mwalsh wrote:drees wrote:There, fixed that for ya. But I would accept consider 65 mph and VLBW.
Yep that would be my threshold for acceptability too. Legal freeway speeds to VLBW. Though my preference would also be to add "in any driving conditions (weather, terrain, etc...), with a fully charged battery". The latter was what ill-fated Coda was aiming for, and I believe with their battery pack they were probably good for it.
FWIW, even though the speed highway speed limits on the highways near where I live are 65 mph, I find myself going ~68 to 72 in my Prius. A few weeks ago on a Saturday morning, for some reason, Nor Cal felt like LA.

I suddenly found myself being tailgated going 78 mph (in a 65)

by a Yaris on either highway 85 or 17 north in the fast lane. Once I was finally able move over, one of the speed demons in a Ferrari w/no plates blew by me.
As for legal, depends on where. The limit is 70 mph on much of I-5. Nobody in a car goes just 70 mph there. Texas has some 75 mph, 80 and even 85 mph speed limit highways:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/speeding-texas ... d=17549839" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.
TomT wrote:But it is apples and oranges since the range on an ICE car is almost never an issue. It is always an issue on an EV.
jelloslug wrote:cwerdna wrote:Until the Leaf can do 100 miles on a charge at 70 mph w/both moderate AC and moderate heater usage, I think it's a very bad idea to tell ICEV owners its range is 100 miles.
If the MPG ratings on ICE cars were calculated that way maybe but they are not.
Agree w/TomT.
For more info on the EPA tests as it applies to ICEVs, see
http://priuschat.com/threads/car-and-dr ... tes.67235/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. The average speed on the highway and high speed test cycles is only 48.3 or 48.4 mph but the tests are run on a dyno and there's some fudging downward. FWIW, when Consumer Reports does their mileage tests, they run at a steady 65 mph on the highway portion and almost every single car on that test exceeds the EPA highway value.