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Old 01-02-2008, 11:08 AM
chestr chestr is offline
Pretty Darn Active Enthusiast
 
Real Name: Stephen
Location: Boston
Hybrids: 07 Toyota Camry Hybrid (6/17/06)
Posts: 303
Default Re: Which accessories cause MPG to suffer most

And are you talking existence of, or use of? I mean power seats add mass which decreases FE, but if you have power seats (like the default driver's seat) I'm assuming the question then becomes how much is using it going to affect you. Unless you plan on yanking out the power driver's seat?

But yeah I'd say heat/AC and secondarily fan are most likely to be electricity hogs, running down the battery or requiring the ICE to come on to assist in maintaining charge. Lights, NAV, stereo, bluetooth I'd say are fairly small drains, though of course they all add up. Heated seats I'm not sure, heat generation does take some power. And there's even basic stuff like open windows/moonroof, especially at higher speeds, causing increased drag, to drop FE. But for charge-draining, your list covers most of it. I would personally guess that the fan would be higher on the list--running an electric motor I do believe does do some nontrivial draw. Spinning a CD wouldn't be too tough but blowing air would require some more power. Even at lower speeds, but especially at high levels.

But that's just my guess.

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