Hi,

This is a bit like the old joke from the college physics exam:But there is a somewhat serious side to this question.

TYPE A - idle off

Let us say we take a standard car like my wife's Echo and equip it with a circuit that does the following:

1) when stopped and the foot brake on - turn off the engine
2) when the foot comes off the brake - automaticly start the engine

A) Has my wife's car suddenly become a hybrid?

TYPE B - engine assist

Let us say the alternator on her Echo is modified so it can run as a motor as well as a current generator. Then we add a circuit to do the following:

1) when accellerating - make the alternator into a motor to assist the ICE
2) all other times - work like a standard alternator

B) Has my wife's car suddenly become a hybrid?

TYPE C - parallel

Let us say I add a retractable, 5th wheel, an electric motor/generator, with a separate battery power and control system. Then we add a circuit to do the following:

1) at speeds below 10-15 mph - the engine remains off and the 5th wheel provides motive power and regenerative braking
2) at speeds above 10-15 mph - the ICE starts; the 5th wheel retracts and the vehicle runs on ICE power

C) Has my wife's car suddenly become a hybrid?

SUMMARY:

Type A - suppresses idle
Type B - power flows in series with the ICE so ICE must turn to use electric
Type C - power flows independent of ICE so ICE can be off yet vehicle moves

A key componet has to be automatic operation, leaving it to manual control would define all vehicles as "Type A."

Bob Wilson

 

Hybrid is in general defined as a combination of two different things melded together to create a new, different thing.

Applying that to cars, we have typically considered a "hybrid" as "use of two separate methods of power for conveyance."

That's why to ME the Chevy/GMC pickup is not really a hybrid because it does not get "power to the wheels" by more than one method of energy. Also, a car which merely uses "autostop" feature to conserve fuel is not a hybrid. Some small Euro cars have started using this feature (the VW Lupo among them.)

 

In theory the VUE does actualy use the bas system for propulsion. Taking to the GM engineer the car starts moving the first few feet using the bas system. Then goes into gas only mode.

So "technically" it is a valid hybrid. Practically it is useless. The fact they can charge an up-charge of like $2000 for a 36 volt battery and a larger alternator and hold a straight face kind of proves their only goal was to put a hybrid badge on something/anything.

I am just hoping they have something else in the wings and this was just so they had *something* in the mean time.

 

Perhaps you might test drive one and see it happen. I found as soon as my foot came off the brake, the ICE was started and running before the vehicle could move. It might be interesting to have a friend 'pull the distributor' wire and see if it still moves at all.

Bob Wilson

 

Yup. I wonder if some of our members here could do some experimentation with theirs.