That's good news. But I wonder, with the comment "average over 125 miles to the gallon", how far they are driving to get that average (ie. while staying on battery). Is that averaging over 40 km? 100 km? Some estimate of an average commuter drive (and if so, what is it)?

Just a little interested in what made up this 125 mpg average. Sounds great though!

That's fantastic!

Great stuff, but when do they come off of the assembly line in droves? It's frustrating to keep reading about great stuff (125 mpg Priuses, gorgeous electric Teslas) on TreeHugger, but then never see it materialize for the great, treehugging unwashed to buckle into.

Do I blame oil lobbies, or is that just the way it is? I think most everyone would like to send both Big Oil and OPEC packing, once and for all (while helping the Earth to boot). You'd think the rush among scientists/engineers would be as urgent as the U.S.'s WWII drive for nuclear capability. You'd think...

As this is a plug-in hybrid, it receives much of its energy directly from the power grid, which means that while it might achieve 125 mpg of gasoline burned (depending on driving conditions as OverMatt noted) it's using some non-trivial amount of electricity.

I wonder what sort of reporting requirements there will be when plug-in hybrids become common. Will there be two numbers reported: miles/gal and miles/kwh? Consumers need a realistic way of estimating their expenses with these cars as electricity rates vary between about $0.06 and $0.30 nationwide.

If the battery costs can be kept down, this looks good. Our congress is thinking of raising standards to 30 or 35mpg for US cars but it would seem foolish to pay for such low mpg vehicles if the gas price continues to rise.

I think that within a few years, the cost of gasoline or even ethanol will make PHEV's with this type of mpg desireable. I would think it stupid for people not to consider transport as a value item and as part of their every day expenditures.

I hope that US car companies can come up with a car rated at a similar mpg. I would hate to think that people would be forced to purchase foreign cars because the US companies refuse to realistically take into account the purpose of transport vehicles as not being extension of the personality but simply to transport people at a reasonable cost.

US auto makers must admit that gas prices are continuing upward and with pressing demand from China, it is doubtful they will go down for any extended period of time.

adrianakau2aol.com

That is a lot of speed, but the cost is still very high...

OK so when do we see the new battery combined with the solar roof by Toyota in the Prius as an option?
I love the sound of this stuff, just waiting with all the other treehuggers for it to all come together!

Hybrids are good, Electric is good, hydrogen is good... but here in the US, we're not going to see any of that as long as the major manufacturers are still getting big beefy checks from the Oil Companies via the Republican Party......

Simplly Great!
Prius deserves a pet for this commendable effort.
World is waiting for such kind of technology which are pocket friendly and efficient.
When should we expect these vehicles in the market.......?

Has anyone ever followed the path & travels around the world in the manufacturing process of the Prius battery? Their longevity? Disposal methods? Replacement costs?

You might be shocked. You might get mad. You might gag.

Greg, can you please point me to the right links to read about the Prius battery manufactoring/life/disposal options/etc?

Many thanks!
Liliana

Any other engineers commenting?
I love the conspirator’s theories of why this technologies are not being implemented. The simple fact is that most of these Green Ideas are no where near living up to the hype ie: not really green at all, or, if they do show promise, are far too expensive and/or use elements that are far too rare to mass produce. Others are just plain vapor as they try to secure research capital. Half baked ideas out number the feasible by a wide margin.

Most all of the big green earth savings plans are backwards. They actually pollute far more then they save. Ethanol is by far the biggest joke being played on us. Hydrogen is the same.

Oh wait! A Plug In Prius? So, where does that power to the plug come from?
Grade school physics stuff here people, it takes X amount of energy to move Y amount of mass a Z distance. Unless you are using nuclear power to the plug you are still polluting.

Hey Ir876, here you go! I don’t see hard numbers here but it does make one pause.
http://clubs.ccsu.edu/Recorder/editorial/editorial_item.asp?NewsID=188

Obviously the Prius is pretty far from a perfect solution, but as the technology progresses, the cleanliness, mileage, and over all environmental impact have all improved since the Prius was first released in Japan.

Yes, there are some issues with disposing/recycling etc. the old prius models, and hopefully we'll see improvements there as time goes on as well.

It has been shown in other retro-fitted Prius' that emissions can be very negatively impacted when a new battery pack is inserted. One possible reason is because the catalytic converter may have a delayed heat-up time, and in essence could lead to a situation similar to a long "cold-start."

I am not an expert on this, but there has been a paper published about it:
Carlson et al., “Testing and Analysis of Three Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles”, SAE 2007-01-0283

Response to ManGenius:
You are right that plug-ins still take energy from the grid, which is produced by many pollution-emitting processes. However, there are two reasons why I see them as important. 1. Energy independence 2. The opportunity to have our fuel come from non-polluting sources (even if it is not happening right now)

(To clarify for any non-techies: Hydrogen is not a fuel source, but a carrier.) If it were possible to have a more efficient energy transfer with hydrogen than electrochemical storage (batteries), then it would be feasible. Problem is, hydrogen technology is not currently there, and it is debatable whether it ever will be, but I wouldn't rule it out.