 

Off topic, but I've personally saved $1000 in 18 mos. of ownership by driving the 37 MPG Ford Escape vs. the 20 MPG Mini-Van I traded in.

With $3600 in state and federal tax credits, and gas savings, I'll be down to the price of the standard Escape in 2 years. I will "literally" be saving money with this car in the 3rd year.

Reports that Hybrids are not economical are done by un-educated authors.