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What does 50 wH get me?

28K views 26 replies 14 participants last post by  Hep 
Yesterday I confirmed with my GPS that the difference in elevation between the base of the hill to my house is 204 feet. It is a steep hill, so to gain that elevation, I only have to travel about 1800 feet. I already tried backing up the hill in reverse, and there was no problem, although it used about four of the battery bars.

This is a good test for the battery because the Prius uses only the motor in reverse. I want to try it again and take more careful measurements.

Can someone help with the calculations? How much energy in Wh is being used to elevate the Prius 204 feet?

Also, by using the battery this intensively, will it cause any harm?

Thanks for any help with this.
 
hdrygas wrote:
I hate to be the barer of bad news but the elevation is the worst function of the GPS. Get a Altimeter or better yet USGS map or the Canadian equivalent and check the elevation. Do not trust a GPS for elevation.
Yes, I am aware of this, but, inaccurate as it is, it works fairly well doing a comparative reading, such as taking a reading at the bottom of a hill, (maybe not accuate in itself), and comparing it to a reading taken at the top of the hill, (also inaccurate in itself), but compare the readings and you get a fairly good accuracy one relative to the other. I also have other cross references supporting the difference in elevation, so I am pretty confident about it.

I did another test yesterday, and found that going up the hill in reverse took five bars off the batttery guage - from seven down to two. Then, coasting down the hill brougt it up one bar (really, I think about one and one-half).

Another thing about GPS altitude accuracy - if you wait a long time for the reading to settle down, it becomes pretty accurate, only bouncing around by about +/- five feet. But this takes about ten minutes. From there if you move it to another location it seems to track elevation quite consistently.
 
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