Monday, November 21, 2005

Another Tank of Gas

Finally had to fill up the tank in the Prius again on the 19th. Put in 9.358 gallons this time at "only" 2.239 a gallon. At 391 miles, that means we saved another 23.225 gallons, or $52, by not driving the truck. I got a good lesson in the temperature effect on the bladder in the gas tank: the car claimed just shy of 45 mpg since the last fill-up. This is presumably based on actual gas delivered to the engine, though I can't be sure. Anyway, the 9.358 gallons I put in for 391 miles actually comes to about 41.7 mpg.

According to the Prius, however, the 384 miles to the first fill-up were at 43.8 mpg, the 391 to the second at 44.5. Hmm... let's see... that means 8.767 and 8.787 actual usage, respectively. That comes to 44.15 mpg so far. I do like that number better than the 42.5 combined based on the amount of gas I've actually put in the tank.

That said, we're thinking seriously about keeping the truck. The Accord is a V6, and it's mileage is only 18mpg as compared to the truck's 12. As long as we make the Prius our primary vehicle, which it is already, I think keeping the truck for it's greater utility is fine for now. Eventually, I hope that they'll come out with an SUV that gets better mileage than the ones out now.

I'm interested in the rumored Isuzu diesel/electic pickup. Don't see anything about it on their web site, though... That would be really cool - imagine running a diesel/electric hybrid on waste vegetable oil.

And then there's the Mazda Senku: a hybrid rotary sports car with solar panels in the roof and sliding electric doors. That would be very cool. No good for kids, since the back seats are only there to keep the insurance costs down. They make no apologies for having given priority to the front passengers.

Anyway, getting back to reality, we managed to kill the battery in the Prius yesterday. On the way back from some errands, Rachel fell asleep. Dawn was going to sit on the front steps and read while I did some things, so I left the accessories on to keep the fan going. Neglected to tell Dawn. Also to remember after Rachel woke up.

This lead to some hurried carseat juggling this morning and I took Rachel to school in the truck. I'll have to jump the Prius in the morning... we'll see how that goes.

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