Well just for kicks the fellas from my biz and I ran a little experiment this evening. We picked a route after traffic died down in the evening, and we drove 3 vehicles down the same route. My H2, a Chevy 3/4 pickup, and my prius. We drove all the vehicles around a very lazy route with 40-55mph speed limits and a minimum of stops. Despite the minimum of stops, there was one long stretch of road where the prius could glide on battery power and i think this route is about as good for mileage in the prius as any, same for the other vehicles.


the prius delivered (in a seperate test with the A/C off and interior temps well into the 90's over most of the drive) 65.3 according to its computer.

In the formal test, keeping interior temperatures comfortable, the prius delivered 53.7 according to its computer

the pickup delivered 35.2 miles on 2.07 gallons, or 17 mpg. The pickups gas use was determined by fill-up, as its 'puter doesn't show 0.1 gallons of fuel and its miles were farther due to having to drive to fill up.

the hummer turned 1.9 gallons of fuel and delivered 34.3 miles, or 18.1 mpg. gallons determiend by the computer, test started when the fuel used meter ticked to a new level, and stopped at the same.

Note on computers: i've calibrated the hummers computer and its accurate based on odometer and fill-up to within +/- 0.1 MPG.

The prius's computer can't be calibrated by fillup, because it uses a rubber bladder which can't be consistently filled. So only over many thousands of miles can you attain an estimate of actual mileage. It looks like my prius is about 5-10% high on the mileage readings.


So, some notes: the pri gets killed by the A/C. The A/C is typical japanese car as in barely adequate, and has to run constantly to maintain interior temp on a hot day like today (high 80's during the test). 65 or even 60 if its 10% high is pretty darn good mileage, so you have to admit the technology delivers around town... although no normal person would suffer through that level of interior heat.

But in comparable levels of interior comfort (temp maintained at ~70 deg or so), the prius delivers less than 3 times the mileage of a hummer. All in all, i don't think that speaks badly of the H2.

It has to be noted that the pickup's mileage is superior to the hummers at speeds of 70 or higher, probably due to aerodynamics or something. But around town it runs at far higher RPMs and its mileage suffers. The prius's mileage drops dramatically above about 55, falling by about 0.8 mpg per mph above that speed. roughly.

The hummer would not get 18 if speeds wer ehigher than 40-45, as it seems to lose about 1mpg for every 5-6 mph above 55 or so. but the prius wouldn't get 50-something, either. The prius gets about 4x the mileage of the hummer in around-town driving, and about 3 or so at interstate speeds... all of which depends on whether you use alot of A/C or not. The hummer doesn't really care if its A/C is on.

 

now, don't go sending the moderators death threats if you happen to be an enviro-snob and read this. Its an honest experiment reported as accurately as possible.

I got better mileage out of both the prius (60-something) and the hummer (18) than anybody is likely to get in normal living.

the prius is about 3x better than the hummer at highway speeds and 4x around town, and the use of A/C to keep comfort on a hot day murders mileage. The biggest advantage of the pri is around town, where shutting off the engine every time you coast or stop keeps mileage from dropping through the floor. In some comparisons, differences of as much as 4.5 or even 5 times better mileage may be possible, but those situations aren't likely to ever occur in my area.


Is the prius 6x better than the H2? 10x? No, more like 3.5.

The reaslistic # of persons that each vehicle can carry for travel with bags and all its 3 for the prius and 5 for the H2. The H2 could seat 5 in good comfort with reclining rear seats, or at least 4 in wicked comfort (with reclinging rears) its debateable whether anybody can travel in comfort in a prius, as its not a very comfortable car. But its also much less than 1/2 the price, so it could be said that the H2 had dang well better be more comfortable.

So as the H2 could road-trip with 5 + bags -vs- 3+ bags it could be said the mileage of the prius is about 2x better in that regard. The prius has at least as good or better rear seat legroom than the H2, but the seats are ancient toyota parts-bin bunk, and the H2 has far more cargo room (especially if you remove the 3rd row)



Next, i shall conduct a formal pickup/hummer/prius offroad showdown.

 

anyway, i'm going to run more of these in the future. For interstate travel (75mph), around town at 2pm, aroudn town at 2pm stopping to shop for stuff, and whatever else comes to mind.

See, the prius's mileage is optimized when you drive it for a long time. it isn't so good when you first turn it on as it runs the gas motor constantly to charge the battery and warm up the engine. So the stop-to-shop comparison will probably not favor the pri very much, but the drive-around-town during traffic will favor it maximally.

By and large i think that the H2 is the winner in the mileage showdown so far. Not that its mileage doesn't suck - it does - but i bet not one site anywhere in the world says the H2 is 3x worse than the prius, or 3.5x. More like 10x or 8x or 6x or 5x.

 

[sm=rant.gif]Just wanted to say my impressions of these Gull darn Hybrids..

First of all, I'm not ready to throw in the towel on my pure combustion engine driven cars yet, let alone having a hybrid HUMMER of all damn things..What an insult to the engine driven purest...

Second of all, what the hell you saving fuel cost for on these liberal limp wrist hybrids? When after about 5 to 7 years you'll have to replace all those damn batteries, for about the same cost of all that money you saved on fuel, driving the whimpy piece of electronic nightmare for the past 5-7 years, too embarrased to be seen driving it near a real man's HUMMER, so you end up flipping the HUMMER a bird in sheer angst.

And Last..If you're a greenpeace, tree huggin, Spotted owl saving, minded moron..Then, what to hell do you suggest we do with all these highly toxic used batteries that are not recyclable?...
[sm=rant.gif]

Thank you

 

well, i think the technology is interesting (hybrids).

i also think that you hit on alot of the relevant points:

1. you will never, ever, get back in gas savings the cost of a hybrid-vs-comparable standard car
2. the hybrid isn't without considerable problems of its own. As you noted, you have disposal problems with alllll those batteries should we all start driving hybrids. but more than that
3. it costs alot to make all those batteries. not just money, but energy and Co2 and all of that.

and

4. yes, i think your comment about the hummer and the hybrid and why the latter flips off the hummer is about dead-accurate.

But back to seriousness, if you go to this page: http://www.cnwmr.com/nss-folder/automotiveenergy/

and look at the study they offer to the world, and you see that they estimate that over the life of the vehicle, the H2 will use less energy than the Prius - because of the things you mentioend and i mentioned above. The prius takes alot of energy to build and to destroy someday.


So, basically, i think the hybrid really doesn't have much of a future. But its fun having one in the present, when some people love you and some peopel hate you for no reason at all other than you drive

A. a hummer
B. a hybrid



i really think its fun having both. its interesting.

 

basically, that CNW study shows there is more to all of this than miles - per - gallon.

and i hope to spend the evening reading that huge new file, which i haven't seen before.

 

Greenblade, thanks for your time and your analysis it is appreciated.

 

Very interesting, indeed. Thanks for conducting your experiment and sharing your results

 

Greenblade, I wish I had your time..............Great job though!!!!!!![sm=icon_cheers.gif]

 

thanks you guys.

it only took about an hour, lol. and it was pretty fun. I will sign the slip that says "that's a weird thing to do, green" if somebody faxes it to me, though.


That CNW study doesn't reflect any of the following, i don't think:

-CO2 generated over the life of a vehicle
-oil used over the life of a vehicle

So it isn't likely that the H2 uses less fuel (net) or generates less CO2 (net) than the prius over the course of the life of the vehicle, but if the mileage is 3x worse in the H2, the overall fuel and CO2 might be as little as 2x worse if even that.

I'm going to compose a letter to CNW and hope that they respond explaining that i own both of these vehicles and i'm simply curious what their study really reflects, and if i can divine CO2 and oil use and whatever else.