Hybrids used to be a fad that people say was one of those things like that stubborn popcorn kernel stuck in between your teeth that you can’t seem to get out that has to fall out sooner or later. Many saw them as a waste of time and that the rule of the petrol powered vehicle was good for another 50 years or so. Gues what, we don;t have enough oil for the auto manufacturers sell more and more cars everyday adding to the already taxed supply. Oil has become a bargaining chip on the global political scene that a simple lack of production would have devastating effect for some of the most gas reliant economies like the US and many countries of Europe. Oil is the most in demand resource and scientists have been telling us that the supplies are limited and it would only be time before we ran out sending us back to the dark ages without power and cars. Then it came, gas shortages and oil wars that prevents it from flowing steadily to fuel the growth of the many booming economies.
As the problems associated with methanol, LPG, LNG and other hybrids got ever more complicated even affecting the global food shortage, PHEV cars are gaining ground. With gas prices in the US soaring above the $4.00 mark, people are desperate for better more efficient cars. Hybrids are in that can be plugged in to charge their batteries for the next day’s trips as their owners rest. The advent of more efficient batteries such as Lithium Ion types has given the electric car a boost that more prefer Plug-In Electric Hybrids over the other types. Even the stock electrical systems of the Toyota Prius have been overhauled using these revolutionary batteries that have the capability to take you over 100 miles on a single charge.
Li-Ion Batteries are found in most gadgets and gizmos such as cell phones, PDA’s and many other small ones we carry around each and every day. Traditional Lead-Acid batteries have a long charge/discharge cycle and are prone to failure due to several factors such as humidity, temperature and the battery’s previous charge which has a nasty ability to have a short life and some safety concerns about the acids they contain should you get into a crash and they spill it all over the place, you get the picture.
Green cars powered by methanol have been given the boot and plug-in hybrids have taken central stage. The food shortage we are currently experiencing is blamed on these green fuels where farmers saw the potential and stopped planting other food crops concentrating on methanol sources for their crops, the result is not enough food for many people (the Mexicans have even rioted over a shortage of tortillas somewhere) and for something to be totally sustainable, that doesn’t look good. So they throw away the keys and focus on PHEV’s which have toxic batteries but have less impact on the environment (for now or till someone blows the whistle about some hidden problem that is also counter the aim of becoming sustainable).
The small compact has been around for quite sometime and is seen by many as a power packed addition to the Honda line of great cars. The Japanese auto manufacturer has released plans to come up with a hybrid version of their ever popular compact that is causing quite a stir in the auto industry due to the apparent size limitations of the Fit. Honda has long been into research and development of commercial hybrid vehicles with their forays into fuel-cell powered cars but they have yet to come up with a commercially successful product. Hybrids in the US and Japan abound but more of them are of the converted types while Toyota has been a major player in the hybrid technology market since 1997 when they released the Prius which to this day has its loyal fans and detractors. Mainly because of the ugly looks the car has and also due to the fact that it is a hybrid which caught up late into the fight. Gas prices have started to soar and with it at $4.00 or more per gallon, the future for gas guzzlers is truly bleak.
With supply woes on the headlines of everyday newspapers and with the US going into severe economic slowdown, the effects of the problems have started to bite hard all over the globe. Hybrids are the way to go and along with better and more efficient cars that are currently on the market today, the future for hybrids and other auto technologies are truly more of a necessity rather than a fad. The oil crisis has many giving up their rides in exchange for public transport such as trains and buses (some bus fleets in the US and elsewhere have started to use hybrid technologies as well due to high diesel prices which in some cases has been more expensive than gasoline) and with no solution within reach soon, the future is leaning towards hybrids.
The Fit as well ads the many other hybrids that are currently on the roads are making themselves felt within the congested streets of many major cities. Hybrids will make our air cleaner and easier to breathe but it may also correct the congestion we are currently having to deal with on the road.
With the acceptance of plans for Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV) has been widely debated and criticized but with many city’s, manufacturers and other groups accepting and formulating their own support infrastructures for future implementation of such types of vehicles a question surfaces in the sense that would the utility companies have enough will to support such technology by 2010, the period when most car manufacturers have signified that they would begin releasing PHEV vehicles to the general public. The utilities companies are the ones who would be bearing the brunt of the strain with the advent of such technologies and proposals like the ones below can make the difference between having a greener electric car future or not. Utility companies should be able to develop smart meters that would prevent charging of such vehicles during peak times to avoid overloading infrastructure that is already in place. The Utility Company cannot simply replace and upgrade all of the transmission and management systems at so fast a pace due to costs which are also quite high. The current level of off-peak surplus energy (electricity) is so much that even today, it is possible to support a very large fleet of electric vehicles. The adoption and use of PHEV’s would or could lessen CO2 emissions by as much as 50% which is great for the environment. Time is still on the side of utilities but they should act soon if the vision of an almost fully electric vehicle market is to take shape. Even with the minor changes required, billions of dollars of commitment from utility companies is needed. These developments are indeed in debate and are being discussed in the Industrialized world but implementation of such systems in the developing world may take longer than targets set by the various environmental groups and governments for cost is still the main deterrent. Tomorrow might see the rise of the PHEV as the main form of transport, but till these issues are addressed, the fate of the move is still in question and time is running out.
For almost $4,000.00 that is, the Poulsen Hybrid is a Power Assist Unit that is hailed as a simple bolt on upgrade for standard gas-powered or diesel vehicles. The device has caused a stir and is raising eyebrows for the device simply has the old car retro-fitted with rear DC motors, controllers, on-board charger and storage batteries. The move has the standard vechicle running using electric motors for propulsion on level roads and as with hybrids, switching to the gaspowered engine during high demand conditions like going up hills or when the battery is going flat. The system works by switching to the electric motors after the car has reached a pre-set speed say the cruising speed you select, after which the gas engine halts operation leaving the maintenance of the pre-set speed to the electric motors that gets power from the batteries.
Safety experts are quite concerned at the overall look of the vechile with parts that protrudes from the rear wheels to the trunk but the best part about the idea that makes it interesting is the fact that you don’t need a totally new car to get onto the path to green motoring. New hybrids cost a lot of money and the approach of offering a bolt-on upgrade to save a bit of the gas pump is nice. One European car manufacturer has offered an enticing approch by selling the Think and not the batteries which are kept on lease to eliminate the problems associated with maintenance of batteries which are costly and quite hazardous to the environment. The approach to upgrade existing cars is more realistic that telling a company that has a large fleet of vehicles to simply get rid of all thier cars and get newer hybrids for them to go green. Other options are just not that enticing due to huge investments and often lacking infrastructure limiting their effective range (only certain major cities have support for LPG, LNG and Ethanol Powered Vechiles)
The term describes a select group of driving aficionados who do out of this world driving (safely I hope) to squeeze every ounce of energy from every gallon of gasoline they have in their tanks. With gasoline hitting more than $3.00 a gallon, who wouldn’t? The trend has owners of hybrids and standard gas powered vehicles doing extreme driving practices such as trailing big-rigs (Tractor Trailers) to take advantage of their downdraft which creates suction in between the rig and your vehicle that you are actually pulled along by the rig in front of you. Another practice has people coasting as they are about to hit the stop light and many more. They have come up with unimaginable feats of getting up to or more that 100 MPG which is phenomenal with standard driving practices. Many have taken notice and many are turning into converts but many still question the safety of some of their practices or sometimes even the legality of doing such extreme maneuvers just to save every drop of gas.
They are a growing group that aims to educate people how they can lower their carbon footprints even while driving their cars. Many of these feats are possible only on hybrids but some nuts have been doing them in gas powered ones with equal results but I doubt that their lives should be placed on the line just to save on gas. Hybrids have a small gasoline engine that assists the electric motors during certain conditions that the computer can detect. Hybrids are designed or programmed to have the switching between gas and electric power under certain conditions to be automatic though most have switches that tells the car to stick with electric, gas or automatic propulsion. Hybrids have been getting reports of flat batteries and low charges due to these practices and doing some of these maneuvers on a gas powered vehicle can send you to the grave in no time due to braking power that is provided by the engine itself. It might be better to work with the designers of hybrids to have these changes to the way the car thinks included in the car’s computers rather than having to turn them off and do what you think is best for safety aspects are overlooked by some of these techniques and driving styles. And till they become standardized, I wouldn’t encourage drivers to do the same for as everybody does the same, who will you tail for everybody’s tailing everybody else, and all you’d end up with is a pile up of hybrids and trucks, you get the picture.
The drive to save on gasoline and thus lessen the dependency on oil is great. Global warming, high oil prices and many other environmental and man-made factors are having people take extreme measures just to save on gas. You might save every drop of it but endangering your life and the lives of others may not constitute such acts so do think twice about the implications.
Thanks to Mr. Luis Cruz for the suggestion!
