Are Hybrids Really Worth the Extra Cost?
Thursday October 11, 2007
True or False: “Combining a gasoline engine and an electric motor to power a vehicle is the most ineffective and most expensive method of cutting carbon dioxide emissions.”Well, according to a recent article from Automotive News, it’s true. And the writer went on to state, “It costs the buyer of a hybrid vehicle in Europe 1,000 euros (about $1,425) to block the emission of one ton of CO2. But just $710 will achieve the same savings by using an advanced diesel or gasoline direct-injection engine.”
Then again, it could be false. Do you believe everything you read? Here at Alternative Fuels we’re pretty open to opposing points of view, and we like to engage our minds—as well as our readers, so we’d like to know … What say you? Are hybrids all marketing hype? Are they just a waste of money? Are we all being fooled? Is the Toyota Prius just an expensive and ineffective way of reducing CO2 emissions? Does saving fuel figure into the equation at all?
We just had to dig deeper and write more—check out Hybrids: The Real Deal or Marketing Hype? and learn where we stand on the issue of clean diesels vs. hybrids vs. direct-injection gasoline engines. And please, go ahead and leave a comment and let us know if you’d side with true or false.
Toyota Prius Hybrid Energy Monitor © Adrian Gable
Comments
Please note that one hybrid technology that is very old, but has yet to make a major entry into automotive vehicles is that used in railway locomotives. Instead of having a battery and internal combustion engine where for speeds below 30mph the battery powers a motor to drive the car, and above 30mph the internal combustion engine takes over, a generator is used. The internal combustion engine is always running at the optimum speed for maximum efficiency. Instead of driving the car, it powers an electrical generator. The energy from the generator powers four electric motors, one for each wheel. Through precise electronic control, the motors are about 92% efficiency and power the car. When braking, the motors convert to generators, and dump their energy back into a battery. That battery energy is then used to accelerate the car when next needed, before the generator output takes over. This means that the car is always driven by electric motors and electrical energy.
As to efficiency, a BMW Mini car was modified in the UK to prove the concept. The original engine was removed and replaced with a 250cc engine. Four motors were installed, and one large battery. As to performance, the acceleration rate is 0 to 60 mph in 4 seconds, 150mph top speed, and 100 miles per gallon of fuel.
Note: This was done in the UK, where the UK gallon is larger that the US Gallon.
This all means that the company concerned, in the UK, have made a better approach to an effective hybrid car, and used a different method to the Japanese. This means that as a country that makes many cars, the USA are in an ideal position to go beyond the initial success in the UK, where in the UK we have simply been through a process of proving the basic concept.