Thread: Hybrid Toyota

Originally Posted by Lionel

The reason diesels are difficult to use in hybrid situations is that, due to the high compression, it is a problem for the vehicle to seamlessly change from battery running at start off to engine running at speed. It is hard to avoid jerking as the diesel engine starts.

There is still work being done in that regard.

In any case I think hybrids are not good in overall energy use. I remember reading that Prius battery packs have to be returned to Japan for recycling, which is hardly encouraging, to say the least!

Cheers,

Lionel

That makes sense but i cant see why they cant produce a hybrid whereby a small diesel motor idling is used to recharge the battery pack ? could also add some solar cells .

South Park Episode 141: "Smug Alert" (Hybrid cars)



Maybe we should start questioning peple who have their hybrid cars in regional Australia, why they are using their Hybrids outside the city?

We could then mention to them that modern conventionally powered vehicles are more fuel efficient on the open road and have a smaller carbon footprint than hybrids !

i agree with diana, whats the environmental cost when you take into account the manufacturing and shipping of batteries.
i belive diesal hybrids are on there way that would make a lot more sense.

one of the problem with calculating fuel is its a huge variable depening on weather conditions, roads driver etc etc so government figures are just aguide line.

one proposal i read is that figures will be produced at cost per mile rather than fuel used, when hybrids come out with longer range running and power trains that are purely electric with or with out combustion engine as a battery recharger it will become even harder to compare fuel consumption.

on a nother note, one worry is can you imagine once trucks come with full blown power plants how much electrical crap the bogans will take camping.

And because its a toymota and because its got lil Kevin Rudd telling the country how good it is "smug" people across the country will lap them up.

Have driven a prius in the past and was not impressed. Use to take me 5mins just to figure out if I actually had it started.

Getting off track a bit,hybrid cars seem a bit like inverter A/C units.They cost a lot more than the standard unit,in real life use save around 3 to 5 % in power costs at the most,& are so complicated,with printed circuit boards piggy backed on each other,have variable speed fan motors & compressers,are an absolute nightmare to repair.
The wall split units are virtually a throw away once they need repair

But who really cares?

Manufacturers love it as do the sellers.The only ones losing out are us,we have to pay for this nonsense.
And if we have to continually replace things,how does this help the environment?

I think the real storie with the A/C units is the power grids,particularly in Qld do not have enough capacity.

Inverter A/C units & hybrid cars belong in the same bin,the rubbish bin....

Sorry to hijack the thread....

Having just done 1056 Kilometers on 80 Liters of Diesel and around 50 Liters of LPG I feel pretty good about my 200Tdi Disco.
Keep your Hybrids.

*meh* i get 10.5-11L/100km combined, cruise at 110-120 on the highway, drive it like its stolen and the a/c is on at least half the time..... a quite acceptable trade-off when a prius is mentioned IMO

The information about the use of a Prius on country roads with GWAHS in Dubbo I had already heard from another source.

There are a several small diesels that give markedly better fuel economy than the Prius, particularly in country driving - for example a friend has recently got a Hyundai i30, which does far better than his previous Corolla - just over 4l/100km in rural areas.

One problem in using fuel published economy figures is that for some years now, manufacturers have been designing vehicles to perform best in the standard test conditions rather than overall. A bit like racing yachts designed to fit a particular rule.

The only advantage of hydrogen power is that, like electric vehicles, there is zero pollution at the point of use. Conversion of energy to hydrogen and then back again at the point of use is much less efficient than other methods, quite apart from the distribution problems associated with hydrogen.

In my view, hydrogen is a dead end, but keeps being put forward by people who do not understand that hydrogen is not a source of energy, just a new and very expensive distribution method. Personally, I think that electric vehicles are likely to be the future for urban travel, but for rural use I see the internal combustion engine remaining for many years as the only alternative. And I see little virtue in hybrids.

John