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What about Dunkin Donuts?
What do they charge for a gallon of regular?
$4.29 reflects the unfairness of all the Prius drivers cutting into the oil company profits. They are storing their braking energy? For heavens sake, the energy companies MUST charge them for that!:-)
Heh
If only you knew how little of the Prius's mileage actually comes from regenerative braking.
city vs. highway
All of it in the city *does* come from regenerative braking. On the highway, it's the skinny tires, funky engine design, and (ugly) aerodynamic shape - nothing to do with the hybrid drivetrain.
In other words, many of the same things that made old compact/commuter cars get similar mileage, though the Prius is has upped the game by not being an absolute death trap.
Some of the city milage comes from the engine, too
Especially in the summer, with the AC on, when the battery is drawn down and braking doesn't generate enough power and then the gas engine comes on to recharge the battery - the whole 150,000-mile battery system is based on never letting the battery get down below 40% capacity (or above 80%).
It just doesn't make as good a story that part of the reason the car gets good mileage is the fact that it simply has a dinky little gas engine - the electric engine is really more to compensate for that during acceleration. The braking certainly helps (and hopefully will also extend overall brake life), but I read somewhere (priuschat.com?) that it only accounts for maybe 10% of the mileage gain.
Having said that, yes, it's fun to drive in "stealth" mode in parking lots or even down the West Roxbury Parkway from Washington Street to Belgrade Avenue.