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Ford Launches First American Hybrid
Ford has finally rolled out their Escape hybrid SUV. Ford's website has more information. Ford will use Toyota's first-generation hybrid technology in the SUV (the 2004 Prius is Toyota's second generation technology). Best of all, the Escape is street-legal in residential areas. Update: 08/06 22:31 GMT by M : A reader points out that GM will be selling a hybrid pickup soon, but it isn't available for sale to the public yet, so Ford is still the first.
Why not just get a Toyota to begin with. Chances are it's cheaper and doesn't fall apart after 6 years...
"The hybrid Escape uses a 200-pound, 330-volt battery pack to power the vehicle at low speeds and in stop-and-go traffic."
Since so many people spend so much of their day in stop and go traffic this is a big winner.
Just do the math. When I look at masses of traffic stuck at rush hour I can't help but imagine how many litres of fuel are being burnt while the cars are all but totally stationary for hours on end.
What a stupid waste. Electrical has to be better under those conditions.
Actually, surely it can't be hard to convert? If you had a large battery in a regular car, couldn't you use it to drive the starter motor while in gear and push the car forward slowly without the engine having to be running? (Using the starter motor to jog a car forward saves lives; when you are stalled out while crossing the railway lines for example)
In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
The auto industry licenses technology from each other all the time. Not really a big deal. A much bigger deal is that many of the hybrid don't get the effiency they claim.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
In virginia, a hybrid with only one passenger can use an HOV lane (more details) -- that means a hybrid suv can use the lane even when my car is more fuel efficient. We'll see what happens in two years when the rule comes up for renewal and its folly will look a little worse when hybrid != execellent gas milage.
HIV Crosses Species Barrier... into Muppets
The Insight can hold a grand total of two people, and it's still pretty small. The Prius is bigger, but it is still a fairly small car. What I'd like to see is a Crown Victoria with hybrid and reasonable performance, so all the Taxis and Police can switch over. I don't doubt that such an act would really reduce air pollution and would save a good bit of money. Perhaps Ford's next plan is to offer fleet vehicles set up like that.
"Anyone who attempts to generate random numbers by deterministic means is living in a state of sin." -- John von Neumann
The problem has to be re-thought entirely.
d .co.uk/
I'm a big supporter of removing journeys entirely, put everything within walking distance. It's not practical to do on existing cities and would take decades.
In the meantime the solution turns out to be a feature of the Information Revolution, as the Steam engine was a feature of the Industrial Revolution. The application of information technology to transport will solve many of the congestion and environmental problems.
Personal Rapid Transport:
http://www.cprt.org/
A couple of PRT systems:
http://www.skywebexpress.com/
http://www.atslt
Government of the people, by corporate executives, for corporate profits.
A collection of thoughts I've developed watching the continuing hybrid saga:
1. Within the American car manufacturers, there's some major problems; particularly, the sheer profitability of their SUVs is just daunting. For about the same marketing / sales / distribution / engineering / raw materials cost as they'd have to expend on your $20k Taurus, they can sell you a $30k+ SUV; it's as if they somehow stumbled onto a means of making suburban moms all buy mid-market luxury cars. Plus they can build it on marginally modified versions of their light truck lines...so don't expect American manufacturers to stop or slow down SUV manufacture anytime soon.
2. That said, I think that Bill Ford is a not-kidding environmentalist. Some of their factories are really leading the way in terms of green building (article here), and he was a prime mover behind this (admittedly belated and somewhat slow) project. Ford has also become a lot more reasonable on climate and emissions issues over even just the past three years. I am a pretty active environmentalist, but I've always much preferred the "pat on the back" to the "too little too late" carping, so thank you, Ford, for giving us all the opportunity to insure ourselves a little better against future fuel supply, national security and global warming uncertainties.
3. The political rhetoric surrounding SUVs on both sides is so disingenuous and heated that you'd think they were talking about guns. There's essentially two positions: 1. Every one of these light trucks is being used by a farmer or contractor, and any attempt to regulate fuel emissions back to, say, early 80's standards will annihilate small business in America and kill thousands of people because our cars will be too small. 2. Every one of these light trucks is being driven by a latte-slugging soccer mom, and unless we triple our CAFE standards in two years, we'll annihlate our economy, and kill thousands of people because our cars will be too big.
4. People talk about fuel cell cars constantly, but here's the thing; a fuel cell car will have to be a highly streamlined, possibly drive-by-wire, light-body device with electronic drive components and regenerative brakes; you get there by developing hybrids, not by skipping them.
5. This is one of those "we have to do it now, even though it won't matter for a while" problems; we have to get our transportation fuel economies up, but new cars alone won't do it. The reason? As cars have become less junky, we actually now turn over our automotive stock fairly slowly; in 2020, people will still be driving their 03s...as a result, incremental fuel economy standards have a sort of marginal impact in any given year.
6. and final. You don't make your money back on a hybrid, even with the tax credits, but if Yukos gets slapped / the Venezuelan labor situation doesn't settle, that could change real quick...or, the other option, I've never understood why no one just started an all-hybrid cab company. The more miles you put in on one of these things, the better your ROI compared to a normal car, and you could even end up with a distinct brand that people would prefer, vs. current commoditized cabs.
Just hoping to spur some discussion...
hydrogen == supposedly more environment friendly
SUV == environement unfriendly
Does a Hydrogen SUV make sense then?
Do we really really need SUVs?
Simpy
Dang, you beat me to it. I read DetNews Auto section every day and went nuts when I saw the slashdot headline. I also found this over at Bloomberg by Doron Levin (an editor over at detnews as well).
BTW, although hybrids are the new chic-ness in cool rides (and 15 years ago those same people were all diving for SUVs, but whatever) no one's done a careful analysis of the cost to manufacture the batteries as well dispose of them properly, especially on the scales of 17 million new vehicles sold per year (in the US). To me, we're simply trading a "cleaner" car today for an expensive cleanup tomorrow. Everything seems to be a trade off. Diesel has its problems, especially with the U.S.'s sulfur rich diesel. A lot of our advances in cleaning up car emissions come at a price such as expensive and toxic metals in catalytic converters.
Why release a hybrid SUV?
Because there is a demand for it! Some of us really like the utility of our sport utility vehicles, but would like better fuel economy. Maybe you forgot to read the article where it mentioned that dealerships are setting up waiting lists?
Its more of a Honda IMS hybrid than a full Prius hybrid. What's the difference?
Toyota and Honda have blazed markedly different trails into this hybrid frontier. Honda's Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) system in the Insight and Civic Hybrid is mild and elegantly simple in its operation--an electric motor is sandwiched between the traditional engine and transmission--either a five-speed manual or a continuously variable transmission (CVT). Fuel is saved by switching off the engine when stopped or coasting and by downsizing the engine and relying on the electric motor to assist with acceleration. The motor is powered by energy stored during deceleration and braking when the motor functions like a generator, recharging an onboard battery. (Today's hybrids are never plugged in for recharging.) Honda hybrids cannot accelerate on electric power alone.
Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive (HSD) is more complex. The gas engine is unique, utilizing lightweight, low-friction internal components designed to run at a maximum speed of only 5000 rpm. A mechanical compression ratio of 13.0:1 improves efficiency, but the intake valves close so late that the air-fuel mixture experiences only 9.5:1 compression, permitting the engine to run on regular fuel. A unique planetary automatic transmission allows the car to accelerate from rest up to 30-plus mph on electric power only if the driver accelerates gently, which adds significantly to the fuel savings over what Honda's mild hybrid achieves. Toe in deeper, and the gas engine kicks in. Floor it, and the separate generator switches over to work as an additional motor for even more assist. The fuel savings are far less significant at highway speeds, where the engine must run continuously, which explains why the Prius's EPA results are highest for the city test.
Motor Trend
Its more important for GM that the mild hybrid have the ability to produce ample amounts of electricity. Why? So you can plug in tools, that's why!
I wish I had Karma points. I love my Jetta TDI! I get 54 MPG in mostly highway driving. That pushes it up to second on the list behind the Insight.
Waltz, nymph, for quick jigs vex Bud.
I'm wondering what ever happened to their cool running lightweight ceramic engine they were talking about a few years ago. Allegedly ran so cool and because it was mostly ceramic, the pistons didn't even need rings-no gross metal expansion/contraction. I read once about it, then poof. Of course I haven't looked either....
Few months ago when the gas prices started shooting up, I saw a news report of Kerry's and Bush's solution to the high gas prices:
...hope this doesn't fuel a flamewar.
Kerry: we need to look into alternate fuel sources
Bush: we need to explore Alaska for more oil services.
I'm not making this up
$cat
I don't think they mean for driving, but rather for the 120 VAC outlets:
In addition to improvements in fuel economy and emissions, the GM hybrid pickups feature four 120-volt, 20 amp electrical auxiliary power outlets under the rear seat of the cab and in the pickup bed that can accommodate up to four accessories while driving or when parked. With this auxiliary generator capability, the truck's generator can operate when the truck is parked without a key in the ignition and can be used to power anything from tools at a construction site to appliances at a campsite.
Considering that your average inverter is in the 200 - 400 Watt range, 14KWatts is impressive.
40? Not bad but not comparable to a Prius.
My friend's 2004 got 50 MPG on the last long trip I was along for. (That was with three people and all their camping gear, too.) And it does 0-60 in 10 seconds - most diesels are considerably slower.
It also does the 3000+ foot climb over Snoqualmie pass on I-90 without a problem - so that issue is not a real one.
Diesels won't really make sense in the US until after the new low sulfur fuel comes in (a few years away), anyway.
Japan allows much lighter cars than the US, some are somewhere between a Yugo and a scooter. Yet they have 60% of the car crash death rate per 10,000 cars as the US. Overall, Japan has much lighter cars too, because gas isn't cheap there.
Somehow, I'm not convinced that heavy trucks are the solution to accident deaths. John Stossel did a Myth Busters or something that showed that a mid-sized car is about as safe as an SUV. I've found some stats showing that minivans are safer than SUVs. A lot of it has to do with the fact that SUVs get into accidents more often because they have worse braking, worse handling and roll over much more often. Rollovers are also the most deadly kind of accidents too.
Regional Crash Analyses
It always makes me wonder why people love big cars, and from what it seems, especially in America.
Im in Australia. People here like their cars. The most popular car here I would suggest would be a Holden Commadore. But people like those because they are made well, they are really comfortable and can pull a boat/trailer/747 without any trouble.
I have never heard anyone say they like their cars to be big. In fact, I've only ever heard small cars admired for their size, and how much easier it makes them for people to park and squeeze between things in smaller streets.
It doesn't look like that hybrid car in the article looks THAT big, but can someone explain to me why people like big cars so much, in particular in America?
I would think that for hybrid cars to take off in Australia, they would have to start with smaller cars for city driving, as that is what people are prefering here.
Live in your skin. Keep changing the scenery.
eduation?!
Are you kidding?
No. You're not.
Oh my.
Wait, I'd expect this from an AC, but you're logged in.
That's the most humiliating thing I've ever seen.
Really.
everything in moderation
As an avid cyclist and bicycle-commuter, I'd just like to address some of your comments.
everyone is riding side-by-side rather than single file... Are those of us in cars really expected to ride along at 10-15 mph behind a cyclist for 5 or 10 miles?
A bicycle happens to be a slow moving vehicle that is traveling down a public road. Other examples of common slow-moving vehicles are farm-tractors, Amish/Mennonite buggies, construction vehicles, mail-delivery-trucks, garbage trucks, old people, etc. In the case of ALL of these, the vehicle in front, no matter what its speed, has the right of way and should be passed in a safe manner when room on the road allows. In general practice (with the exception of the elderly) most slow-moving vehicle operators make some sort of attempt to stay to the side of the road as much as possible to allow for easy passing by vehicles that have the ability to travel faster. "Being nice" however, does not mean that the slower vehicle has renounced its right-of-way. When approaching any slow vehicle, the safe, legal, nice way to do it (if there is not an empty passing lane) is to slow down, wait for enough room to pass, and then pass.
Back to bicycles. A bicycle's maximum width is the span of its rider's sholders, ~2ft/.6m. Two bicycles with a foot inbetween them take up only 5ft/1.5m. If the approching car is following the above mentioned safe-overtaking practice, there is little difference in a cars ability to pass one cyclist or two side-by-side. Where the problem for all involved resides is in auto-driver's insistance on overtaking cyclists at full speed, in the same lane, no matter what configuration the cyclists are riding in. When riding single-file, right on the edge of the road, I've often had cars pass me at 70mph with less than 2ft of clearance. This is both terrifying and incredibly unsafe. By taking up [slightly] more of the road by riding side-by-side, a cyclist can assert a bit more of their right-of-way and force overtaking traffic to at least slow down slightly (or move over) when passing, making the road safer for all parties.
running through stopsigns without stopping, blatantly running red lights and advancing past all the cars that are stopped at both of the above.
This is just bad form, illegal, and shouldn't be done.
"When ideology and theology couple, their offspring are not always bad but they are always blind." -- Bill Moyers