How economical is the Toyota Prius really?

Priyesh I

I recently saw an episode of Top Gear, where they drove a Prius and BMW M3 at similar speeds - and they showed that you'd get better mpg with the M3. I ask because ' it is a TV show after all '















































Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0o63BOVlzhc

joelfinchy2

the prius is nice for city but if you dont stop and go i would get something like a ford focus or a mini if your looking for gas milage

Ari R

Top Gear is correct! If you drive the Prius hard, the gasoline engine will always be running. The Prius system is optimized by short trips in which it can run on just electric power. When the engine is running it is LESS efficient than a comparable vehicle with similar engine size because it is also forced to charge the mass of batteries that it carries. The weight of these batteries also negatively affects the efficiency. The M3 has a relatively high top gear (6th) in which on the highway the high performance engine is just "loafing" along at very low RPMs. Lower engine speed = lower fuel consumption.















Take these same 2 cars and run them through stop and go city traffic and the Prius will STOP using gas while it runs on the batteries powering the car and the BMW will use more.

mrvadeboncoeur

It's all a matter of how you drive. Drive like a maniac or don't properly maintain your vehicle, and you'll get low MPG in any car. Drive concienciously, and you'll get high MPG in any car.































Top Gear is an entertainment program, not a motoring journal, and they've been well known to do whatever they can to flog and discredit the Prius and other hybrids. (For example, they bought a perfectly good NHW11 Prius and took it out to a gun shooting range and blasted holes in it. Where's the motoring advice or journalism there? Wouldn't a wrecked Prius have worked just as well? Also, in the episode that you quote, they used information from a now retracted/poorly researched newspaper article.)































Actual BMW M3 owners in the US claim around 20 (US) MPG on average:















http://www.fueleconomy.gov/mpg/MPG.d...e=BMW&model=M3















http://www.fueleconomy.gov/mpg/MPG.d...%20Convertible















http://www.fueleconomy.gov/mpg/MPG.d...del=M3%20Coupe















(On the standardized EPA test cycle, the BMW M3 has a combined MPG of 17.)































While Toyota Prius owners average mid-high 40s for MPG:















http://www.fueleconomy.gov/mpg/MPG.d...ta&model=Prius















http://www.greenhybrid.com/compare/m...-priushsd.html















(On the standardized US EPA test cycles, the Toyota Prius has a combined MPG of 46. So, on average, a Prius owner should see more than 2x the MPG than a M3 owner, because the same test is applied to both cars.)































Using the UK test cycles, and Imperial MPG:















http://www.vcacarfueldata.org.uk/sea...s.asp?id=10982 has the Toyota Prius at 65.7MPG combined, and using the same tests, the BMW M3 http://www.vcacarfueldata.org.uk/sea...s.asp?id=19639 is at 22.8MPG combined.































If you want a good rebuttal, check out the long thread starting at http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/.../message/15335































There's a lot of myth, urban legend, and misinformation out there on hybrid vehicle batteries and vehicle production, thanks to a flawed marketing paper by CNW and a poorly researched student newspaper article that keep getting quoted (such as on the episode of Top Gear that you mention)...































Anyhow, I suggest reading:















Hummer versus Prius: "Dust to Dust" Report Misleads the Media and Public with Bad Science: http://www.pacinst.org/topics/integr...sus_prius.html















Prius Versus Hummer: A Nickel for Your Thoughts: http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/200...sp#headaches"I read an article stating the Prius has a worse impact on the environment than a Hummer because of the enormous pollution created in making the car's batteries. True?" : http://www.straightdope.com/columns/080404.html















Prius Versus HUMMER: Exploding the Myth: http://www.thecarconnection.com/Auto...96.A12220.html















Giving Directions: No, the Hummer Actually Isn't More Energy Efficient Than A Prius, Let's Put This "Debate" To Rest: http://www.betterworldclub.com/artic...-efficient.htm















Dust in the Wind: Hybrids' Total Energy Cost: http://www.hybridcars.com/environmen...rgy-costs.html















Hybrid Battery Toxicity: http://www.hybridcars.com/battery-toxicity.html















Heard the One About the Hummer? : http://www.toyota.com/html/dyncon/20...mervprius.html































Usually the mythic "article" from The Mail on the nickel in the hybrid cars' NiMH batteries is quoted from a now retracted article. The retraction that clears up this bit of misinformation is at: http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/pages/...n_page_id=1770 (They were using data from the early 1970's about the INCO-Sudbury nickel mine, which was more than 20 years before the first hybrids needed NiMH batteries, and the plant has greatly cleaned themselves up and reforested the area since then. If you were to add up the amount of nickel in the million+ hybrids sold since 1997, the total is less than 1% of the world's annual nickel production (far more nickel is used for stainless steel, for example).)































Here's the 2004 Toyota Prius Green Report (life cycle assessment): http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/k_forum/tenji/pdf/pgr_e.pdf















(you'll need to download the Japanese fonts for your PDF reader in order to read it, but the entire document is written in English.)































Over the lifespan of the Prius, when compared to a comparable mid-sized gasoline vehicle, the Prius comes out ahead in the life cycle assessment (LCA) for airborne emissions for CO2, NOx, SOx, HC, but actually does worse for PM (thanks to the material and vehicle production stages). Measured lifespan is given as 10 years use/100,000km. The CO2 break-even point for the 2004 Prius compared to this unnamed gasoline vehicle is given at 20,000km. (more CO2 is emitted during Prius production, but the Prius makes up for it over it's driven lifetime.)































Another neat thing is that the Prius is one of the first uses of Toyota's Eco-Plastic (plastic made from plants, as opposed to petroleum products). The battery is recycleable (NiMH), as is much of the car (steel and aluminum body, for example).































As for the batteries themselves:































The lead-acid (Pb-A) 12v accessory batteries in hybrids tend to be smaller than those found in every traditional gasoline vehicle. Recycling programs are in place for traditional lead-acid batteries.































All the hybrids on the market use NiMH (Nickel-Metal Hydride) batteries, which contain no heavy metals (so they're not hazardous waste, like the Pb-A batteries), and are easily recycled.































The hybrid battery packs in the Prius (at least in the US) have labels on them for whom to contact to recycle them. See the HV Battery Pack Recycling section in the Prius Emergency Response Guides.















page 11 (of the printed version): http://techinfo.toyota.com/public/main/1stprius.pdf















page 19 (of the printed version): http://techinfo.toyota.com/public/main/2ndprius.pdf















































To quote Toyota's press release:















http://pressroom.toyota.com/photo_li...ml?id=20040623















http://pressroom.toyota.com/Releases...T2004062345528















How long does the Prius battery last and what is the replacement cost?































The Prius battery (and the battery-power management system) has been designed to maximize battery life. In part this is done by keeping the battery at an optimum charge level - never fully draining it and never fully recharging it. As a result, the Prius battery leads a pretty easy life. We have lab data showing the equivalent of 180,000 miles with no deterioration and expect it to last the life of the vehicle. We also expect battery technology to continue to improve: the second-generation model battery is 15% smaller, 25% lighter, and has 35% more specific power than the first. This is true of price as well. Between the 2003 and 2004 models, service battery costs came down 36% and we expect them to continue to drop so that by the time replacements may be needed it won't be a much of an issue. Since the car went on sale in 2000, Toyota has not replaced a single battery for wear and tear.































Is there a recycling plan in place for nickel-metal hydride batteries?































Toyota has a comprehensive battery recycling program in place and has been recycling nickel-metal hydride batteries since the RAV4 Electric Vehicle was introduced in 1998. Every part of the battery, from the precious metals to the plastic, plates, steel case and the wiring, is recycled. To ensure that batteries come back to Toyota, each battery has a phone number on it to call for recycling information and dealers are paid a $200 "bounty" for each battery.































And I'll note that even when considering the emissions of the fuel source and that of manufacture, the Toyota Prius came in 2nd for Greenest Vehicles of 2008 among US models in the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy's (ACEEE) Green Book, behind the Honda Civic GX.















http://www.greenercars.org/highlights_greenest.htm















http://www.greenercars.org/greenbook_method.htm

Terrence B

Ari R is right. My mother used to own a 2005 Prius. She sold it because she only got 44 mpg on the highway (not the 50+ Toyota promised) without traffic. She sold it for $26,000 and went out and bought a 2007 Toyota Corolla CE. She now gets around 40 mpg and she paid $12,000 for it. The electric engine is what gives the Prius it's high mpg. When the gas engine is running- which is most of the time at freeway speeds, it also has to pull the extra weight of the hybrid car. The electric motor is mainly utilized at lower speeds (ie. around town or in traffic) Imagine a Corolla based car with a gas engine that's smaller than the standard Corolla trying to pull a vehicle that's a few hundred pounds heavier than a Corolla and you have the Prius. That gas engine is going to work very hard. Still, to it's credit, it is very reliable, safe, and still gets great gas mileage. Top Gear does entertain, but you can learn a lot about a vehicle from the show as well. Now, in performance, yes. You will get better numbers on an M3. It can do the same tasks on a course and not run as hard doing it- meaning it will probably do better on gas on a race track than a Prius. That can be said for most econo cars though.Still, how often is that going to happen? People don't buy econo cars to race them; they buy them to save fuel in everyday driving. That's where they shine. Trust me, a BMW M3 won't even come close in everyday driving.

Tech Dude

Depending on how you drive, the Toyota Prius can get 60 MPG.