Toyota's frugal Prius Plug-in took on the feared Nürburgring Nordschleife
The Prius Plug-in relied on electric power for most of the 12.8-mile circuit
The Prius Plug-in was charged from Toyota's van, which carried battery cells
Track conditions were dry and there was a light breeze during the run
The economy run vehicle featured Toyota Racing Developments upgrades
A Toyota Prius Plug-in has returned a 698mpg fuel consumption figure on an economy run around the 12.8-mile Nürburgring Nordschleife.
The Toyota Prius Plug-in's claimed combined cycle fuel economy figure is 134mpg, but the petrol-electric hybrid almost completed the whole lap on EV power alone, with the 1.8-litre petrol engine only engaging during on a long uphill climb.
The car used for the economy run was upgraded to TRD (Toyota Racing Developments) specification. This includes lightweight 18in alloy wheels and low rolling resistance tyres, uprated suspension, aero-enhancing front and rear bumpers and a rear spoiler.
The run took place during a Nürburgring public track session, meaning the car had to comply with all the circuit rules, including the minimum average speed of 37.2mph (60kph).
The lap took 20 minutes and 59 seconds – more than three times longer than the production car lap record of 6 minutes 57 seconds set by Marc Lieb in a Porsche 918 Spyder hybrid last September.
Toyota has previously broken the Nürburgring's lap record for electric vehicles with its EV P001 and P002 racers. The battery cells from the EV P002 were used to fully charge the Prius Plug-in via a charging truck prior to the economy run.
Watch Toyota's video of its economy run below.
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xxxx
advancing the cause
Hydrogen cars just went POP
d79m
This does show how good plug
Citytiger
Suddenly it makes that £100k
fadyady
feeling the heat
I do hope sincerely that the new Prius will reflect Toyota's competitive streak if it wants to stay at the lead of the green car.
Virgilio
counterproductive marketing
The 918 record is infinetly more significant. If they want to show how good electric technology is, they could show how a plug-in car could get incredible mileage on a normal, real (non EU) daily basis, which it could. Or how they can get mind bending performance, which they did (P1, LaFerrari, 918).
Not this, please. EV buyers tend to be (a little) less moronic than sporty SUV buyers, so don't treat them as such!
V
liquidgold
What a pointless exercise
Meaningless figures, pointless publicity. I managed to get 1000mpg out of my X5M when I pushed it down my drive last week. But then I am a moron.
LP in Brighton
So what was the fuel consumption on the second lap?
scotty5
LP in Brighton wrote:
Or to play Toyota at their own game...
Why not quote the mpg figure for that uphill climb whilst the engine was engaged? I'll tell you why, because a bog standard 1.6tdi VW Golf would make the consumption of the Prius look positively thirsty.
beniot9888
Electricity consumption?
- once the batteries are empty, fuel consumption will obvious increase, so it only works for short journeys (if you only do short trips, though, all good for you!)
- electricity on a RECHARGEABLE hybrid is not self produced. You have to plug the car to leave with full battery. But Toyota "forgot" to mention the electricity consumption during this exploit. If you do so, then a Leaf or a Zoe would get an infinite mpg!
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