Beyond the Prius

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06-14-2007, 02:05 PM

Jason

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Beyond the Prius

Quote:

WHETHER in Los Angeles, Tokyo or London, the Prius, Toyota's trailblazing petrol-electric hybrid car, has become a common sight since the second (and much-improved) version was launched three years ago. The Prius has since achieved cult status among image-conscious Hollywood stars and greener-than-thou politicians. Last week Toyota said it had passed the milestone of manufacturing more than 1m hybrid vehicles.
The charms of the Prius are not hard to grasp. The combination of a frugal 1.5-litre petrol engine with an electric motor provides the performance of a 2.0-litre engine but with lower fuel-consumption than a diesel. The Prius recaptures energy usually lost during braking and can run on electric power alone in stop-start traffic. Its CO2 emissions of 104g/km make it cleaner than almost any other car on the road.
But there is disagreement about where hybrid technology is heading. Hybrid SUVs from Ford and General Motors (GM) have been slow sellers. And last week Honda said it would no longer offer its bestselling Accord in a hybrid option, but would instead introduce a low-emission diesel version in 2009. Honda reckons hybrid technology is better suited to small cars, such as its Civic, used for short trips.

http://www.economist.com/business/di...ory_id=9340034

06-25-2007, 11:56 AM

hybrid_lady

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Join Date: Jun 2007

Posts: 6

Re: Beyond the Prius

Sad to say, most of the OEMs are following Toyota's lead in their rush to sell "partial hybrids". Partial hybrids are electrically-assisted or enhanced mechanical drive systems. A TRUE hybrid falls between mechanically-driven cars and electrically-driven vehicles - using a 50/50 mix of parts. This approach means that you can run the ICE and all other components at their BEP (best efficiency point) greater than 90% of the time, under all load conditions.

By capturing energy & using it at BEP, this design strategy delivers what we're looking for:

much higher MPG,
less pollution
better overall efficiencies.

In fact, we believe that true hybrids represent the only system that can enable us to cut vehicle emissions by 50% before the global warming "point of no return".
Our Build-a-Hybrid project at www.phoenixnavigation.com/hybrids/index.htm is an example of a true hybrid.

06-26-2007, 01:02 PM

jrb_nw

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Location: West Linn, Oregon

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Re: Beyond the Prius

Actually, the simplest and most direct method is not necessarily to get everyone into hybrids, but to get all those people driving around solo in 12-15mpg pickups and SUV's into something that gets double the mpg. To do that you simply have to wake up the half of this country that doesn't think there is a problem or doesn't care. The best way to that is a fuel tax that goes up a buck per year, with some compensation back to low wage earners and business use.

Once non-believers are paying $200 to fill their large SUV, pickup or powerboat like they would in Europe or the rest of the first world countries, they will re-think their decisions. The environmentally conscious people are already driving cars for the most part that get pretty good mpg and the difference between 30mpg and 45mpg is not as great in the larger picture.

06-26-2007, 06:20 PM

gumby

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Location: Richardson, TX

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Re: Beyond the Prius

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrb_nw

...wake up the half of this country that doesn't think there is a problem or doesn't care. The best way to that is a fuel tax that goes up a buck per year, with some compensation back to low wage earners and business use.

At LEAST half don't see the issues at hand - any of them. The ONLY thing they see is the pain at the pump. I don't know about it being the BEST way, but it may be the ONLY quick way to wake us up as a nation.