His grandson went into aerospace development.
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 ...
The batteries are a NiMH with a gel electrolyte- and, the individual batteries are only a little bigger than a D cell.
If some of the batteries rupture, the electrolyte does not squirt out, it's not a liquid.
A standard lead-acid car batery contains liquid sulphuric acid. How is that handled currently in crashes or at vehicle end-of-life?
No much of an article...they left off the biggest myth that the cars get great milage when in fact most owners report only good milage...
Wow, you plan that far in advance on a new car purchase? Astonishing.
I think Hyprids are allowed cheat in the tests, by having their battery end the test at a lower charge than at the beginning. They only measure gas used during the test.
do you know how long that battery would last in an iPod?
Prius, Schmius.
I'm waiting for them to iron the wrinkles out of the Starship Enterprise Transporter beam technology.
Cap'n...I'm gi'in her all I've got, I don' thin' she kin take anehmore.......
1. Hybrid cars are likely to blow up the city in an accident. False. The nuclear core on these cars will not explode. Instead it will melt through the street and turn up in Beijing.
2. Hybrid cars will improve your sex life. False. The back seats in these cars are just as uncomfortable as those of a conventional car. You cannot plug your vibrator into the batteries, either.
3. Hybrid cars will save the planet from Global Warming. False. Algore is the only one who can save the planet from Global Warming.
4. Hybrid cars will be in NASCAR some day. False. You can't put a restrictor plate on an electric motor.
5. Hybrid cars are popular in Hollywood because stars are eco-aware and concerned for our environment. False. It's because they've come up with an engine that runs on pure ego.
6. Hybrid cars deserve tax breaks because they're Good For The Planet. False. Tax breaks are only for the wealthy.
7. Hybrid cars are driven by Democratic politicians because they're a statement against Big Oil. False. It's because those particular models run on hot air.
8. Hybrid cars look great with fuzzy dice on the mirrors. True. But the dice have to be Metric.
9. Hybrid cars are impressive when you pick the hood up at an auto show. True, as long as you're wowed by the names "Evinrude" and "Briggs and Stratton."
10. Hybrid cars are gay. Undetermined. I did see a Prius humping a sheep dog the other day but I couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl. The dog, that is.
Now those are some myths worth reading about.
His grandson went into aerospace development.
"Any product that has acquired 10 myths must have serious issues, no matter if they are real myths or not."
What? Is this some strange variation on "It's not the truth of the charge that matters, it's the seriousness of the charge?"
So, should we: give up on nuclear power, because loopy people have invented many hundreds of wacky myths about it?
Rush to embrace Kyoto, because of the imagined urgency of climate change?
Give up our guns, because gun-grabbers invent 50 myths a day about firearms?
No, of course not; and I don't think you meant any of these things either.
The ignorance in this thread is astounding.
You got that right. On my highway travel...which is most of my driving, I get the 24/25mph.
For a few extra miles per gallon I am going to squeeze into a small car...I don't think so.
And you shed a whole lot more light on the subject...
I'm glad you showed up! Where have you been?
Please straighten this out, and correct the misunderstandings!
"Then make a diesel hybrid..."
http://www.gizmag.com/go/5005/
"I agree that tax breaks are dumb. The drive for more hybrids should be all market conditions."
The entirety of the tax code is politicians dinking with the free market by punishing some behavior and rewarding others.
"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."
Oh, that's easily solved; more nukes!
:D
The kilowatt-hours to recharge would probably dent your wallet more than gasoline.
Ever take a physics class?
Bingo! At least some around here studied high school physics.
Are an Accord and a Prius equivalent? I'll bet if you simply stripped out all of the extras in your Accord, replaced components with all of the ultra-light weight versions in the Prius, and so forth, you'd get a lot closer. I.E., most of the energy savings in hybrids is due to things other than using batteries.
Ummm. Wouldn't that be because virtually none of the cars have been out there long enough?
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