The couple purchased their little red Prius in February 2006 as a Valentine’s Day gift from Dick to Jane. As a hybrid vehicle, the car was bound to get better mileage than many of those on the road, but it’s surpassed some expectations as well.
The car is even more different than some in that it can be plugged into a wall outlet and recharged, just like batteries for a camera or the battery in a cell phone.
“I’m an [electrical] engineer and have been following people trying to make electric cars,” Dick said.
The vehicle came equipped with 12-volt battery system already installed. But, while the company says the battery life can last for about 40 miles, the Wileys have found that traveling over the hilly terrain of the Finger Lakes and surrounding regions the battery gets about 20 miles before losing its charge.
“The Prius is not made to run entirely on electricity,” Dick said. “It’s pretty good on electricity at 35 mph.”
If a driver is planning to just do some running around town and stays in the 30 to 35 mph speed zones, the gas engine may never kick on.
According to Jane, when sitting at a red light, the gas engine will turn off, if it was in use. The vehicle is so quiet, it sounds as though the car has stalled when it’s actually just running off the electrical charge.
“It’s not much different than any other car,” Dick said. “[But] at low speeds the engine is off. It depends on the load. If you’re sitting at a red light and want to floor it, the engine comes on right away.”
While the car has a factory provided and installed battery, the life wasn’t long enough. So in 2008, Dick and Jane made the decision to spend $10,000, take the car to Boston and have an auxiliary battery installed in the back end where a spare tire would normally be stored.
The lithium ion battery is a lot lighter than others, Dick said, particularly for the amount of charge it holds. To fully charge the battery takes about five hours.
Nearly 100,000 miles have been driven, the engine is still in top shape and the Wileys are able to know they are driving a vehicle that not only helps to save them money, but also has helped cut down on how big their carbon footprint is.
Despite troubles Toyota has had with accelerators sticking and brakes not working on some of their models, Jane said the Prius has been trouble free.
“We have 115,000 miles on it and haven’t had any problems,” Jane said.
Notwithstanding the economics behind their purchase, the Wileys discovered greater reasons and better use of the electric car after a conversation at their church in Camillus.
With gas and oil being natural resources and there being finite amounts of each, their uses are only going to be good for as long as there is a supply.
“We were talking about the environment and stewardship,” Dick said. “If everything comes from God, we only have use of it temporarily.”
