There was a time I covered hybrid cars pretty religiously. Then it got all hot and trendy and sucked the life out of me. But there’s some cool news every now and then that I can’t ignore.
That is all.
OK, one more thing: Toyota isn’t sure electric cars will be popular.
Haven’t had a hybrid update in a while, have I? Better late than never:
New Prius to be bigger, better | Car Tech: An automotive blog from CNET - CNET Reviews
The new Prius will be 3 inches to 4 inches longer than the current model and it will get a 50 horsepower boost. Along with all that, it will get better fuel economy than the current model.
One of the reasons I like the tech of hybrid cars is that they don’t tax the power grid. You use gas to get them going, but they create extra energy (actually, save lost energy) by the proper use of technology when you brake.
For some reason, lots of people want a plug-in car, instead. I never got that. An electric car just means you need more electricity, which is something we don’t have an awful lot of. Nobody wants an electric power plant in their backyard. They’re not cheap. We’re just replacing one problem with another.
Well, now we have a study that shows a sharp rise in hybrid electric cars could present a problem:
Will plug-in hybrids stress the grid? | Green Tech blog - CNET News.com
Plug-in hybrids are coming. General Motors, Tesla Motors, Fisker Automotive and Toyota are all coming out with gas-electric cars that can be charged from a socket.The question now is can the grid handle it. The latest voice on the debate, Stan Hadley of the Cooling, Heating and Power Technologies Program at Oak Ridge National Laboratories, says it won’t be easy. Hadley examined 182 scenarios on how plug-ins might be used in different regions in the U.S. between 2020 and 2030. Hadley assumed a 25 percent penetration of plug-ins by 2020.
In a worst case scenario, Hadley postulated that the U.S. would need 160 new power plants to handle the requirements of these cars. The worst case scenario, though, assumes that the millions of plug-in owners would want to charge their car at 5 p.m., the tail end of peak power demand.
Blind advocates lobby for noisier hybrid cars | Tech news blog - CNET News.com
Hybrid cars may be on every environmentalist-cum-trend setter’s hot list, but their surging popularity is raising alarms among the blind and their advocates, who fear the near-silent vehicles could endanger lives.In recent months, the National Federation of the Blind has launched what is becoming an international lobbying campaign for legislation that encourages–or flat-out requires–automakers to install noisemaking technology to address those potential perils.
Go Sun Solutions - Volkswagen Going Hybrid
…a few months after announcing that they plan to put a hybrid engine in some of their compact models, V-Dub is taking all this hybrid talk a step further. Now, every upcoming VW model is scheduled to have a hybrid option, with some models hybrid-ready as early as next year.
Autocar - Next Accord to hit 60mpg
Honda’s next Accord will launch a new and ultra-clean range of diesel engines that could be capable of over 60mpg and, it claims, will be as clean as a petrol engine;
The Pennsylvania based Lithium Technology Corporation recently demonstrated a new type of “plug-in” Toyota Prius hybrid car. The new model is based on advanced lithium iron phosphate battery which allows the hybrid car to travel up to a distance of 125 miles per gallon of fuel – making it possibly the most efficient mass-produced car in the world.
One Hybrid Priced Below Them All: Saturn Aura Green Line Lowest-Priced Hybrid At $22,695 - Jalopnik
Kudos to GM for not only finally bringing a sedan to the market to compete with the Camry — the Aura won NorAm Car of the Year — but then for bringing a hybrid model to the market. Oh and probably some more green-love today for pricing it below any other hybrid you can buy today. They’ve just announced pricing on the mean-grean four-door machine, and it’s got an out-the door MSRP of $22,695.
It’s the cheapest hybrid yet.
The Air Car - zero pollution and very low running costs - gizmag Article
Many respected engineers have been trying for years to bring a compressed air car to market, believing strongly that compressed air can power a viable “zero pollution” car. Now the first commercial compressed air car is on the verge of production and beginning to attract a lot of attention, and with a recently signed partnership with Tata, India’s largest automotive manufacturer, the prospects of very cost-effective mass production are now a distinct possibility. The MiniC.A.T is a simple, light urban car, with a tubular chassis that is glued not welded and a body of fibreglass. […]
Most importantly, it is incredibly cost-efficient to run – according to the designers, it costs less than one Euro per 100Km (about a tenth that of a petrol car). Its mileage is about double that of the most advanced electric car (200 to 300 km or 10 hours of driving), a factor which makes a perfect choice in cities where the 80% of motorists drive at less than 60Km. The car has a top speed of 68 mph.
Technology Review: The Incredible Shrinking Engine
. . .he shows off a turbocharger that could be bolted to the 2.4-liter engine; the engine, he adds, uses direct fuel injection rather than the port injection currently found in most cars. Both turbocharging and direct injection are preëxisting technologies, and neither looks particularly impressive. Indeed, used separately, they would lead to only marginal improvements in the performance of an internal-combustion engine. But by combining them, and augmenting them with a novel way to use a small amount of ethanol, Cohn and his colleagues have created a design that they believe could triple the power of a test engine, an advance that could allow automakers to convert small engines designed for economy cars into muscular engines with more than enough power for SUVs or sports cars. By extracting better performance from smaller, more efficient engines, the technology could lead to vehicles whose fuel economy rivals that of hybrids, which use both an electric motor and a gasoline engine. And that fuel efficiency could come at a fraction of the cost.
Geneva Motor Show: Toyota Hybrid-X concept - AutoblogGreen
Toyota unveiled the Hybrid-X concept, which is supposed to give the world a hint at the new design language for future Toyota hybrid vehicles. Presumably that means that what we see here will be reflected in the next generation Prius when it comes out next year along with other future vehicles. The concept has a low-slung one-box shape stretched over twenty inch wheels.
Vehicle Mileage Estimates Get Real
That 55-mile-per-gallon hybrid car you’ve been eyeing may end up being a 44-mpg hybrid if you wait for the 2008 model.The federal Environmental Protection Agency announced a new system Monday for evaluating fuel economy that will lower mileage estimates for most vehicles.
On average, vehicles rated under the 2008 method will post a 12% drop in city gasoline mileage and an 8% decline in highway mileage, said Bill Wehrum, the EPA’s acting assistant administrator for air and radiation.
With the new testing requirements, the EPA is attempting to come up with estimates that more closely reflect the real-world mileage motorists can expect when they purchase a vehicle. […]
In part that’s because the agency’s current test doesn’t include much stop-and-go traffic or lead-footed acceleration. Air conditioners — notorious for lowering mileage by sucking up engine power — aren’t turned on, and all testing is done under conditions that simulate a 70-degree environment.
The new system will use more high-speed driving, partly in 20-degree cold. Air conditioning will be on some portion of each driving cycle, and there will be more stop-and-go and rapid-acceleration driving.
Winding Road » Archive » Looking To Establish Enthusiast Credibility, Toyota Previews FT-HS Concept
Toyota appears hell bent on re-establishing its credibility among enthusiasts. With the euthanizing of the Supra and MR2, there’s been little in the automotive juggernaut’s stable to quicken the pulse, but recent announcements like Lexus’ forthcoming “F” lineup should help reinvigorate the brand with driving aficionados. As should the FT-HS Hybrid Sports Concept previewed here.Slated to debut on Sunday, January 7 at the North American International Auto Show, the HSC is expected to be a 400 horsepower hybrid concept sports car. Designed by Toyota’s Newport Beach, California studio, the 2 2 boasts a 3.5-liter V-6 yoked to a 650-volt water-cooled motor, and a retractable roof.
[…] There’s some debate about what segment said vehicle would play in, as well as name and cost, but Toyota says it is
fantasizing aboutprojecting a price tag of around $35,000 and a 0-60 mile-per-hour time of around 4 seconds. Whooeeey.
Rick Wagoner announces development of plug-in hybrid SUV
General Motors CEO, Rick Wagoner, just wrapped up his keynote address to the salivating throngs of journos within the LA convention center and the crux of his comments centered on the flexibility of GM’s future vehicle’s fuel systems.
The major announcement was the development of a plug-in hybrid setup on the Saturn Vue Green Line’s front-wheel drive platform. It will be based on the front-wheel drive two-mode hybrid drivetrain that GM also announced today. Although no time frame was cited, Wagoner insists that development is underway with battery manufacturers to develop the technology as quickly as possible.
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Augie De Blieck Jr. doesn't know when to shut up, which makes him the perfect blogger. That, and he reads a lot of other blogs. You can e-mail him, if you really wanted to.
