Fully Charged Plug In Prius episode 008

[kyrkbymannen]

The point is to go to and from work very cheap, and having the power to still go to long journeys without stopping

[BxKWR]

@fullychargedshow when you did your top gear impression you forgot to say some superlative followed by "...in the world"

[TheKnightsShield]

14 miles might not seem like much, but part of the principle behind hybrid vehicles is that while you're driving in fossil fuel mode, the onboard generator is pumping power back into the batteries. Now, I have no idea how much power is pumped into the batteries over a 5 mile fossil fuel sprint, but at the end of the day, it all adds up. So really, 14 miles isn't the maximum you can drive on battery power alone. Rob, do you have any figures for the onboard generators recharge efficiency?

[whole27]

The Chevy Volt does 40 miles on electric alone before it kicks into gas power so why can Toyota only do 12 miles on electric on their plug in that will come out!?? I wish they got 40-50 miles, i'd buy 10 of those!

And how long do these lithium batteries that are in the Prius and Volt last?? HOw much will they cost to replace after 10 years or so??

[batlin]

@whole27 Probably because the Volt is packed full of battery cells... with no room for passengers/shopping/etc?

[coxesenigma2]

Thank you for not calling the chevy volt an electric car because it is a hybrid.

[coxesenigma2]

Thank you for not calling the chevy volt an electric car because it is a hybrid

[KoolJust4U]

14mile for a the extra plug in option? there is no point. i bet the extra plug in option would cost extra thousand of dollar. 

[Hilts931]

Being inside Stephen Fry eh? Bet he likes that.

[rock3tcat]

@Hilts931

LOL

I guess that he didn't realize what he was actually saying...

[QumarsAFGuN]

lol he drives on wrong side of the road

[XitUp]

ey up Bob, just wondering if the mpg figure you gave is from calculations you did from filling up or from the onboard computer? The computer ones are never very accurate.

[ElectricConversions]

I just got this car today. I am President of the New Jersey Electric Auto Association and Toyota gave me the use of this car for 1 month starting today. Drove the car for 14 EV miles today out of 30 total miles traveled. Not bad. The MPG Calculator is not working so I am wondering if I am being tested to see if I behave any differently than people that are able to see the MPG gauge....Thats easily fixed....I'll hook up my scangauge and read it anyway!!!

[TheBobbyuy]

Amazing , love your series!! too bad i live in the back-ass-wards U.S and most of this is pretty much sci-fi for us!!

[XitUp]

@TheBobbyuy Would that be the USA where the Chevy Volt is from? And the Tesla roadster? And where the GM EV-1 is from?

[bonds911]

hey also congratulations your dream is great this show looks very seriously and has great introductions of electric vehicles and its the next top gear since theres no bullshiiiiiiittt on this one it would be better just like the elon musk you are true to what you say congratulations keep it up your doing great applauses /....

[roidroid]

lol, being inside Stephen Fry.

[KypHeM]

why is it out of focus in the beginning?

[bonds911]

@KypHeM out of focus he meant hes out of the topic when he talks about his dream instead of the electric car ahaha you get it now

[toyotas2006]

One thing that ISN'T gone over in this report is that Toyota uses Lithium-Ion batteries for the plug-in, instead of Nickel batteries for the standard Prius.

So the plug-in is more efficient under ALL conditions than the standard Prius partly because it's battery is upgraded, as well as chargeable.

Just switching to Lithium-Ion increases efficiency at least 10%, if not more. Add in charges, and you can see efficiency increase dramatically

[MrSuperbar]

Thank you. Interesting about the plug in Prius. Range in EV mode seem very short, but then the Prius was most likely never designed to be plug in from the start. Still it's an improvement and Toyota are probably right now working hard on a gen 4 Prius that would take more advantage of the technology.

BTW, will you take a look at the Honda Jazz Hybrid? It has a more simple hybrid design, but looks to be the most affordable hybrid yet. Good for people like me who are on a limited budget.

[rlaxton666]

One little error, it turns out that the GM Volt is not a series hybrid after all, despite all GM's claims that it would be. It is actually pretty similar to the Prius planetary gear system. Still has a pretty big battery and gets good mileage but not what it was promoted as. Better off with a true EV :-)

[TBman256]

1:02 I was like WHERE'S THE WHEEL?! then I remembered 'oh yeah, it's england' :P

[ElectricCarFan]

Is the 14 miles in United Kingdom miles or United States miles?

[eldictator1]

@ElectricCarFan They're both the same, there is only one measurement for road use

[ElectricCarFan]

@eldictator1 Well, not exactly see I'm pretty sure that one is slightly larger than the other. I think the US mile is the one that is a little larger. I'm not really sure now though. It's not a big deal though. I'll just google it or something.

[ElectricCarFan]

@ElectricCarFan OOPS! I Googled it and found out your right, they are the same. Oh well not a big deal. I guess I thought they were different because the UK Gallon of petrol is different than the US gallon of petrol. So, that led me to believe that the actual miles were different between the two countries. Not a big deal though.

[truespur]

@ElectricCarFan what do u think?

[Seamaster73]

Under the "hood"? HOOD?

[ElectricCarFan]

This is really going to be what brings EV's and BEV's to the market. I can only hope that ICE vehicles become a thing of the past.

[akolozvary]

Wonder how quickly the battery degrades over time. I imagine this works like any other battery where they eventually lose their ability to charge as well. If this is something that would need to be replaced at 5 years of normal or use...or 10 years of normal use, how much would it cost to replace?

Can't wait to see pickup trucks become more efficient like this the Prius.

[nerp27]

regardless of what the car reads as you drive. i'd like to know what your cars final milage is after a tank has run out. if you could drive the car until it's low on petrel and then divide the amount of miles driven by the amount of petrel it used, then that's the number i'd car more about. i say this because my father drive a dodge caravan and when the car coasted down hills the onboard computer would read 100 mph and it would then up the cars overall average falsely.

[aminorjourney]

So Robert, How does the car compare to my converted Prius that you had a ride in? ;)

[Cyber0Bill]

I really hope that we can standardize the mile per gallon rating system - because right now it is an almost meaningless number for EVs and plug-in hybrids.

The Prius was NOT getting 99.9 miles per gallon, because it got 14 of those miles using energy from the grid. It is just dishonest of them to claim that.

[fullychargedshow]

@Cyber0Bill I take your point, but that's not exactly true. Over a journey of around 40 to 50 miles, if the batteries are fully charged when you start, you will achieve over 100 MPG. The batteries don't drive you the 1st 14 miles and then the petrol engine kicks in. They work together all the time. No matter how you cut it, the car is using very little petrol.

Over a total of 300 miles the mpg, and petrol purchase gave me a reading of about 86 mpg. Total electricity cost, about £1.50

[Cyber0Bill]

@fullychargedshow - Don't get me wrong, it is still absolutely better than what we've got now! Here is the problem with the 50 mile trip saying 100mpg... It calculates that by saying it has used x gasoline over y miles. x = .5 gallons. But the battery is now at 20%.

This is an issue, because if we just throw more batteries into the Prius, and instead of using .5 gallons for that trip, we now use .1 gallons. Same car, but it gets 500 miles per gallon now, and its not any more efficient.

[Cyber0Bill]

@fullychargedshow - To put it another way... Does a Leaf get infinite mpg? I guess the problem comes down to whether we want more efficient vehicles, or whether we want to be more efficient with gasoline - two very different things. Sorry for the long reply, I love the show! :)

[crowdedcranium]

Great Stuff Robert , Very good show ! I do wonder wether Toyota will ever sell this car to the public at the moment they seem to be dodging the question !

You are right on with the disruptive technology statement .

[adric22]

@crowdedcranium - yes, Toyota has committed to selling the plug-in version for the 2012 model year.

[greyareaRK1]

Excellent show! Good luck with the funding. Hire a cameraman who can convert MPG to KPL. ;-) As other comments have mentioned, I would love to see this program expand to include other types of vehicles, and I'm also curious about what you think of the Chevy Volt (or whatever it's called in Europe, - gas generator/electric drive system. You've been inside Stephen Fry...?

[lawnmowerdude]

Amazing show man, love watching it.

[fullychargedshow]

@DANATRINGWOOD A recent report by the Royal Institute of Engineers in the UK has worked out that we could have up to 20 million electric cars in this country without needing to build 1 more power station. I always charge my car at night (it's on a timer) when the demand is at its lowest. This actually helps the generating industry by leveling out the demand over a 24 hour period. Plus this stored power could be used in emergencies. Electric cars do work very well.

[jricardos]

I like the series very much, but electric vehicles are not only cars. I would like to see in Fully Charged some motorcycles to.

Good work

[fullychargedshow]

@jricardos Will soon by trying electric motorcycles, scooters and electrically assisted pedal bikes

[marktime10]

There are fewer diesel hybrids because it is harder to achieve the same degree of 'step change' in economy performance. The standard 2nd generation Prius gets around mid 60s mpg, this is a good 15 - 20mpg better than a regular petrol car of similar size. There are already many diesel cars that can do mid 60s mpg, since a diesel engine in more efficient than a petrol engine it would be pretty difficult to get the 75 - 80 mpg that would be expected from a diesel hybrid with the current technology.

[fullychargedshow]

@marktime10 That's very interesting and does make some sense. You don't think it's to do with the compression then? As in the difficulty of starting the engine and stopping it seamlessly, as in the current petrol Prius. I'm only guessing at this.

I would also think that the main aim Toyota had when developing the car was to reduce the emissions as much as possible, particularly for the Californian market. Very few diesel cars in California

[marktime10]

@fullychargedshow Lets say it's my opinion not a fact, but how often to people say '65mpg from a Prius, lots of diesels can do that!' We know how significant it is but there needs to be a substantial step change to justify the complexity. Toyota know the market very well and diesel is not a favored fuel in the US car market, that said Europe would be up for it but it would need to break say 100mpg to be acceptable in the complexity vs benefit equation. There would be more tech problems to solve

[marktime10]

It's very easy to get distracted by the pure EV range of hybrids, the 14 miles that Robert quotes is a big improvement on the standard Prius but this misses the point, the car uses the EV component when it is most beneficial to do so. A time when this is key is when pulling away from standstill, this is very inefficient with a standard patrol ICE (all that revving and slipping the clutch), the hybrid uses the electric motor to do this and saves a significant amount of fuel. It is very clever.

[fullychargedshow]

@marktime10 Thank you for this too, very good clear explanation, next time I'll try and explain it better

[eldictator1]

EDF energy need to pull their finger out and provide charging points..

Great video as usual bobby llew, not too keen on the prius though

p.s I failed at GCSE maths too, but got an A in physics??

[rickrolled09]

Robert, doesn't the car have a generator from the petrol engine to recharge the electricity cells? I was just wondering why you had to charge it 5 times.

[Octamed]

@rickrolled09 you charge it so you don't have to use petrol to generate it. When it runs out it generates from the brakes and engine to give the battery enough charge to handle city/stopping driving.

[fullychargedshow]

@rickrolled09 I didn't 'have to' charge it 5 times. That's just what I managed to do. It would still work fine if I never charged them, however clearly charging them increases the overall mpg very significantly. Therefore if you had one of these cars and could re-charge it every night, drove around 50 miles a day, you'd average around 100 mpg, from my rubbish calculations.

[john1966elliott]

What about four wheels drive for electirc verison ? My Future, I think about travel around Australia by electirc 4X4.with solar on roof or solar on caravan's roof for going or rest and small petrol or diesel powered re-charge motor for plug to 4X4, in night time, for 6, 7 hours. i don't know, I think about it.

[teslawizardvvv3]

check this months issues of Wired magazine and E magazine they have 2 big articles on electric cars. 

[drtyrell969]

Do kids ever steal your plug thingy?

[Octamed]

@drtyrell969 Most charging stations unlock when you swip your card and lock over your cable when you plug it in. So the worst they could usually do is unplug your car. 'Chargepoint' stations will also sms you if someone unplugs it :)

[fullychargedshow]

@drtyrell969 The only way they could steal it in a public charge station is to cut through the wire. The plug is locked in place, only the keyfob opens it. So they could cut it, but they would risk a 240 volt, 13 amp jolt which might put a crimp on their day :-)

[Lukieo20]

@fullychargedshow wow, now i want one lol

[quwers]

I have so many questions that I've gone a confuzled my single brain cell. Damn.

[MrChrisRab]

Thanks again for the show. As usual it's great and you're always testing new and efficient cars! Keep up the good work!

[ttrager1]

@daquifsta: AC Propulsion has had a tiny trailer-towed range extender for all electrics for some time, called the "Long Ranger" I think it is. It's a small trailer with a small gasoline engine in it driving a generator.

[Octamed]

@ttrager1 that looks really cool. Many people must have had the same idea but noone seems to mention them when talking about modern evs?

[asdasdasdasdasdas98]

Landrover are making a diesel hybrid which will be launced in 2012.

Petrol engine efficiency is around 20%

Diesel Engine efficiency is around 40%

Oh and the new start stop technology, with the opening of valves can also be used on diesel engine.

[deejaydoubleyoo]

A couple of questions for you Mr Llewellyn.

It looks as if the recharge point in your garage is in a different location than it was for your Imiev. Did you have to install a new charge point and are all car manufacturers charges different?

And I've always wondered where the heat is created on an electric vehicle given there is no engine to aid the heater.

Thanks and keep them coming.

[DonkeyHellfire]

@deejaydoubleyoo To provide heat electric cars currently use the following

1. An electric heater is an electrical appliance that converts electrical energy into heat. The heating element inside every electric heater is simply an electrical resistor, and works on the principle of Joule heating: an electric current through a resistor converts electrical energy into heat energy.

[DonkeyHellfire]

@deejaydoubleyoo

2 A heat pump uses an electric motor to drive a refrigeration cycle, drawing heat from a source such as the ground or outside air and directing it into the space to be warmed. Such systems can deliver two or three units of heating energy for every unit of electricity used. Heat pumps are one of the most efficient means of heating / cooling.

[DonkeyHellfire]

@deejaydoubleyoo

3) In extremely cold climates some electric cars use liquid fuelled heaters (Diesel, Alcohol etc) to provide heat so that the large heating requirement does not affect the range of the vehicle.

[fullychargedshow]

@DonkeyHellfire Thanks for all your brilliant answers. Top notch stuff.

[fullychargedshow]

@deejaydoubleyoo I have more than one plug socket in my garage, so I plugged the Prius in another one. In an all electric car, the heater runs off the main battery and it seems generally accepted that this reduces the range by about 2%.

[Pook365]

I think these plug-in hybreds are a really good stepping stone, they offer a little of the benefit of an all EV car but with a much reduced purchase cost.

At the very least if these sell well it will give more people a good impression of EV cars hopefully resulting in their greater acceptance.

[mjkobb]

One thing I'm not totally clear about: you averaged 80-some MPG over 300 miles, but that included plugging the car in multiple times to recharge the plug-in battery?

I'd be interested to know how the car does over 300 miles if you start out fully charged (heh) and then don't plug it in at all for those 300 miles.

I must say that the Volt with its 40-mile ZEV range makes more sense to me. Most days in a Volt, I'd use no gas at all.

Of course, in my RAV4-EV, I use no gas at all every day. ;-)

[Pook365]

@mjkobb

Other than the additional battery pack this is the same as a standard Prius, they do according to Wiki 72 mpg (US Gallons).

Getting the first 13miles of the 300mile trip "for free" would result in it doing 75mpg.

[808duguid808]

simply question how much electric does it use compared to a tv on stand by

[Pook365]

@808duguid808

I was gathering figures to work this out and then found out that a modern TV in the region of 0.05W on standby, an almost negligible amount.

A random new LG TV I looked up uses 268w while being used.

The battery is aparently charged at 12A for 1 1/2 hours which would be 4.1kw.

So that's the same amount of power as the TV uses if watched for 15hours, or something silly like 10years of standby.

This is all rather inaccurate :P

[Pook365]

@808duguid808

Assuming the 0.05w/h is correct for the standby current of that TV, I just did some maths...the result was bonkers, so I did it again.

A GP AA Nimh battery with a capacity of 2100mah has a capacity of 2.52W/h so in theory could power the TV in standby for 50hours.

I could be wrong, but I don't seem to be...hmm

[TBman256]

if you're making the oil companies angry or fearful, then you're definetly on the right track :)

[telmomartinho]

Again, very good show.

I actually think that 14miles on battery is very OK. If you do 28miles per day you are saving 50% :)

I know you still have to pay for the electricity, but anyway I think people just have to stop and give electric cars a chance, the faster the consumers change their mind about electric vehicles the sooner electrics will get better and better... :)

[wevenhuis]

Impressive 87 mpg for the plug-in Prius real time test. The data in Holland is 57 mpg for the toyota Prius. Apparantly the car does make sense.

How is the funding going?

[Sabikization]

I like this show.

[TheHolySpirit]

The thing is lots of electric or hybrid cars will be retrogradably (is that even a word?) upgradeable with new battery technology as it comes to market. This will mean that the cars will actually become more efficient as they grow older.

[PurpleFunnyChocolate]

I like the idea of someone looking into your car, unaware that you're talking to cameras, thinking you're talking to yourself ='D

[ianjeffray]

87MPG is a rather misleading figure though if you've also charged it 5 times... you've got to account for that amount of electric 'fuel' too

[MrDJWooski]

@ianjeffray It's going to get very difficult comparing these plug in cars as they become available. Clearly if he did 10 miles a day and recharged everynight he wouldn't have used any petrol at all. And yes differing countries have different CO2 figures for their electricity. In the UK its quite high (lots of coal) whilst in France its much lower (lots of Nuclear).

[daquifsta]

For me, a 14 mile battery range would be prefect - I could get to work and back on that comfortably every day of the week. Petrol would become like bacon - something you have at weekends. Or, to misquote the illustrius Cookie Monster, Petrol would become a sometime food for me :-)

[JohnCBriggs]

When you say 87 MPG, Is that UK gallons or American gallons?

[fullychargedshow]

@JohnCBriggs I live in the UK, the car is in the UK, the steering wheel is on the right, I am driving on the left, I buy petrol in the UK, so yes, it's the bigger, imperial gallons. :-)

[JohnCBriggs]

@fullychargedshow Well, now I just feel stupid.

[Octamed]

@fullychargedshow huh, shows my ignorance. I didn't know there was a difference, but we've been metric for decades in Australia. Worth pointing out given the international audience.

[MrChrisRab]

@fullychargedshow Yet another reason why the whole world should use the metric system! =D

[vitessemeister]

@fullychargedshow You live in the UK so you should say 'under the bonnet' not 'under the hood' at 1:40

[SirKnobofCheese]

Are there any diesel hybrids? Because wouldn't they be even more economical?

[fullychargedshow]

@SirKnobofCheese Two reasons. Obvious one is emissions, a modern petrol engine can be tuned to release very low levels, unfortunately a diesel engine also produces SOX and NOX emissions, nothing to do with climate change or CO2, but a lot to do with us poor humans. Secondly, would it be possible to electronically control the compression on a diesel engine? When the Prius ICE starts up, all the valves are open, hence the smooth start, no judder. Not sure that's possible with diesel?

[SirKnobofCheese]

@fullychargedshow Thanks for replying Robert.I've always wondered why there were no diesel hybrids.

[quwers]

@SirKnobofCheese Stick what.com to the front of this. /car-news/peugeot-diesel-hybri­d-on-sale-next-year/252419

[DrKremmen]

@fullychargedshow Electronically controlling compression on diesels is certainly possible. Some (especially large) diesel engines include a form of engine braking known as the "Jake Brake" - which is essentially a solenoid controlled extra exhaust valve designed to release engine compression at the top of the engine stroke. I imagine this system could be adapted to electronically control any or all of the valves in a diesel engine.

Oh, and it's bonnet, Bobby, bonnet... Not "hood" ;-)

[Pook365]

@fullychargedshow

I went shopping in Manchester yesterday and was most supprised to see quite a few diesel/electric hybred buses.

I Googled when I got back, sadly there is no mention of them using bio-diesel. Which seems like a massive failure as we already have bio-diesel powered buses.

[abyssunderground]

@fullychargedshow Yes it's possible. Look at the old thumper engines =) Hand started you'd never get it over compression without the valves open. It does make me wonder if they ever will use diesel.

[UNITYN]

@abyssunderground Diesel engines would make more sense in a serial hybrid where the engine can be kept running at its most efficient RPM.

@fullychargedshow another masterful episode Robert, what was the total cost for your 300 miles? ie 5 charges @? + petrol. Thanks Neil

[jeffm1971]

@SirKnobofCheese Peugeot are bring out the 3008 diesel hybrid which will be the first diesel hybrid ever made.

[UK1774]

I still think the hybrid cars are a last ditch attempt to keep the yearly service that full electric cars don't need

[fenrirloupblanc]

Bobby, what supermarkets in your area offer parking spots for EVs? I've never seen any around here (Edinburgh)

[dervheid]

intrigued by the induction plate charging mentioned below. How is the EM field generated restricted to a 'safe' distance, and would this system have any implications for anyone fitted with a pacemaker, for example?

[Oldsmobile69]

Oh and as far as technical details go, you should mention them, but don't spend too much time on them as people's eyes glaze over. Even technical car shows only devote a minute or two to the technical details of gas powered cars.

[Oldsmobile69]

I liked those shots you did of following the car around. Maybe you should work on more of those? All in all a very well done episode despite Mr Blurrycam working the cams there at the beginning. Of, except maybe you should use something other than iMovie's default title texts. Unless that's something you've been using the whole time?

[nikku13]

How long will we have to wait until we can buy an all electric car that’s price comparable with an equivalent petrol? I live in Hong Kong & I know that electric cars will work. However, the cheapest petrol VW cost 180,000HKD , were as the Imiev is listed as 350,000! I REALLY want to buy an all electric car, but I can't wait 5+yrs. This is the main problem I see for the electric cars in HK; people just won’t wait too long before they just go out & buy a cheap petrol car.

[Octamed]

Serious question Bobby. Why don't pure electric cars with 100+ miles range have an optional, cool looking generator trailer you can hook up when you know you're going long distance? You could hire them or buy them. For me that would completely solve range anxiety as I only go over 100 miles when skiing or traveling interstate maybe 3 times a year.

Or even hire a trailer with a big battery pack for a full day travel, instead of battery swap programs (which I don't see having a huge future TBH)

[fullychargedshow]

@Octamed I think the trailer generator is a very, very, very good idea. I'm going to become a trailer generator evangelist.

[Octamed]

@fullychargedshow My first disciple :)

Manufacturers would need to agree on some things

a) an additional charge port at the rear like a caravan lights port. Which can be safely hooked up during travel

b) If the SAE standard allows extra data (which I think it does) then they'd have to agree on the generator/external battery commands. I think SAE might already have an 'I need charge' signal in the protocol which would be ideal

c) Cross compatibility! For hire friendliness

= Problem solved!

[daquifsta]

@fullychargedshow @octamed Don't think this will work. A generator connected to the trailer wheels would make the trailer harder to tow, because the energy to turn the generator has to come from somewhere. Therefore, your towing vehicle uses more energy. You could probably do regenerative braking on the trailer, in the same way as on a car, and recover energy from there. However, this would only give an advantage over an identical vehicle- trailer combo that didn't have regenerative braking.

[fullychargedshow]

@daquifsta I think the idea as I understand it is the trailer would carry a small petrol generator, obviously if you used the trailer as a regen unit from the turning wheels it would be utterly self defeating. I'm talking about a tiny petrol engine, driving a generator, that you hire for long trips. The trailer would be very small, lawn mower size.

[Octamed]

@fullychargedshow yeah, a small petrol generator is the idea. Plus as a bonus it could have extra stowage space which perfectly coincides with long trips.

Driving a generator from the wheels would require violating a pesky thing called the Second law of thermodynamics :)

[fenrirloupblanc]

@Octamed Not a bad idea, could be included inside caravans as well and have a battery pack which is constantly charged by the movement of its own wheels, can't be that hard to make

[WestLABoy]

@Octamed

The guys at AC Propulsion did this back in the 1990s, I believe. It worked, even though the engine wasn't optimized for charging. I suppose the commercial viability depends on the usual stuff: cost, demand, etc.

[TBman256]

better keep that car away from me or I might latch on to it like a lamprey eel and never let go :)

[ianabruce]

Well-to-wheel fuel efficiency of the grid vs. onboard electrical generation is about 3x. As we add more renewable sources (solar, wind, hydro), this figure can improve dramatically. The PIP is one of the very few vehicles who's carbon-footprint actually improves over time. Brilliant.

[DonkeyHellfire]

Petrol / Gasoline contains 36.6 kWh per US gallon or ( x 1.2) 43.92 kWh per imperial gallon. The Leaf contains a 24 kWh battery and can travel 100 miles on a full charge. Thus 43.92 / 24 = 1.83. 1.83 * 100 = 183 imperial MPG. 24 kWh works about at about 2.48 liters of Petrol / Gas! Please correct me if the method is incorrect.

[fullychargedshow]

@DonkeyHellfire I hope you noticed that at the start of this show I said I failed my Maths GCSE (an exam kids take at 16) but I am going to print out your numbers in big type and really really try to understand them

[DonkeyHellfire]

@fullychargedshow. I think I was in the 2nd or 3rd year of kids to do GCSE's (1990) so I also have an understanding of what O levels were too. I also failed the equivalent of O level maths as I only got a D in GCSE Maths the first time around and I believe only A to C grade GCSE's are equivalent to O levels. I did manage to achieve a grade A in GCSE Physics though, so that kind of makes up for it  If you need any clarification of the calculations I used please do not hesitate to ask.

[thermalCat]

@DonkeyHellfire Correct but somewhat convoluted. @fullychargedshow Following other peoples maths is always more difficult than doing it yourself, even if they tell you what they are trying to calculate and can decide which units of measurement to use. You seem to get a fair number of technical comments & questions about EV's here on Youtube. Perhaps a fully charged forum would be a good idea?

[DonkeyHellfire]

Interesting and it looks like a big improvement on the previous Prius. As far as I can work out the Leaf gets about 183 ish imperial MPG equivalent but it is limited to 100 miles per charge. It’s a compromise in one area or another at the moment.

[Neosophist]

Good stuff I love the Top Gear Reference... 99.9mpg :D

[Llitsor]

Cars like this, and the GM Volt are how hybrids should have been done from the start.

Great job on the show too Rob :)

[nssnpulsars]

Seriously, is plugging in the car is too difficult for you? It is the same steps as putting a gas pump in. Why add more crap that can break or fail?

I've enjoyed all the episodes you have produced Robert. Thanks.

[polpotsdog]

nice. but the charging is just fiddly, i hope that gets neater. like a plate u drive over and a little contact thing pops out or wireless power transfer (google it).

[fullychargedshow]

@polpotsdog You are talking inductive charging, this is clearly the next step. Plugging in with wire is fine, takes a few seconds, but when you just park the car over an inductive plate and it charges (they already have this system working in Korea) then no one will say 'how far does it go on a charge?' any more, fingers crossed

[gfmarket]

nice shirt in the second half. looking forward to more new vids. keep up the good work.

[feckingbillgates]

Why have a hybrid rather than a fully electric car?

[DingoBabyEat]

@feckingbillgates probably for those who still cant get acess to a power point where they park their car at night...and for those who live in countries where re-charge infrastructure isn't set up in public

[Rtmiss1]

Does Stephen Fry know about his part in this? :P

[evei0326rjwk]

First and I love Your Show

When I grow Up I want to be bussiness man who makes PROPER Electric car like Tesla!

[TheHolySpirit]

@evei0326rjwk Cool. Make em so they'll last the lifetime of the owner too. I'll buy one.

[thegadgetdude]

I'm watching now.