[Raptor235]

Very interesting

http://www.popularmechanics.com/auto...o/3374271.html

[NABR 1337]

PV Panel on a hybrid to increase mpg. Utterly simple and brillant.

[dreads]

yea but this wouldnt really work out if you lived in a dark area or in a snowy /winter environment since there will be no sun and no way to recharge the car..

[Redofthelost]

So whats holding them up? Why isn't it out in the market?

[Conan the Barbarian]

100 MPG has been a potential for quite some time. The carmakes really don't want to make them everytime mileage standards increase its the automakers and UAW that resist the most.

[saturnsc]

Besides reducing weight, like the article is mostly about, other ways of generating electricity should and could be used to power cars. Solar panels mandatory is a good idea. This was done way back in the 90s on the Mazda 929 to power its battery. Sadly this ended and hasn't come back anywhere.

Besides harnessing power from braking like in the Toyota's, I'll return to elementary science by saying that electricity is gerated through spinning objects, like it does in all powerplants. If you have 4 wheels on a car spinning ALL THE TIME WHEN THE CAR IS MOVING shouldn't it be possible to harness this power through some mechanism, a small 2nd engine, 4 very small engines, or recharge the batteries all of the time?

The thing about batteries sady is that currently they have a huge ecological footprint (think manufacture, metals and acids used, proper disposal, etc.). So the better small cars overall have a smaller footprint than today's hybrids.

Clearly putting out hybrid SUVs is stupid. Prices of cars reflect company profits off them to a certain extent, but car companies sometimes produce small cars at a financial loss in order to lower their fleet emissions. SUVs are profitable and small cars often are not. If you let the market have its way, this would get worse as small car prices would go up closer to light truck prices and so people would spend a bit more and get a much bigger vehicle.

Is the only thing that will help this situation higher gas prices to the extent that people change their vehicle buying habits?

[marklad2020]

If you have 4 wheels on a car spinning ALL THE TIME WHEN THE CAR IS MOVING shouldn't it be possible to harness this power through some mechanism, a small 2nd engine, 4 very small engines, or recharge the batteries all of the time?

That implies that you take energy out, at the same time as putting it in. You don't get something for nothing.

SUVs are profitable and small cars often are not.

They would be more profitable if more market demand was created for them, such as through higher fuel taxes as you suggest.

[Timetrvlr]

Originally Posted by saturnsc

Besides reducing weight, like the article is mostly about, other ways of generating electricity should and could be used to power cars. Solar panels mandatory is a good idea. This was done way back in the 90s on the Mazda 929 to power its battery. Sadly this ended and hasn't come back anywhere.

........a small 2nd engine, 4 very small engines, or recharge the batteries all of the time?............

Is the only thing that will help this situation higher gas prices to the extent that people change their vehicle buying habits?

You are obviously giving some constructive thought to this and you do have some good ideas.

I like your thoughts about a solar panel on every car roof. This would work so well, especially with hybrids in the Sun Belt! I'm thinking of people that drive their hybrid to work and it sits in a sunny parking lot all day. Why not have a rooftop solar panel recharging the batteries for the trip home? Why not on the hood too?

The on-board small engine strictly to recharge the batteries of an electric car is the is the concept behind the Chevrolet Volt. I wonder if it will ever make it from concept car to the showroom?

Higher gas prices might change a few minds about gas guzzlers but I think an onerous federal tax based on vehicle curb weight might be more effective.

[marklad2020]

On this subject, there is an interesting article here about the issue of motor manufacturers practically refusing to do anything about improving vehicle emissions..

This one really is a case where we are just baffled by the lack of common sense..

[Timetrvlr]

Good link! We are all wondering about the lack of strategic thinking in Detroit. Now GM is heavily promoting the Chevrolet Volt which they claim will hit the showrooms in 2010 for about $30,000. The question is, is it just hype or are they really going to do it? Here is some information on it:

From Edmunds

General Motors' first plug-in hybrid, the Chevrolet Volt concept, introduces GM's new family of electric-drive propulsion systems

By Michelle Krebs Date posted: 01-07-2007

General Motors has unveiled the Chevrolet Volt concept, the company's first plug-in hybrid vehicle, at the 2007 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The Chevrolet Volt concept is the first vehicle to use GM's new E-flex family of propulsion systems. GM claims the Volt delivers triple-digit fuel economy and can travel up to 640 miles without a fuel fill-up or a battery recharge.

How the Volt works
By its own admission, GM is late to the party on hybrid vehicles. Yet the Volt still manages to turn conventional hybrid thinking on its ear. While current hybrids employ a battery-powered electric motor to supplement or complement a gasoline-powered engine, the Volt runs only on electric power until the battery runs down. Then and only then does the internal combustion engine kick in but not to propel the car but to feed the onboard generator that produces electricity while the car is operating. The electricity is then stored in the battery. Energy normally lost in braking also is recaptured and sent to the battery. The batteries can also be recharged by plugging into an electrical outlet.

The specs for triple-digit fuel economy
The Volt features a front-mounted electric motor that generates 120 kilowatts of power (160 horsepower) and 236 pound-feet of torque. Lithium-ion batteries are housed beneath the Volt's floor. Also onboard is a 53-kilowatt electric generator. The turbocharged, 1.0-liter three-cylinder gasoline engine also fits up front, while the 12-gallon fuel tank is in the rear.

The Volt will drive about 40 miles on pure electric power. Vehicle Line Director Tony Posawatz (whose name rhymes with "kilowatts"), says GM arbitrarily picked this distance because Department of Transportation studies show that half of U.S. households travel less than 30 miles per day, while 78 percent of commuters travel no more than 40 miles per day to work.

"Most Volt drivers would use little or no gasoline," Posawatz notes.

By the numbers
By GM's calculations, the Volt would save the typical driver 500 gallons of fuel a year, amounting to a net cost savings of $900 (assuming gas costs $2.40 a gallon). The addition to a home electric bill would be about $300.

In the bigger scheme of things, the Volt saves the environment some 4.4 metric tons of carbon dioxide that might otherwise be emitted into the air in a year, GM claims.