Taxi Driver Online

I'd tend to agree with the review Wannabee posted above. It IS possible to get 70mpg with a light right foot on a level road (few hills here on Romney Marsh). So far the average from new is 56.4mpg, and that includes a bit of motorway work. Keep the aircon/radio/lights off and you''ll get more mpg. Coast up to hazards and junctions, don't brake at the last minute. It's surprising how far the car will coast as there's no engine braking.

The engine,as I said earlier, drives a generator, power from there either goes to the batteries or the electric motor which drives the road wheels.

Tyres: I put winter tyres on the front so I've got better grip on the drive wheels, simples. In a couple of months, I'll be back on normal tyres.

on overun the leccy motors should GENERATE leccy to charge the batteries

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

Correct, they do. Hence in urban traffic, frequent sopt-start, the hybdrid "ought" to be more efficient than a conventional i/c engined car.

Toyota tell me the petrol engine in the Auris hybrid drives the road wheels (rpm rising/falling like any other petrol car) when not on leccy, or extra power is needed, the ampera's petrol engine never drives the road wheels, it JUST drives a genny...and it has a 40 mile battery range, hence the 200mpg figure

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

I'd suggest your toyota dealer is talking out of his arse like mine did when he told me there wasn't an electric motor on earth that could propel anything at 100mph...High speed Train,,,,TGV.....most electric trains....

In the Auris the electric motor drives the wheels. I've been on the motorway at 70 and the petrol engine isn't running as the car's driven by the battery. When the petrol engine cuts in at motorway speeds, the rpm of the petrol engine bears no semblance to road speed.

IF the petrol engine drove the road wheels, the car would need a gearbox and clutch or a full auto box, of which it has neither.

you have a CVT transmission, Constant Velocity Transmission (semi auto)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_Synergy_Drive





Through the power splitter, a series-parallel full hybrid's HSD system thus allows for the following intelligent power flows:[8]

Auxiliary power
HVB -> DC-DC converter -> 12VDC battery
12VDC battery -> Various standard and automatic energy saving auxiliary functions
Engine charge (Recharging and/or heating catalytic converter and/or interior comfort HVAC)
ICE -> MG1 -> HVB
Battery or EV drive
HVB -> MG2 -> wheels
Engine & motor drive (Moderate acceleration)
ICE -> wheels
ICE -> MG1 -> MG2 -> wheels
Engine drive with charge (Highway driving)
ICE -> wheels
ICE -> MG1 -> HVB
Engine and motor drive with charge (Heavy power situation such as in steep hills)
ICE -> wheels
ICE -> MG1 -> HVB
ICE -> MG1 -> MG2 -> wheels
Full power or gradual slowing (Maximum power situations)
ICE -> wheels
ICE -> MG1 -> MG2 -> wheels
HVB -> MG2 -> wheels
B-mode braking
Wheels -> ICE
Regenerative braking
wheels -> MG2 -> HVB
Hard braking
Front disk/rear drum -> wheels
All disk -> wheels (2010 and newer).

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

So, having read further down the Wiki page, you'll find that MG1, which is attached to the engine, drives MG2, which through some form of epicyclic gearing, drives the road wheels. So the engine does not directly drive the road wheels, they are driven through MG2 via the gearing.

I'm going to a presentation at the Institute of Road Transport Engineers being given by Toyota on the tech side of their hybrid designs in a couple of months.

What I was calling the motor is actually MG2 in their parlance.

a genny only runs at a constant rpm, an engine powering the wheels (like most cars) has to rev...

the ampera ICE runs at a steady RPM at all/any road speeds cos its ONLY running the genny, in mechanical parlance its a "set" (generator set)





Read more: http://priuschat.com/threads/auris-hybr ... z2K1vWN5ug

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

or just watch your dials....lol

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

Vauxhall/Opel Ampera and Chevrolet Volt

A very interesting example is the Vauxhall/Opel Ampera (photo; also to be sold as the Chevrolet Volt). It is now available in the UK. The Ampera is being advertised as an ‘extended-range electric vehicle’, i.e. primarily an electric car with petrol backup. It is a ‘series’ hybrid always driven by its electric motor, with a battery pack that provides a range of 30–40 miles. Beyond that distance, a 1.4 litre petrol engine drives a generator that powers the electric motor and recharges the batteries. For long journeys it can go up to 350 miles before the petrol tank needs refilling, but if it is recharged between short journeys (which takes four hours from a household socket) petrol usage will be minimal. The manufacturer claims an overall equivalent of 175 mpg and 40 g/km CO2 emissions.

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

I was looking at one of these this morning. A very nice looking motor. The sales rep either doesn't know what he is talking about or the above report is wrong. I asked about the range and he stated the 30-40 miles on battery but stated that when the petol engine kicks in, it doesn't charge the battery. You have to plug it into an appropriate charging point for the battery to charge.

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Grandad,

Like I said earlier, the salespeople don't know what they're talking about. Until I've been to the forthcoming lecture about the Auris Hybrid, I think I'll refrain from speculation and comment about what does what! Do any of us REALLY know how it works? Apart from reading the Wiki pages, which has a warning about there being disputes as to the information, I'm going by what the Toyota mechanics tell me, and they <ought> to know!!

All I know is that the technology works; to get the best performance the car needs a different driving technique to a conventional car, and it hasn't broken down yet after 48,000 miles in 18 months.

I think youd know if you were getting 200mpg....

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

I certainly would. The thingy says 57.4mpg. but then, sometimes on the motorway, it says 99.9mpg when it's running on leccy power, lol.