Posted on 02/04/2013 10:41:56 AM PST by jazusamo
Japan is backtracking on battery electric-car development, as even Nissan’s vice chairman, the so-called “father of the Prius,” announced plans to copy Toyota and pursue fuel-cell cars that convert hydrogen to electricity.
“Because of its shortcomings — driving range, cost and recharging time — the electric vehicle is not a viable replacement for most conventional cars,” said Nissan’s vice chairman, Takeshi Uchiyamada,..
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
And Honda is doing very well with their prototype fuel cell car in California
Its amazing to me that people are confusing “all electric” cars to Hybrid cars. A Hybrid Prius has a gasoline motor and an electric motor that alternate depending on demand....it is not an all electric car. Toyota has no plans of dropping the Prius (which is selling very well).
I drive a Prius-C and an Audi Q5. I like them both....but I am averaging 47 miles per gallon in my little Prius, and that makes me very happy.
I did!
Sandra Fluke?
I did!
How was its resale value?
IIRC, the diesel drives a generator which in turn drives an a.c. motor. The reason being that at low rpm’s an electric motor produces much more torque.
“Its amazing to me that people are confusing “all electric” cars to Hybrid cars. A Hybrid Prius has a gasoline motor and an electric motor that alternate depending on demand....it is not an all electric car. Toyota has no plans of dropping the Prius (which is selling very well).
I drive a Prius-C and an Audi Q5. I like them both....but I am averaging 47 miles per gallon in my little Prius, and that makes me very happy.”
Even the Volt isn’t all electric. It has a gasoline motor. It’s a hybrid that relies more on it’s electrical side.
My reservations about hybrids are:
Cost of battery replacement.
Initial high cost vs. gas savings over the life of the vehicle. (ROI).
Environmental and energy costs of producing the battery packs.
Yep, I wish I owned the one that was made, it’d be quite a collectors item:)
I’m still driving it. I bought a used 2007 Honda Accord Hybrid in 2009. Still less than 70K miles on it.
What idiot wrote this article and headline? Its not about the Prius or other hybrids, it about all electric cars. Also, the “grandfather of the Prius” does not work for Nissan, sheesh.
I mean, did you get a good deal?
A pompous brother-in-law of mine, bet me $100 in 2009 that gasoline powered cars would disappear in five years, and that most cars would be electric powered. One more year, and I collect on the bet! Of course, he's a liberal asshat so he'll just lie to squirm out of paying. He's an idiot, and proves your point (not even halfway knowledgeable). He invested heavily in solar panels among other green things and lost big, which makes me smirk at him.
Toyota doesn’t make a pure electric vehicle like the Nissan Leaf. A hybrid is not the same vehicle as a pure electric. There is no “lack of range” for a Prius. It has a gas engine as well as an electric motor
The thing was an eye opener:
On the plus side it had acceleration like a scalded cat. It also had a pretty high peak speed for dashes.
On the negative side, we added nearly 1,000 pounds to the curb weight because of the battery set.
It had a max range of about 12 miles then took 20 hours to recharge.
The 96 VDC systems were prone to failure with lots of thermal problems.
Environmentally, it was a disaster. We had to constantly dispose of the lead acid batteries IAW EPA regulations. The energy to charge the battery still derived directly from commercial power so we used fossil fuels, nuclear power and LNG generated electricity
Early on, we saw that a hybrid system or fuel cell system was going to be much more feasible, reliable and economical.
The distressing part, to me, was that we told our sponsors (DOE, DOT and EPA) of these innovations and the shortcomings of a pure battery drive and they refused to allow us to improve any technology as we learned, at risk losing the grant money.
After three years, I pulled the plug on our project. It was going nowhere in terms of technology beyond being a large equivalent to an RC car.
Seeing the way the government still throws money into the battery powered car pit, I see nothing has really changed. I'm glad the manufacturers are exercising their right to opt out of this lunacy. They have to deal with reality to stay in business.
I hear a lot of people downing the Prius, but I love mine. I have a horrendous commute — it was, at one point, six hours a day on the road (necessity — had to travel where the work was). My Prius has been a real life saver in the gas department. I really like my car. $10,000 battery down the road? I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. Right now, it’s making it possible for me to get to work.
On the 2007 Accord, Honda’s hybrid system is a dissapointment when compared with Toyota or Ford. The new system on the 2013 Honda’s is much better. Unfortunately, their new plug-in Accord Hybrid - the car that the Volt wanted to be - is only available currently in California and New York.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.