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A comment on The Toyota Prius Transformed the Auto Industry. Parent comment

Re:The Toyota Prius Transformed the Auto Industry by usrusr on Saturday January 18, 2025 @06:52PM (#42752408)
To me the key element is that it can run different transmission ratios: wether that's in discrete steps or a continuous ramp, that's an implementation detail. BEV (most of them) don't have that, the Prius has. When I read GP post my (surprised) impression from the "no gearbox" claim was that the Prius started as a serial hybrid. (it did not)
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Re:The Toyota Prius Transformed the Auto Industry by numpad0 on Saturday January 18, 2025 @07:16PM (#42752543)
Is THS actually capable of varying transmission ratio? I thought it can modulate resistance but not actually change gear ratio.
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Re:The Toyota Prius Transformed the Auto Industry by jgilias on Sunday January 19, 2025 @09:57AM (#42757537)
Transmission ratio yes, as in, what part of engine power gets transmitted to the wheels. Individual gear ratios of course not.
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Re:The Toyota Prius Transformed the Auto Industry by numpad0 on Sunday January 19, 2025 @10:15AM (#42757700)
So the relationship between engine RPM and wheel RPM is always fixed, only torque split is varied, right? I think that's around where some confusions are coming from.
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Re:The Toyota Prius Transformed the Auto Industry by jgilias on Sunday January 19, 2025 @01:41PM (#42760087)
No, the engine can spin without the wheels spinning. Then MG1 gets spun and charges the battery (or spins freely if the battery is full).

This page has a neat PSD simulation to help grok what happens:

http://eahart.com/prius/psd/

I think it only works from a computer though!

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