Why No Alternative Fuel Hybrids?

[Sarumatix]

Doesn't the current Prius already use regenerative brakes?

[mad082]

yeah it does. it's all good to use the principle of having something in the wheels to collect kinetic energy as you drive, but that adds resistance, so you end up using more power to drive anywhere. it is kind of a 2 steps foward 1 step back type os scenario. that is the reason why the prius only recharges when you lift off or brake, so you aren't using power to make power.

something they could look at doing though is having air vents with small wind turbines in them to allow recharging while moving. but then it is a case of how much would it actually do? and is the extra weight of the setup going to negate any positive gain?

[SilverECR33]

well since we are adding wind power, lets add solar also!..

[scathing]

something they could look at doing though is having air vents with small wind turbines in them to allow recharging while moving. but then it is a case of how much would it actually do?

Mount it on top of the steering wheel and it'll do heaps.

We could finally find a positive use for the non-stop stream of hot air that comes out of the sanctimonious mouths of the gasbags that buy a Pius and won't shut up about how their car is so much better for the planet than ours.

[mad082]

ahahahaha, or hook it up to be powered by their own feeling of self worth, like the guy on the simpsons, LOL

[Sarumatix]

they are already using wind power for energy, the latest McClaren has air brakes much like an aeroplane. If you are thinking that somehow you can make energy by capturing any form of kinetic energy while burning litres of fuel to get moving, you are missing a fundamental of thermodynamics. Any attempt will only result in an equal or greater amount of fuel being burnt. Solar is grand, except that it is reaalllly expensive.

[BigWillieStyles]

A diesel hybrid would be too expensive to sell and engineer.

I want to build my own electric car one day

[XRATED]

5 years ago honda crunched the numbers on the then newish to the market Prius. The extra pollution created to manufacture the prius was only offset after 22 years of carefull driving as to compared to a base model civic. The civic was only .3 lt/100km in city driving more thirsty than the fkn prius.

My vote is for super efficient turbo diesel medium side cars. One of the most fun little cars I ever drove was a new diesel pug, with an exhaust, cooler, intake and intercept module. It fkn hammered!! Tourque steer city at under 2k! The thing sounded awsome... and was still super efficient.

[JAS-25T]

See, every time it comes back to diesels being more efficient

[scathing]

See, every time it comes back to diesels being more efficient

It uses a lower volume of fuel, but the shit that comes out the exhaust is worse for the environment.

I also don't see why people don't make diesel hybrids. Europe has heaps of tiny diesels, so there's no extra cost in "developing" that engine compared to what's powering the Prius, Insight, etc. Both screw the environment while reducing the vehicle's dinosaur juice consumption, and so it'll fool the short-sighted idiots even more.

Edited December 1, 2009 by scathing

[mad082]

but the shit that goes into the atmosphere when creating the prius is much worse.

basically you could compare it to PETA buying pens with ink made from baby seal blood.

[scathing]

but the shit that goes into the atmosphere when creating the prius is much worse

Exactly. If you actually gave a shit about the environment and you've got your head screwed on, you'd buy a used petrol-powered car that's reasonably small.

But if you only want to pretend about giving a shit about the environment by focusing on one symptom (i.e. volume of fuel consumed) and ignore the total impact, then why not go the whole hog and run an engine that uses fewer L/100km?

[mad082]

if you only wanted to pretend, but a frigging bicycle. that way you are pretending you give a damn AND are actually helping the environment at the same time, LOL

[pixel8r]

I agree that the prius is much more an "icon" for being "green" than it is actually "green". In manufacturing a prius more damage is done to the environment than most other similar sized cars or so I've been told. Also top gear did a test around their track where a prius drove pretty much flat out and a bmw m3 (v8) drove behind keeping up with it. The M3 used less fuel than the prius. Their conclusion? its not WHAT you drive, but how you drive it. Obviously some cars will always be cleaner though so this doesn't work as an excuse for why you drive an abraham tank.

LPG is probably the cleanest fuel we have.

Diesel is only cleaner than petrol if you think CO2 is the only pollution cars produce. Truth is no one knows what particulate matter and NOx is doing to the environment so its hard to draw a proper comparison. I feel that all the manufacturers have jumped on diesel, promoting it as the new "green" fuel a little too early...

Not only that, Diesel actually causes more pollution to refine than petrol too...

Not saying which is the better fuel but its not as easy as just looking at just 1 of the gases that comes out the exhaust pipe.

[BigWillieStyles]

5 years ago honda crunched the numbers on the then newish to the market Prius. The extra pollution created to manufacture the prius was only offset after 22 years of carefull driving as to compared to a base model civic.

Actually now Toyota is starting to develop more environmentally friendly materials including production of interior items from biodegradable material.

Edited December 3, 2009 by BigWillieStyles

[scathing]

if you only wanted to pretend, but a frigging bicycle. that way you are pretending you give a damn AND are actually helping the environment at the same time, LOL

But you can't do 20km/hr above the speed limit while sipping on your cafe latte machiatto with a twist and listening to whatever the latest song from the current Australian/American Idol winner while on a bicycle. Although those mobile roadblocks are kicking in with the trend-following sheep these days as well.

Every Prius I've seen this month has overtaken me while I've given the speed limit a reasonable error margin. Which means they're driving them outside the speed range of the electric motor. Which means they're actually just driving a petrol powered car with a shitload of ballast.

f**king idiots.

[daisu]

As battery technology gets better (and it is) electric only cars will be able to travel further on a single charge (and the battery weight will decrease).

I like the idea of having a diesel powered generator on board, but I'd say it would be more efficient to charge directly from a socket outlet, even if it is coal fired electricity.

Hopefully one day every house will have solar panels for roofing, which will also charge our cars.

Here's a thought. How much power is required to manufacture a solar panel? How much power can a solar panel recapture over its lifetime.

[pixel8r]

As battery technology gets better (and it is) electric only cars will be able to travel further on a single charge (and the battery weight will decrease).

I like the idea of having a diesel powered generator on board, but I'd say it would be more efficient to charge directly from a socket outlet, even if it is coal fired electricity.

Hopefully one day every house will have solar panels for roofing, which will also charge our cars.

Here's a thought. How much power is required to manufacture a solar panel? How much power can a solar panel recapture over its lifetime.

I was just going to ask where the solar panels come from but you beat me to it.

In terms of the cleanest and most renewable fuel, hydrogen stands out above everything else. Still, with all of these, there still exists the problem of how to manufacture the "fuel", be it hydrogen, electricity, or pixie dust.

[BigWillieStyles]

Some Japanese companys are actually looking at building electric cars that have motors at each wheel. This method has proved alot more effective in powertrain loss and allows for an expanded range with the extra power. Plus you get an AWD car

I thought if I ever own an electric car, I would have it hooked up to a small solar/wind source for recharging. Wouldnt be that hard to set up a small setup for powering the car in the yard.

Edited December 4, 2009 by BigWillieStyles

[scathing]

Some Japanese companys are actually looking at building electric cars that have motors at each wheel. This method has proved alot more effective in powertrain loss and allows for an expanded range with the extra power. Plus you get an AWD car

You'd also get a lot more unsprung weight.