8/9     110 MPG in a Prius:
        <DEAD>www.post-gazette.com/pg/05220/550484.stm<DEAD>
        \_ Doing this sort of thing with a fully charged battery is meaningless.
           You should start with a flat battery.
           \_ Uh... why?  It's about pushing a limit, not about practical use
              \_ Because MPG is a measurement of how much gas you use
                 traditionally.  The battery is only full because you used gas
                 before the measurement started in order to charge it.  Thus
                 you're not getting an accurate measurement.  What if they only
                 drove 5 miles and did it all on battery.  They got INFINITY
                 mpg!  A new and unbeatable record!
                 \_ Er, the person below is right.  They never talked about
                    initial battery state.  And for a prius is flat battery
                    a reasonable initial state?
                    \_ I think the only fair test of MPG is to start and end
                       with the battery in the exact same state.  Flat -> flat
                       or Full -> Full; it doesn't matter which.
                       \_ Then we'll have to find another report that gives
                          their start and end battery states.
                 \_ I think they should start at the top of a steep hill
                    to boot and just coast to the bottom.
           \_ Proof positive that motd assholes will complain, nitpick, and
              bitch about absolutely anything and everything.
              \_ The claim is "110 MPG" and a link to the method this was
                 determined.  Your "nitpicker" called bullshit on that claim.
           \_ Where does it say the battery is fully charged?
           \_ Whatever, it is still k3wl.
        \_ whatever, its still a *GAS* car.  Incremental improvements in gas
           mileage are going to get overwhelmed by increasing numbers of
           drivers.  Further work on gas mileage is just bandaghing the
           infected wound, not dealing with the real probelm.
           \_ Yeah, see, generally (though I'll concede 'not always')
              technology has this tendency to move forward in incremental
              steps.  I mean, seriously, do you honestly think it's better to
              wait 20 years for a revolutionary step up while we get
              "overwhelmed by increasing numbers of drivers" and still use
              the same inefficient technologies?  I guess I'm just not seeing
              what alternatives there are that can be implemented _now_....
           \_ It's a stopgap.  When you perfect your high yield, cheap, easily
              produced solar cell, call us.
           \_ RIDE BIKE!
              \_ What about drive hybrid diesel?
           \_ Yes, it's an efficient gas car.  As opposed to what?  An
              electric car?  Fuel cell car?  Both of those ultimately use
              fossil fuels too.  Or are you expecting a solar car or a
              car powered by Mr. Fusion?
              \_ A fuel cell car gets its energy from wherever you get the
                 energy to make the hydrogen, so it could be nuclear, oil,
                 solar, coal, gas, wind, hydro or a mixtures of all.
                 Before you start flaming me, please note that I am not the
                 OP, and I think hybrids are cool, I was just pointing out
                 the innacuracy in your statement about fuel cells.
                 \_ It might be a technical inaccuracy, but in practice, the
                    above poster is right.
                    \_ No.  Depending on where you live, a majority of your
                       power could very well be from something other than
                       oil.  Also, by switching to fuel cells, you are setting
                       up a system where any new energy that comes online
                       such as clean coal or some crazy fusion scheme or
                       whatever is instantly the power source for cars,
                       without the painfuly slow R&D process currently underway
                       to make fuel cells compete gas engines.
                       \_ Do you know what "in practice" means?
                          You're talking about splitting hydrogen from water.
                          This is much more inefficient still than splitting
                          from NG.