Quote:
Originally Posted by cody
Um, you do know that the gas motor only charges the batteries and doesn't directly propel the car right? The car drives with the motor completely off all the time. Why not allow it to run off the batteries until they become too low to safely run the car? I understand how Toyota designed it. In fact, that was my complaint.  |
Totally false. The gas motor in the Prius directly drives the complicated gearbox that can *also* be driven by the electric motor. So when the motor is running, it pushes the car and any left-over power not needed for forward motion is routed to the batteries. While the Prius can run at slow speeds around town on just electric power, the car needs the availability of the gas motor's power at any time in case the driver decides to go fast at all.
The whole "big deal" with the Chevy Volt, and why it was supposed to kick the Prius' ass, is that it has the drivetrain you describe: where the motor is just a gas generator, and all the power to the wheels is from the electric motor.
Now, does it make sense for the Prius to "run out of gas" when it's still got a charged battery? Of course not... an all-electric limp mode to get to the gas station makes plenty of sense... but that's Toyota for ya I guess.