Posted on 01/01/2007 10:44:24 AM PST by Uncledave
Only if she's a blond, white girl... (/Greta's Law...)
Toyota is on their second generation hybrid Prius. It's greatly improved over the first generation. GM is coming out with their own hybrid technology, which I believe will include plug in technology.
So...some say that they can't pull their horse trailer uphill with the A/C on at 90 degrees. They shouldn't try. The IC engine will be the primary transportation motivation for the foreseeable future.
This will be good technology for some, not useful for others. I don't think anyone is suggesting that people with horse trailers be forced to buy a hybrid; in following the posts, one would think they had.
I suspect that plug-in electric cars will occupy a niche for awhile, like in neighborhoods where it's legal to drive your golf cart on the street.
Plug in hybrids will have a somewhat larger niche (IMO) but still a niche. Non-plug hybrids will have a still larger one.
If one is interested in saving money or cutting petroleum usage, a small car or a motorcycle probably makes more sense now. You wouldn't want to drive your small car on a highway that has heavy truck traffic, and you wouldn't want to ride your MC in the rain; however, they use fuel that's readily available, and they're proven systems.
The market will sort out what makes sense, and what doesn't...the only thing for sure is that the Feds will pi$$ away $billions, as they always do, on "alternatives."
Not me. I'm not working on it, nor waiting on it, but will welcome if it happens. Can't help it if other folks wanna be negative about it.
$800 is for a month of electric (PG&E) or $9600 per year, plus the $900 for the batteries per year.
That means about $10,500 a year, which is equal to about 210 fill ups of a 20 gallon tank at $2.50 a gallon. That doesn't sound so reasonable.
Of course these numbers are all based on someone's guesstimate of a $800 per month electric bill. I have no idea whether that number is reasonable or not.
And who is Viola??? (kidding)
--$800 is for a month of electric (PG&E) --
If you drive 24,000 miles per month ...
The electronic braking does not require a flywheel. Just as a engine must supply torque to turn a generator, torque slows down the car while recovering energy normally given up as heat in traditional brakes.
Regenerative Braking Charges Ahead, Motor Age Online
Similar technology is used in some industrial motor starters to provide stopping power of large motor driven applications. Rarely however are these motors stopped often enough to justify capturing the energy generated. Usually the current is routed through resistors and waste heat is generated. Typically applications would be a large fan that would be slow to stop without brakes.
No, I didn't miss anything. The poster said that gasoline was $800 a YEAR, that, combined with the amortized $7000 of the battery over it's 8 year life is a total of $1700 a year.
The article is discussing plug in hybrids, and yes, there are vehicles coming onto the market in the next few years that will do all of the above.
I wonder if the hydrolic hybrid pickups are still coming out. The give you all of the benefits of regenerative breaking and standard ICE without the cost of batteries. That system is supposed to have a 2-3 year payback.
--That would require a very large fly-wheel. Where does the energy come from to spin it? Going down hill?--
If one were to employ a flywheel, the energy to spin it would come from the regenerative braking.
--That would require a very large fly-wheel. Where does the energy come from to spin it? Going down hill?--
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2005/02/ldquoextremerdq.html
>.rapidly developing oil-replacing technologies<<
Does oil shale count?
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