[extropy-chat] Hybrid cars not fuel economic in real world driving

[Eugen Leitl]

On Fri, Jun 11, 2004 at 08:19:57PM +0100, BillK wrote:

> Looks like the technology is still too new and needs a bit of work to
> optimize it.  Till then a normal small gas engine looks like a more
> efficient system.

The hybrid "technology" consists of an ICU driving a generator driving an
electric motor. E.g. Toyota Prius does seem to use a few features beyond of
that (somebody kindly shoot the webmokey responsible for below flash)

http://www.toyota.com/vehicles/2004/prius/key_features/hybrid_syn_drive.html

but this adds weight and complexity. Significant savings only kick in with a
total redesign as GM is attempting. Lower design complexity and switch to
largely solid-state design plus advanced composites allow to bring the weight
down radically, while retaining good acceleration and energy regeneration
features as well as structural safety on impact.

Economical realities enforces design continuity, preventing such shortcuts.

-- 
Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a>
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