Different Shades of Green | Lethbridge Polytechnic

Marty Boogaart is sold on his six-year-old Prius.

Marty Boogaart drives a long way between gas pumps these days, testament to the fuel efficiency of his 2005 Toyota Prius. Wringing 55 miles to the gallon on the highway (“I convert everything to gallons because I’m old school”), he only drops to more plebeian numbers in extremely cold weather.

“It’s still a thrill driving to Calgary and back on less than a tank, although I still fill up in Claresholm,” says Boogaart, a Computer Information Technology instructor at Lethbridge College.

He’s using half the gas his previous vehicle required, and still manages to drive in the manner to which he has become accustomed, often beating larger engines across the intersection from red lights.

“I’m creating minimal pollution and getting great gas mileage,” says Boogaart, who bought the vehicle second-hand almost three years ago.

The Prius hybrid uses a small gas engine in concert with an electric motor as its power plant. Unlike a true electric car, it doesn’t require plugging in to recharge the batteries, a nickel-metal hydride model warranted for 250,000 kilometres (a good thing, as replacements can cost more than $2,000). The electric motor provides a consistent torque, says Boogaart, something gas engines can’t do, allowing the car to utilize one forward gear on a continuously variable transmission.

As a former electronics instructor, Boogaart wanted to know exactly how his hybrid does what it does, which led him into some pretty neat research:

· The vehicle includes a Thermos-like container that collects and stores hot fluid from the engine after it’s turned off. It regurgitates the fluid back into the engine when the start button is pushed; ignition is delayed until the engine is warmed appropriately, resulting in less pollution.

· The transmission allows the vehicle to run continuously in the optimal range, with no slow or high revolutions, also promoting fuel economy.

· The engine employs an Atkinson cycle (the technology is almost 130 years old), which uses a power stroke that’s longer the intake stroke, boosting efficiency by 15 per cent, albeit at the expense of power. The missing engine torque is partially recovered from the electric motor.

· Once any vehicle reaches a highway speed, it requires 20 horsepower to maintain 100 km/h. Many vehicles are still employing 10 times that or more at the same speed. Smaller gas engines, like that in the Prius, are generally more efficient. The excellent torque provided by the electric motor helps provide sufficient acceleration.

· Boogaart’s Prius has rolled up 95,000 kms on the original brakes because most of the vehicle’s braking is done by the motor. When the brakes are applied, the motor pulls power from the wheels and uses it to recharge the battery. The brake pads are required only in hard braking situations.

· Boogaart has never plugged in his Prius, even through this past winter’s coldest patches. It starts off the electric motor.

Has all this green motoring affected Boogaart’s habits behind the wheel? Has be become a “hypermiler,” bent on draining every last inch of pavement from each litre?

“At first, I drove differently to see just how great a gas mileage I could achieve, but after awhile I thought ‘this isn’t me,’” he says. “I guess I drive the way people expect you to

Lorne MacGregor does it old school

Lorne MacGregor admits that while he walks to Lethbridge College each day, his trip is not too much more than some employees must hike from the farthest reaches of outer campus parking lots.

Still, it isn’t the gift, but the thought.

MacGregor, director of Applied Research and Innovation at Lethbridge College, used to cycle to work when he lived in Prince George, B.C., a trip he describes as through bush and up hills for an hour.

Now on the prairies, he has nothing but the flatness of College Drive to challenge him; that and the odd -30 days. Still, he walks from his home near the corner at Scenic Drive each day, a distance, he agrees, that makes no sense to drive.

“I’m, er, thrifty,” he says. “I’m saving gas and I’m getting exercise I don’t have to pay for. Plus, it gives me time to think.”

Dressed properly for any inclement weather, but eschewing an umbrella as “too dangerous,” MacGregor makes the trip more enjoyable by contemplating the benefit of walking to the environment. An atmospheric scientist by background, he’ll debate anyone who suggests global warming is a myth.

“I’m happy to set them straight,” he says. “And the argument that taking corrective measures will hurt the economy is just junk science.”

While he’s not above driving to Totem, he’ll walk it if he can, and he uses a reel mower on his lawn.

“Fitness, economy and respect for the planet are all my motivators,” says MacGregor.

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