Apparently the Roadster has twice the well-to-wheel efficiency of the Prius. Tesla Motors - well-to-wheel
I bet the well-to-wheel efficiency for a full hybrid is highly variable depending on speed and can be maximized using pulse and glide.
See, this is why I'm glad I didn't follow my dream of becoming a comedy writer. I started this thread as a joke on the feelings many of us have on speed and coolness (including me). Some folks, e.g., Tech Guy, Flying White Dutchman, the folks who talked about the Corvair and the Golf Carts and the Zen nature of passing fuel trucks (though it would be a lot more Zen if we were completely unattached to the petroleum economy), seemed to get it, and I thank them. But some folks, starting with macmaster obviously did not get it. Too many to allow me to make a living as a humorist. That and the fact that I come up with (at best) one good joke a month.
I can't tell if this is a serious question... But I'll bite. The Prius is a gas car with a tiny bit of battery boost. The Roadster is a 100% battery car. A battery car is going to beat a gas car in efficiency every time. AT its absolute best, a gas car can convert about 30% of the energy in gasoline to usable power. At it's worst, an EV does about 85%. By calling it just 200% as efficient, the Tesla folks are being pretty generous to the Prius.
And to answer the question of the thread... the most rare and exotic car I've ever passed in the Prius is my Rav4EV. But usually it is the other way around since the Prius mostly stays parked while we drive the Rav every day.
At all speeds/acceleration? Isn't the concept behind pulsing and gliding is that it's more energetically efficient to use ICE rather than traction power when getting up to speed or accelerating hard?
Threads like this make the internets laugh at you. For example (there are more, many, many more): F-Body Message Board - Too Funny - Prius Racing - and THEY ARE SERIOUS Prius Racing stories - IWSTI.com: Subaru WRX STI Forums
Let's just ignore the ~ 40% efficiency in producing the grid electricity. I'm an EV fan as much as anybody, but I'd just as soon contain GM speak to GM.
Yes. At all speeds and acceration. Yes, because charging the battery is done with the gasoline engine in the case of the Prius. The Battery system in the Prius is not nearly as efficient as what you find in a real EV because you have the complication/inertia/limitation of the ICE attached to it at all times, coupled with much smaller battery capacity. The Prius does best on ICE only. No question. That does not mean that it does better than an EV. The Prius is a gas car, and is optimized thusly. An EV is not. In every case, if you have two similar cars... one that burns gas and one that is pure electric, the electric will be more efficient. Of course then we get into what we count... tank to wheels? Well to wheels? Cradle to grave? When we speak of driving efficiency, it us usually tank to wheels. And in that scenario, it isn't even a close competition between a Prius and an EV.
I assume you aren't trying to be funny. I would have laughed, but I hear it so often, I have to assume that the people who bring this up are serious. You want to consider the upstream efficiency of electricity production, and simply ignore the upstream efficiency of gasoline production? Shirley you can't be serious. Oh and hey... look at this! I don't use grid electricity for my EV. Do you also make your own gasoline at home with insolation? If that's the case, then we can just skip all the upstream stuff, and get back to the (OT) discussion of vehicle efficiency. I'm glad you're a fan. Now it's time to learn up!
OK darrell, I'll bite. Point me to a study you accept of ground-wheels comparing petrol vs electric, assuming no clean energy input for the electric. I assume the latter because no excess clean energy exists for car use after other electrical demands are met. I hope your arrogance will be justified ...
OK, this might not qualify as passing, and it was awhile back, but ... I pulled into the gas station. Thirty seconds later a BRAND NEW Z06, window sticker still on and obviously the new owner as it was half a block from the Chevy dealer, pulls up to the pump. He gets out, never taking his eyes off the Prius. I keep staring at the Z06. I wish I could say it was high noon, but it wasn't. I make sure to go real slow filling the tank. I get to about $15 and "grumble" to my wife, "See, I told you it was just about empty. Fifteen bucks!!!" I'm sure he was passing $75 by then. We drove away, never looking back.
