Pat Naughtin provided us with an interesting list of power to mass ratios for several automobiles. Here is another one of interest.
The Toyota Prius hybrid (gasoline/electric) car has a
mass of 1314 kg and a
net hybrid power of 82 kW. This give a
power to mass ration of 62 W/kg.
(The net hybrid power is the power when both gasoline engine and electric motor operate simultaneously to produce the maximum power.)
Also of interest, the fuel consumption rate is
4.7 L/100 km for city driving,
5.5 L/100 km for highway driving, and
5.1 L/100 km combined.
Yes, the city rate is better than the highway rate, the opposite of convenitonal gasoline engine cars. This is because the hybrid engine cuts off completely, saving energy, when the vehicle stops at traffic lights, etc., whereas conventional gasoline engines continue running, without going anywhere, when stopped at traffic lights etc. Also, start and stop city driving wastes a lot of energy by heating up the brakes of conventional cars when the vehicle slows or stops, while the Prius uses electric generating brakes which stop the vehicle by converting the cars kinetic energy back into electricity that is stored in the battery for future use.
No I'm not a Prius salesperson. I tried very hard to buy a Prius but they are sold out faster than they can be obtained by the dealers. I had to buy something else because I couldn't afford to wait 6 to 9 months which was the expected waiting time.
Another interesting aside: the Prius web site list the displacement as 1.5 L followed by 1495 cm^3 in parentheses. (They used the outdated abbreviation "cc" for cubic centimetres.) It is odd that they think it is necessary to give both. Any idiot who knows metric knows that 1.5 L = 1500 cm^3 and that 1495 cm^3 = 1.495 L. That same idiot also knows that if 4 digit precision is called for in one case, then it is called for in the other (and if only 2 digits are appropriate in one then only 2 digits are appropriate in the other).
Regards,
Bill Hooper
Fernandina Beach, Florida, USA
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Make it simple; Make it Metric
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