[Dougie]

In that Wired article
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.0 ... dtest.html
there's an interesting chart. It shows city/highway EPA mileage figures and 0-60 times.

Escape 36/31 8.9
HAH 30/37 6.7
Lexus 30/26 7.3
Prius 60/51 10.0
HCH 46/51 10.9
Insight 60/66 10.6
Silverado 18/21 :shock: 8.2
Highlander 32/27 7.3

The Toyotas all have higher city figures, while the Hondas have higher highway figures. If you count the Escape as a "Toyota-like" case it fits into this model, and if you ignore the Silverado, then it's a solid rule.

I thought maybe this had something to do with the performance of the cars, because the Hondas are slower than the Toyotas, but then the HAH is the fastest of all.

So, is this a result of the different approaches to hybrid design? Is there something about Toyota's big electric motor approach that explains this? Is there an indication of which approach might work out to be best in the long run? :?:

 

[figgy]

I believe it is to do with the way they implement hybrid behavior. I know Ford technology is similar to Toyota. I read somewhere an article on this and they said that Ford developed their own tech so similar to Toyota's that they licensed a number of Toyota patents so they did not infringe illegally.

In short, Ford did not buy Toyota's tech, but theirs is the same. One might say this is just semantics, as if it is so similar that they had to license it anyway, then what's the difference!

Anyway, I think the main difference is that the IMA never runs the car just on the electric alone, while the Toyota/Ford will run just on electric with the engine off. That makes driving in parking lots and stop and go types of driving more efficient than the IMA system for those conditions. We have to have the engine on when we are accelerating in stop and go, the other guys never have to turn it on for slow speeds and stop and go. That hurts us IMA people for those conditions relative to our highway conditions and visa versa for them.

That is the hwy/city difference explained, at least partly.

The difference from vehicle to vehicle is more how big they are and how aerodynamic and all that, so you can't compare exactly.