Posted on 02/13/2006 10:36:24 AM PST by voletti
With more of the gas-electric cars on the road, it's time to dispel some of the misinformation surrounding these alternative vehicles
Five years ago hybrid cars were an unknown commodity. Today vehicles powered by a combination of gasoline and electricity are all the rage. Like any new technology, until you get your hands on it -- in this case, on the steering wheel -- it's hard to get your mind around it.
If you are having a tough time separating hybrid truth from reality, you're not alone. The warp-speed adoption of hybrids into popular culture -- and into hundreds of thousands of American driveways -- has produced more than a little confusion and misinformation. Most industry analysts predict the continued growth of gas-electric vehicles, with estimates ranging from 600,000 to 1,000,000 hybrid sales in the U.S. by 2010, so this is a good time to debunk the 10 most prevalent myths about hybrid cars.
1. You need to plug in a hybrid car. As soon as the word "electricity" is spoken, you think of plugs, cords, and wall sockets. But today's hybrid cars don't need to be plugged in. Auto engineers have developed an ingenious system known as regenerative braking. (Actually, they borrowed the concept from locomotive technology.) Energy usually lost when a vehicle is slowing down or stopping is reclaimed and routed to the hybrid's rechargeable batteries. The process is automatic, so no special requirements are placed on the driver.
Car companies explain that drivers don't have to plug in their vehicles, but a growing number of them wish they had a plug-in hybrid. The ability to connect a hybrid into the electric grid overnight to charge a larger set of batteries means that most of your city driving could be done without burning a single drop of gasoline.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessweek.com ...
I borrowed a Prius for a few days last year. It really impressed me. I thought it'd be a dinky little car but it drove very well. Much better than most economy cars i'd driven. Because of the tall shape, the interior room was pretty good and the hatchback meant better luggage space than a sedan. The acceleration flat out isn't that great but because of the torque of the electric motor, the car feels quicker than it is. I averaged 54 MPG which wasn't up to what the sticker said but was still double what I average in my Accord. Its hard to drive that and not be impressed with the engineering talent of the Japanese. I wish the American companies could show themselves to be as innovative. I also wish Toyota would market an option to turn the car into a "plug-in" Hybrid. I've read a lot about the owners who have modified their cars to get 80 or 90 mpg (while still being as usable on long trips as a normal gas car) and I would buy a factory "plug-in" car in a heart beat for the savings on gas. Kinda nice to take money out of the pockets of Middle Eastern islamofascists and South American socialists like Chavez.
"I've never read of a single case where the battery pack had to be replaced.. . .I recently saw one on Ebay with 4 miles on the odometer when the car was totaled. It went for $455."
If they never need to be replaced, why is somebody shelling out $450 to buy one?
Locomotives have used hybrid technology since the 1930's. Locomotives have a large diesel engine coupled to a generator. The electricity generated turns the motors in the trucks.
The engines will be more efficient because they can be designed to run at their most efficient speed. The regenerative braking is more efficient because it allows you to convert some of your kinetic energy into electric energy to recharge your batteries -- the current braking systems create heat energy, which is waste.
I hope we do start to get reliable, powerful and fuel efficient vehicles -- takes money from those scumbag arabs.
Good question. My thought is that somebody thinks they either might get one "just in case" or they have succumbed to the hysteria about this batteries that somehow never fail. It's also called redundancy. Put one away for that rainy day. Personally, I'll cross that bridge when I get there. I seldom keep my vehicles that long anyway. I've owned 54 thus far in my lifetime. I just wanted to get one for the sheer pleasure of owning one.
They have these in our area now.
I have seen a lot of cars with a label on their windshield or back window.
The label explains how it works. It says "FOR SALE".
"I don't know how true this is, but I heard that it can cost upward of $4500.00 to have a battery pack replaced in the hybrids. Is this correct?"
No idea.
"Hybrids are so passe. I heard on the Phil Hendry show about the latest technology: wind-powered cars"
LOL!
Solar powered cars are about as far away, I dare say.
What happens when a hybrid gets creamed on the highway by say a large truck and the battery is ruptured ...wouldn't this be a Haz-Mat spill? Who will pay for the clean-up? When the hybrid is totalled or no longer serviceable how does the battery get disposed and who will pay for this disposal? How well do these vehicles perform under adverse conditions like below zero weather?
Submarines ran on diesel and electric motors also.
Diesel Hybrids are for things like Busses, Trains and large heavy machinary that need the torque of electric motors throughout the range.. not simply to save gas. TDI for example meets or beats gas/electric hybrid all over the map.
A typical Diesel engine is abou 50% efficient vs about 35% effiecency for regular gasoline.... So add TDI to the mix, and you get even greater... its a better overall solution that the hybrid and it causes at the end of the day less impact to the environment... as we aren't dealing with chemical waste issues from battery manufacture and disposals... not to mention the added impact of the manufacture and disposal of all the additional equipment.
The accuracy of the fuel economy as posted on the window sticker is similar to the accuracy of that posted on non-hybrids. That is to say they are wrong by between 15-20%
If you could just get to work and home on a battery charge, why bother with gas?
Problem is that they've spent millions of dollars pushing the "don't need to plug in" theme. It'll be hard for them to offer now the negative they have marketed for years.
I want a plug in that'll give me a choice of how to best use the options. I'm retired and most of my trips are under 30 miles round trip. Why should I have to use ANY gas until I'm ready to take a longer trip. A choice makes sense but I guess that'd be asking too much. They think we're all too stupid to be offered a choice I guess.
That idea occurred to lots of people. There is a popular internet newsgroup of people who have been adding batteries to their Toyotas & plugging them in at night. The electric is alot cheaper than the gasoline. Such is the standard in different countries like Japan.
The greens & the EPA have their panties in a bunch over this. They have tried many ways to stop it. They are upset because it means than coal gets burned to power the cars.
OTOH, it's a lot easier to control point-source than automotive emissions - especially as conventional cars get older.
IF (and note I didn’t say WHEN) we discover in a decade or two that we have to start seriously cutting the amount of CO2 produced, then point source emissions control becomes a very important part of the equation, and it would be nice at that point to have had the experience of operating reasonably mature hybrid technologies at the automotive end of the chain.
So I appreciate the people who are willing to pay a bit extra participate in an experiment that many or may not prove important – and I get a bit ticked off at the person (unless he or she really has an objective need of such a vehicle) who makes fun of the guy in a Primus from the front seat of a conventionally powered full-size SUV or Pickup.
The horsepower was so lacking a couple years ago that dealers agreed to buy back cars from angry customers to avoid lawsuits (they apparently fudged the specifications slightly... "lied").
The 2006 has been re-tooled with a modest horsepower boost and improved gearing (optional 6-speed over past years' 4-speed). I love the interior:
If you could just get to work and home on a battery charge, why bother with gas?
Perhaps having one vehicle that can handle both the short daily commute and the longer weekend trips to see grandma, maybe?
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