MAY 30

It is great to see a positive shift in the type of cars people are buying but the most important factor still remains. It is the way you drive your car that determines how much fuel your car uses. It kills me to see a Prius fly by at 80 because I know (owning a Prius myself) the fuel efficiency goes out the window at that speed.

It amuses me when I see a Pious drive past, because I know that the person who bought it is not going to recoup the price premium they paid for the vehicle in fuel savings unless they keep the car a very long time, by which time they will need to purchase a new set of batteries which will wipe out the savings and them some.

Imagine having to replace the fuel tank of your normal car for no good reason!

Up to what speed does a Prius remain economical? I've heard that as soon as you hit freeway speeds, they're useless.

In an October 24, 2011 article, Electric Vehicles Research indicated that currently 60% of the value of the electric vehicle market is being spent on commercial and industrial vehicles – and this trend is expected to continue and grow into the next decade.

Heavy industrial vehicles (those used do heavy lifting, such as forklifts) make up the largest segment of the market. This is understandable, since by law, forklifts must be electric to be used indoors. While little opportunity may remain in this market, there are plenty of other uses for electric vehicles in the commercial and industrial sector.

Airports are under increasing pressure to switch their Ground Support Equipment (GSE) to pure electric versions, both on and off the tarmac. Besides lowering their carbon footprint, this would lower their cost of ownership, cost of maintenance and their exposure to price increases in fossil fuel supplies.

Governments, wanting to be perceived as environmentally conscientious, will help to drive the continuing growth of the commercial and industrial EV market.
This market is seen as being less dependent on government incentives and funding than the more fragile personal EV market, and innovations seem to appear in the industrial and commercial market sooner.

Electric vehicles offer so many advantages over traditional vehicles in the industrial/commercial environment. Electric delivery vehicles cope better with frequent stopping and starting. Electric shuttles can be used to transport visitors through industrial plants, airports, and other venues with no concern about noxious emissions. Rangers can use electric vehicles to access areas of parks and natural areas where it is important that environmental impact be limited. The applications are only limited by the imagination!

Moto Electric Vehicles is perfectly positioned to provide reliable alternatives to traditional internal combustion-powered vehicles for the commercial and industrial sector. We have a wide variety of commercial vehicles available, and we are proud to be a part of this growing industry. Visit our website at http://www.motoelectricvehicle...icles-c518/ to see what we have to offer.

Don’t know how optimized they may be for operating at the exact speeds used in standard tests, but their EPA highway MPG of 48 is still the best of any vehicle.

Try going to http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/powerSearch.jsp and restricting your search to model year 2012 and regular/midgrade/premium gas, then sorting by highway MPG. Shows the top 10 as Prius, Prius c, Civic Hybrid, Honda Insight, Chevy Cruze Eco, Civic HF, Prius v, Lexus CT 200h, Hyundai Sonata Hybrid and Kia Optima Hybrid.

Since there isn’t a conventional Prius, let’s use the example of a Civic Hybrid vs a Civic HF. True, you’d need to keep a Civic Hybrid for something like 45 years to make it worth your while vs a Civic HF if you drive 100% highway. However, if you drive the average of 45% highway, it goes down to more like a 10-year ROI – which should be long before the battery pack fails. Don’t assume that a 10-year ROI is useless if you’re going to sell it after a couple years, either, since it increases the resale value. More relevant is the number of years the car will be driven, across all owners, before being junked…

Hey James
My family has owned a Prius for 6 and a half years. We've put 40,000 km on it so far including several trips from Vancouver BC to Calgary (through several mountain ranges). Freeways and highways are no problem for the Prius.
Hey Charles
Your out to lunch with your comments regarding batteries and payback periods. Why do you think so many cab drivers have switched to the Prius? Answer: unparalleled fuel efficiency, durability, and comfort. From cabbies I've spoken to with 700,000 km (seven hundred thousand kilometres) on their Prius, the first thing that needs replacing is the upholstery!

I am so tired about all the mis-information about the Toyota Prius! Oh please, the car has been in production and wide-spread use for 10 for ten + years. So to read a comment that a Prius is useless at highway speeds is just so aggravating. We have two Prius'. One on the US mainland and one in Hawaii. In Hawaii, even with the lousy mileage killing ethanol mixed in, we still get 50 mpg and we drive all the time on highways. In our very hilly location on the mainland, we average 46 MPG with that lousy ethanol mixed in. The mileage starts to drop "slightly" when you go over 60 MPH and over 70 MPH drops even more. But you are still going to get 45 MPG unless you are in a mountainous area. Do you really think your mileage doesn't suffer when you drive 60 + MPH with a conventional gasoline engine? Do you really think your mileage doesn't suffer when you drive up hills? Do you really think your mileage doesn't suffer on quick short trips to the local store? Seriously, today I read about the problems of marketing the Volt because trying to explain how it works to the average US resident was a nightmare and people just couldn't "get it". Arghh!

I have a hybrid of a differen manufacturer. To address Charles' comments, I put together a spreadsheet of fixed and variable costs. Given the miles I drive annually, the Honda Civic Hybrid make the most economic sense compared to new and used cars that were not hybrids. Simple math really. Try it.

For James, the same is true for any vehicle. The speed and manner you drive your vehicle determines the overall mileage. If you're familiar with the physics equation F=MA, this will make perfect sense. And why trucking companies know they can save up to $10,000 annual in fuel if the regulate the speed to 65 mph and less.

We drove our 2012 Prius from Indiana to Massachusetts using Interstate all the way and got 57.3 mpg using the AC. We maintained 65mph, which was a little bit slower than the other traffic.

Yes; I did notice you see them EVERYWHERE.

I did not expect someone to bring up the Prius batteries in this site. I expected people here to be better informed. Anyone that pulled a piece of paper and a pencil can calculate that after about 130K miles, the Prius has made up its price compared to similar sized cars. Not to mention that you burned about 40% less oil (important for us visiting a site called ECOgeek).

My close friend just hit 236K miles on his Prius. He has not touched the batteries; and I have not of heard anyone having to replace the Prius battery pack.

Consumer Reports just ran a story about the efficiency of the original Prius that have been on the road for 10 years. It has not dropped at all; they are still getting mpg in the upper 40s.

The above comments about the Prius not being efficient on the highway are completely mis-informed, as are those about the long ROI. Two years ago I bought a 2008 Prius with 20K miles on it for $17,000, which was comparably priced to Camry's and Accord's of the same year and miles. Plus it has heated leather seats, a back-up cam, and the hatchback provides more storage space.

Regarding efficiency, I drive 37 miles each way to work, all of which is on the freeway. I generally travel at about 72MPH and average 48-50MPG per tank. I find that temperature & tire pressure have the greatest impacts. However, even in the coldest conditions, I still average over the EPA estimate for the 2nd gen. Prius.

What people need to realize is that speed has nothing to do with the vehicle's fuel efficiency, it is all about acceleration. Once you hit a good cruising speed and aren't speeding up and slowing down a lot, then it is very easy to maintain over 50MPG at high speeds. True, if you stay under about 25MPH you can run on only battery, but once you exceed that it's all about how you drive. Whether you are going 35 or 75MPH makes very little difference.

Finally, I was told by a different dealer that Toyota is buying back some of the early Prius' that have over 200K miles on them to test the batteries. Those that are in good working order are showing little to no measurable reduction in battery charge from when they were new. I'd be more worried about engine, suspension, and all of the other things that go wrong with any car.

The biggest problem with the Prius is the battery, but not for the reason most people think. The batteries are Nickel-based and contain a significant amount of rare-earth metals. Until the Molycorp rare-earth mine in Mountain Pass, CA reopens, all of the rare-earth metals come from China and their less-than-stellar mining and environmental practices. That's just a small facet of the issue, though. The processes required to mine and refine Nickel generate a significant amount of air pollutants, especially sulfur dioxide which reacts in the atmosphere to form sulfuric acid. That combine with the huge amount of overseas shipping (the Nickel is mined in Canada, the batteries are manufactured in China, and the cars themselves are assembled in Japan before being shipped worldwide) generate a lot more GHG and Criteria pollutants than you would think. While CNW has retracted their claim that Prius does more harm than Hummers or other SUVs, Toyota still has not responded to the UK Government's request for a detailed EIR of Prius manufacture and ownership.

Many people who don't think hybrids are economically advantageous also miss the important point that most people who buy hybrids are also doing it to reduce carbon emissions. If we had a way to factor that in the total cost of ownership, I'm sure we'd be nicely surprised.