No problemo. I've got such thick skin I might as well be a turtle.

Actually that "FULL and MILD" thing really used to get on my nerves some years back.

 

Of course, another way to think of it is this:
- Full hybrids assist a LOT at low speeds and hardly at all at highway speed.
- Mild hybrids assist a moderate amount at ANY speed.

The valve of either System really depends on how the individual user needs to drive.

 

- Mock hybrids only turn off the engine when stopped.

Bob Wilson

 

I'm not a Prius/FEH owner, so I'm asking an uniformed question; what leads you to say that full hybrids assist hardly at all at highway speeds? Is it because the Prius uses a lot of battery during starts, without ICE, so they programmed it to not assist much at highway speeds? I would think with a 40 hp motor it would assist a lot, if it's programmed like the HCHII.

 

Good question. With the FEH, on expressways, I'm pretty much always in "hybrid drive", that is both the electric and gas motors are contributing power. During my 80 mile expressway commute back and forth, I rarely see Engine drive with no electric support more than 2 or three times, for less than 15 seconds each time.

I tend to think of them as fundamentally different, but with the same overall idea.

IMA: A gas engine with an eletric motor to help out.

HSD: An electric motor with a gas engine to help out.

Mock: A gas engine that wishes it had an electric one to help out.

 

I don't care for technologies such as hydrogen vehicles offered as a cure-all, then doing little to nothing with technologies currently at hand. Both GM and GWB could be more serious about hybrids and trim vehicles instead of dangling the allure of fuel cell vehicles that are years away. If you want credibility, do something now.

Concerning what the government can do now, I have a list that I'm sure others will add to (some controversial):

1. Seriously raise the CAFE standards and include the H1 and H2
2. Narrow the farm vehicle exemption to farmer and businessmen that use it as a workhorse - no billboard Hummers - no exemptons on luxury SUV's
3. More incentives for windmills, residential and workplace solar energy.
4. Require desktop computers to have more of the energy-saving features laptops do.
5. Continue to raise the energy efficiency of home appliances and air conditioners.
6. Require new vehicles to run on flexible fuels
7. Surcharge on obvious macho, but gas-guzzling options such as tires oversized for that vehicle, monster trucks jacked up a couple of feet, rhino bars....
8. Have fleets on the local, state, federal, and non-combat military level to run with alt. fuel/hybrid technology.
9. Encourage cities to syncronize traffic lights to stay green if cruising at a constant speed.
10. (Controversial) More nuclear plants
11. (Also controversial) Implement "clean coal" plants.
12. Work on reclaiming material and energy from solid waste landfills

One broadcast suggested that if Americans got 5mpg better on what they drive, we would not be complaining about gas prices now....sounds reasonable.

 

Another thing I cringe when I read is that you should get a Honda if you drive on the highway and a Prius if you drive in the city. I do believe the Prius has a little advantage in the city but I don't think the Hondas have any advantage on the highway.

 

I was under the impression that Hondas get better highway mileage than the Prius? If that's the case then the 'recommendation' would be true as the Prius does get better city mileage than a civic.

I'm probably totally wrong though

 

On the highway the HCHs are EPA rated at 47, 51, 51 for the gen1 CVT, MT and gen2 respectively. The gen2 Prius is rated at 51 highway so the Civics are all the same or less. Of course the Insight does better but an Insight is so much smaller a direct comparison to a Prius is not fair.

I'm a huge Honda hybird fan including the Insight but I like to be fair at the same time. Just as I don't like misinformation that makes the Prius look artifically better than the Civic the reverse is also true. The Prius deserves credit where credit is due.

 

Sometimes we forget not everybody is familiar with some of the acronyms thrown out here. For instance - what is TCH? That' probably the Toyota Camery Hybrid, but it's a guess. Occasionally spelling things out can clue the unfamiliar in.