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I don't know the specifics of a hybrid car, but wouldn't that be a lot of wear on the gas engine to be constantly turning on and off? To the starter and whatnot. >>
Well, it doesn't start like a normal car. Basically the way it starts is electrical engine comes on and then revs it up to a few hundred rpm before turning on the gas engine. It supposedly is much less harsh on the engine, and you hear no starter. It's weird but all you get is slight vibrations and sound to tell you that the engine has come on.
Actually, especially if the stereo is on, and if you're moving (at low speeds), it's sometimes very hard to know if the gas engine is on or off. So, I've ordered this
mod. I dunno if counts as a rice mod, because the purpose is to get better gas mileage, and therefore
reduce performance.
😉
I got this off the Prius group at Yahoo:
Prius starts the ICE by spinning it up to several hundred RPM before
applying spark and gas. It happens pretty quickly, so I don't know
how much time there is for oil to circulate. To the driver it seems a
lot smoother and less stressful than the cranking and low-RPM starting
of a conventional car. It also makes for a very smooth transition
between all-electric and ICE-assisted modes while driving.
The ICE will also run to top off the battery when the car is in Park.
But you don't have to wait for this to finish. You can drive off
when you wish and the car will deal with battery SOC automatically.
...the Prius engine is Al block with iron sleeves. No word from
Japan, where they've been out for several years, that they are
unreliable. But I would say the jury is still out. Be aware that
Prius limits ICE RPM to 4000 (? -not sure of the exact figure).
Between that and assistance from the electric motor the engine stress
per mile is probably less than other cars.