For the week of December 4 - 10, 2002

Can a hybrid 
handle the hills?

The answer, apparently, is yes

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By GREGORY FOLEY
Express Staff Writer

When San Francisco Bay Area residents John and Anita Mitchell decided to drive their new hybrid car to the Wood River Valley for Thanksgiving, they didn’t think twice about lingering myths that hybrid vehicles just don’t belong in the mountains.

San Francisco Bay Area residents John and Anita Mitchell tested the limits of their new Toyota Prius hybrid car when they drove the vehicle 850 miles to Ketchum last week for a Thanksgiving vacation. The couple said the full-sized vehicle averaged more than 50 miles per gallon and climbed steep mountain passes with no difficulty. Express photo by David N. Seelig

Hybrid vehicles—which are powered by both a gasoline engine and an electric motor—have gained appreciation in the last five years as environment-friendly alternatives for big-city commuters who rarely stray far from home. However, they were often thought to lack the power and capacity to make them appropriate for long-distance journeys.

Not so, said John Mitchell, during a drive last week from Ketchum to Warm Springs in his 2002 Toyota Prius hybrid sedan.

"Some people have misconceptions that it’s weak," he said. "But that’s just not the case. It’s plenty strong."

Mitchell—a high school teacher in Palo Alto, Calif., and friend of Blaine County Commissioner Sarah Michael—said his Prius not only kept pace with conventional cars on the highways and mountain passes between California and Central Idaho, but generally outperformed its gas-guzzling counterparts on the 850-mile trip.

"We went 60 miles per hour or more up steep grades, averaged more than 50 miles per gallon, and needed to refill the gas tank only once," he said.

In addition, Mitchell said an afternoon driving on numerous snow-covered lanes in the Stanley area proved the four-door car—which boasts front-wheel drive and anti-lock brakes—excelled in winter driving conditions.

"My only complaint is that it has fairly low clearance," he said. "It’s probably not the best car for back roads, but it did very well on snow."

Indeed, the Prius is not designed for four-wheeling through remote forests and mountain ranges. But for many valley commuters, it may just be the remedy for guilt-laden trips behind the wheel of an over-sized conventional sport-utility vehicle or sedan.

On a test-drive from downtown Ketchum to Warm Springs last week, the Mitchell’s Prius averaged more than 60 miles per gallon as it efficiently used the gasoline engine to assist the electric motor—the primary power source. (Honda produces a smaller hybrid vehicle that uses an electric motor to assist the gasoline engine, while General Motors, Ford and Chrysler all have models ready for release in 2003 and 2004.)

The Prius—the world’s first mass-produced gas-electric vehicle—in normal driving takes power from the gasoline engine and splits it between the wheels and an electric generator. The generator runs the electric motor, which also supplies power to the wheels.

When the car is accelerated, the electric motor is supplemented by power from a collection of 28 battery cells. The batteries are charged by the electric motor and energy is captured when the car is coasting or slowed with the brakes.

Because the Toyota hybrid gains power from decelerating and braking, it is most efficient in stop-and-go traffic, where it can average up to 100 miles per gallon.

The approximately 11-gallon gas tank can typically supply fuel for more than 500 miles of driving. Moreover, the car carries a "Super Ultra Low Emission" standard, in part because the gas engine is automatically turned off when the car is idling at a stop.

Mitchell, who used to drive a Volkswagen van, said he has saved hundreds of dollars in gasoline costs this year—money he has donated to various nonprofit environmental groups.

"It’s nice to be on the right side of things," he said. "You can drive and feel like you’re not abusing the environment."

 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.