The Drive-a-Toyota Act
in [Toyota]
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From: mrv on 8 Jul 2007 14:43 On Jul 6, 7:22 pm, "Bonehenge (B A R R Y)" <DwightSchr...(a)DunderMifflin.com> wrote: > On Fri, 06 Jul 2007 19:06:21 -0400, "Elmo P. Shagnasty" > > <e...(a)nastydesigns.com> wrote: > > >With those electric motors there to help with low end grunt and getting > >the car moving, the engine can be tuned more specifically for running at > >certain efficient speeds. > > I always thought electric motors would make AWD very simple. Look into the Toyota Highlander Hybrid and the Lexus RX 400h, which offer 4WD. It's a newer version of the e-Four design that was on the Estima hybrid.
From: mrv on 8 Jul 2007 14:53 On Jul 6, 6:08 am, Bill Putney <b...(a)kinez.net> wrote: > So the a.c. is all electric? On the NHW20 2004-current Prius, yes, the variable-speed AC is electrically-driven. (Prius models prior to this used a conventional belt-driven off of the ICE for the AC compressor.)
From: mrv on 8 Jul 2007 14:58 On Jul 6, 10:12 am, "DH" <d...(a)stargate.com> wrote: > I have wondered for a while, so I might as well ask you while it's close to > on-topic, how do they heat the thing? Traditionally, passenger space heat > is waste heat from the engine. If the engine's not running, there's no > waste heat. Is there an electric heating element in the Prius? Prius manufactured for cold weather climates do have some small PTC (electric) heaters for pre-heat, but the amount of heat is small and wasn't worth my time to mention it. Most of the heat for the passenger cabin (and also for the climate- controlled batteries, which suck passenger cabin air over them to maintain their best operating temperatures (which is near human "room- temp") comes from the traditional "waste heat" from the gasoline engine. The fans continue to run after the engine turns off, and eventually the temperature left in the coils is too cool, so the engine will turn back on just to provide the passengers with more heat (or to warm itself and emissions components back up to operating temperatures). So, for those who live in colder weather climates, the engine turning on just to provide extra heat can lead to lowered fuel economy in the colder winter months.
From: mrv on 8 Jul 2007 15:02 On Jul 6, 11:00 am, "C. E. White" <cewhi...(a)removemindspring.com> wrote: > I wonder why they don't use one of the heat storage devices to keep > the water warm so they don't have to run the IC engine just to warm > the water back up On the North American Toyota Prius, there is the Coolant Heat Storage System (CHHS). It's a small thermos-like device (actually designed by a Japanese rice-cooker company!) that stores some of the hot engine coolant when the car is turned off, and then will re-insert this hot coolant when the car is started, so that the car has hot coolant and the engine doesn't have to run as long at startup to get to proper operating temperatures. The stored coolant stays at temperature for well over a week.
From: Tomes on 8 Jul 2007 23:01
Don't twist the words into something that they are not. The Prius generates electricity using gas. It just does not use enough of what it generates in my opinion. There is no perpetual motion discussed here. sheesh. Tomes "Mike Hunter" <mikehunt2(a)mailcity.com> wrote in message news:x4-dnVEO1ZA5PhPbnZ2dnUVZ_hSdnZ2d(a)ptd.net... > Wow somebody has finally done it, Toyota discovered perpetual motion. > What will be next, a Pruis that uses no fuel? You guys are apparently > debating with idiots on this subject LOL > > mike > > > "Tomes" <askme(a)here.net> wrote in message > news:vnuji.4278$rR.4113(a)newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net... >> "Bill Putney" ... >>> Jeff wrote: >>> >>>> Cars can also have electrically powered water pumps, power steering >>>> pumps, valves, and compressors for the air conditioners, although I >>>> don't know if any do, yet. >>> >>> An honest question: All those things suck energy whether mechanically >>> or electricaly powered (and the power has to ultimately come from the >>> IC engine). For each one, is the electrical version inherently more >>> efficient than a mechanically powered (belt or gear driven) one? >>> >> >> Hi Bill, >> The thing with the Prius is that it generates more energy than it uses >> electrically, overall. There is a screen that shows the state of the >> battery charge at all times. In my Prius, it is near the top most of >> the time (at maybe ~60-70% of charge [the top being 80% and the bottom >> being 20%]), and I have seen it near the low point only in rare and >> special cases (such as using the AC in a traffic jam where regeneration >> is not happening), It even has a mode where it will just spin the >> engine (without any gas used) to get rid of excess electricity as waste >> heat. I have wanted some manner of adjustment to make it use >> electricity moreso because of this. >> Tomes >> > > |