Image: Bryan Christie Design
George Bush says we’ll deal just fine with skyrocketing fuel prices by developing hydrogen fuel cell-powered cars — by 2020. Thanks, George. Meanwhile, we get to pay $3 — $5 — $10 a gallon. Make tons of profits for your Oil Patch buddies. Maybe even keep General Motors from going out of business altogether.
Now, a derivative of hybrids that will improve fuel economy even more by maximizing the use of the electric motor is poised to make what is already an undeniably attractive concept downright irresistible. Some of the most eager owners of the Prius, the world’s most popular hybrid, have been hacking the cars, swapping their 1.3-kilowatthour battery packs for bigger ones with capacities as large as 9 kWh.
The modifications also include the addition of plugs so the new, bigger battery packs can be recharged from wall outlets. The resulting machines, referred to as plug-in hybrids, can be propelled exclusively by their electric motors for, in some cases, more than 30 kilometers without their gasoline engines ever turning on. The factory-built Prius can run on electricity only, but for just a kilometer or two.
The best all-round article I’ve seen, so far, recently appeared at SFGate.com. It starts out with a segment about Ron Gremban, an electrical engineer who spent $3,000 stuffing off-the-shelf components into his Prius hybrid — and, now, gets up to 80 mpg. Extra batteries, parts letting him plug-in to his house current overnight, allow him to add to the mix of fuel efficiency for an additional reduction in daily operating costs and overall emissions.
Like all hybrids, his Prius increases fuel efficiency by harnessing small amounts of electricity generated during braking and coasting. The extra batteries let him store extra power by plugging the car into a wall outlet at his home in this San Francisco suburb — all for about a quarter.
He’s part of a small but growing movement. “Plug-in” hybrids aren’t yet cost-efficient, but some of the dozen known experimental models have gotten up to 250 mpg.
Gremban rigged his car to promote the nonprofit CalCars Initiative, a San Francisco Bay area-based volunteer effort that argues automakers could mass produce plug-in hybrids at a reasonable price.
Meanwhile, the “Set America Free” report “pits a group that includes influential Republicans against a Republican president on the question of whether the country should continue to spend several hundred million dollars a year to promote far-off hydrogen vehicles when it could do more today to accelerate adoption of hybrid-electric and alternative-fuel vehicles.”
related link:
Prius Hack
2020? I thought that was 4920…
http://www.theonion.com/news/index.php?issue=4132
Just another proof that Bush isn’t doing what the aerican people really wants.
Miguel,
You do know that The Onion is a spoof paper, right?
The REAL deadline is A.D. 11,034. 😉
Actually I’ve always wondered when the concept behind the diesel electric train (engine running at constant speed to power electrical motor) would be employed by automobiles. I think a lot of the delay had to do with motor technologies. I wonder how much of that was influenced by the advanced motors now used in hard disks. I credit the computer revolution!
By the way, it’s only logical that the gasoline engine in these sorts of devices should be replaced by diesel.
Steve, I knew politicians were lying bastards all along 😉
Paul: I’ve seen that criticism a million times. It doesn’t matter. Even if moving the energy production from individual cars to power plants results in no net gain for the environment by itself, it’s still good because it’s much easier to upgrade a few thousand power plants than it is to upgrade millions of automobiles. You want that migration to occur as soon as possible because it’s long and slow because most cars last a decade or so. Any new car technology needs at least that long to filter in to become the majority technology, actually longer because not every new car will be built with that technology the moment it’s introduced. Meanwhile a power plant can be upgraded or even outright replaced within a few years. It’s a definite win to centralize power generation that way, even if it won’t be beneficial right this second.
Interesting article. I wonder how much more time the guy put in figuring out where to compromise than the engineers at Toyota did? It sounds like he saves like 1/2 gallon of gas everyday that he doesn’t exceed 80 miles or whatever.. How long does he have to spend hauling around all that extra weight before there isn’t a benefit? How much trunk space does he have? What are the energy costs of manufacturing the batteries(admittedly, this will much less than $3000)? What about disposing of them?
At least he is doing it with his eyes open and acknowledges that electricity doesn’t come out of the wall by magic.
Don’t get me wrong, hybrids are great. The new/coming Ford Escape is a suberb example, a hybrid 4 has better/equivalent performance than the v6 model while burning less fuel.They can really only push out the coming energy crisis though(fossil fuel weening or exhuastion), as they won’t ever exceed doubling or tripling current efficiencies. Thermodynamics is a bitch…
This stuff is so much bull! He gets 80 mpg until his batteries go dead, which happens after driving 20 miles! For this he spent $3000?
The reality is that in order to convert all US vehicles to electricity (or hydrogen power), this country would need to increase its electrical generating capacity by 200,000 megawatts. That’s roughly 150 – 200 new coal-fired or nuclear power plants.
So when are the “Greens” going to let us build them?
I’ve driven a Prius. They engine doesn’t just run at one speed. It does hang around a certain RPM but it’ll go up if you step on it.
Also I own an Escape Hybrid. Its very nice, lots of room, but nowhere near the Prius on MPG. At less than 25-30 MPH it will run on electricity only if i keep the acceleration down. If you stop the gas the engine will kick on and move the car along with the electric motor.
Both these vehicles have a CVT and do not shift gears. But if you are climbing a hill it adjusts to a lower ‘gearing’ and the RPM on the engine will be much higher (around 4k). But the usual crusing around RPM is 1k-2k
Ed — the most frustrating aspect of all this is the vehicle manufacturers who lag years behind the market and consumers. At least, here in the States.
I went to my local Ford dealer to test drive an Escape. He can’t even get a floor sample. He had one on the lot which I could peer at; but, it was a 3-month wait for the guy who had ordered it. The Mercury version is only available online. Ford isn’t even going to try to show any at dealerships. I’m willing to bet they haven’t a pickup version available until well after Toyota.
And don’t even get me started on HDTV!
It’s getting harder and harder to have a discussion about any aspect of technology without bumping into the decline in American leadership.
First Bush isn’t to blame for the prices. Demand is way up and will continue to go up. China I think now is second to the US in oil use, if not they will be and closing on the US fast. Hybrid cars are nice but they don’t save that much gas. The main problem is the cost of the Technology. Car Companies are selling Hybrids for a loss. They do this for the Energy Credits to off set less efficient cars and no one would buy them at the real price. Plus the extra cost isn’t worth the cost saving in increase fuel efficiency. Now people want to add another $3000+ to the cost of a car. Another thing they don’t get the gas mileage they say in the real world. Regular small gas engine cars have been know to get better mileage in the real world. The EPA MPG test need to be redone on all cars to give us real world results. Some did a test with the Honda Hybrid and the Regular Hybrid and drove them from Chicago to LA. The Hybrid cost $1500 more and save $0.01 per mile. This was about a year ago so gas was cheaper. When I went to the car and calculate the difference in price for a Hybrid using the EPA MPG which are high it still not worth it. When Gas gets to $4 and $5 a gallon then it starts paying off.
Don’t get me wrong I’m for looking at new technology but it’s not going to happen over night. Adding $3000+ to cars that are already over priced won’t sell either. I also have a problem with Hydrogen powered cars. Hydrogen is not cheap to make. It does require power plants to make and cost more than gas car to run, until someone comes up with a cheaper way to make it. Hydrogen is also a lot more dangerous than gas. Even if they get Hydrogen to work, I read that some Environmentalist say it can do more Environmental damage than Gas engines. They are worried about all the water vapor they will produce.
In the short term we need more Nuclear Power plants. This is the cleanest and cheapest way to make Hydrogen and Electricity for Plug in Hybrids. Hybrid prices need to come down too. Which they should as the Tech matures. Some one needs to invent a cheap, compact and durable battery (Energy Storage) device. It would also help if it could be recharge quickly. Like in minutes and not Hours. Also we need to get over the Not in My Back Yard crap and build more refineries. We are going to be using more and more Energy in the future as we grow. Increased efficiency can slow even reverse it for a little while but we will always need more Energy.
Replacing old cars isn’t that hard. Cars don’t last forever. In the meantime, it’s better not to increase pollution at power plants, especially since they have a hard time getting any sort of upgrade approved.