What is the minimum daily driving dist?

[MickyD]

Hi,

i'm pondering getting a new 2010 prius i-tech. i understand how the battery will be charged whilst the petrol engine is running (say HW cruising) or when breaking. what i am concerned about is that if my daily drive to and form work is not sufficiently 'long' enough eventually the battery will discharge for there is insufficient time to maintain charge. too many 'short trips' in other words.

can anyone advise me on this? here is a break-down of my daily travels

daily 18KM TOTAL (minimum):

drive to work ~ 9KM total including:

7 KM segment @ 80 KM/hr

2 KM stop/start @ 60KM/hr MAX

drive home from work ~ 9KM total including

7 KM segment @ 80 KM/hr

2 KM stop/start @ 60KM/hr MAX

this pattern is applied for mon, tues, wed, thu, fri

thanks in advance

-------------------------

(i tried to put more info in the 'about me' but it won't let me, guess i need to wait?)

Edited November 18, 2009 by MickyD

[MickyD]

Hi,

i'm pondering getting a new 2010 prius i-tech. i understand how the battery will be charged whilst the petrol engine is running (say HW cruising) or when breaking. what i am concerned about is that if my daily drive to and form work is not sufficiently 'long' enough eventually the battery will discharge for there is insufficient time to maintain charge. too many 'short trips' in other words.

can anyone advise me on this? here is a break-down of my daily travels

daily 18KM TOTAL (minimum):

drive to work ~ 9KM total including:

7 KM segment @ 80 KM/hr

2 KM stop/start @ 60KM/hr MAX

drive home from work ~ 9KM total including

7 KM segment @ 80 KM/hr

2 KM stop/start @ 60KM/hr MAX

this pattern is applied for mon, tues, wed, thu, fri

thanks in advance

-------------------------

(i tried to put more info in the 'about me' but it won't let me, guess i need to wait?)

i think ill just get an aurion

[Gonzalis]

Hey

I did a little research for you just to actually see how it all works. Just as i suspected, the prius will run off the battery/engine at their respective times. If you are doing driving that only requires the battery to be used, once thhe charge level gets below a certain point, the petrol engine will kick in and the car will run on that and recharge the battery at the same time. The prius also uses energy from braking and rolling/coasting to help recharge the battery.

Hope that helps

[MickyD]

Hey

I did a little research for you just to actually see how it all works. Just as i suspected, the prius will run off the battery/engine at their respective times. If you are doing driving that only requires the battery to be used, once thhe charge level gets below a certain point, the petrol engine will kick in and the car will run on that and recharge the battery at the same time. The prius also uses energy from braking and rolling/coasting to help recharge the battery.

Hope that helps

Thanks Gonzalis, I read that too but I still can't find the figures I was after.

Last weekend I ended up taking the Prius for a test drive and I must say I was most impressed. When I started I noticed the battery read 20% charged and had the car in Power Mode. We then drove off, turned off into some slower side streets while I got used to the car.

We then shifted to Eco Mode and just as I was about to enter the 60km/hour main road I noticed the battery now read 50%! This was in the space of 5 minutes. Most impressed.

So I have no fear that my battery would ever get flat because work may be not far enough away - which it is at 9km per leg.

Prius here I come! :D