Modded Hybrid Cars Get Up to 250 MPG

artemis67 writes "Politicians and automakers say a car that can both reduce greenhouse gases and free America from its reliance on foreign oil is years or even decades away. Ron Gremban says such a car is parked in his garage. It looks like a typical Toyota Prius hybrid, but in the trunk sits an 80-miles-per-gallon secret -- a stack of 18 brick-sized batteries that boosts the car's high mileage with an extra electrical charge so it can burn even less fuel. Gremban, an electrical engineer and committed environmentalist, spent several months and $3,000 tinkering with his car."

Comments

Re:That's all good, but..

[k98sven]

The inevitable smart-ass question of "Oh, but that electricity has to come from somewhere!!".

Consider this:
Energy content of gasoline: ~45 MJ/kg
Density of gasoline: 737 kg/m3
1 cubic meter = 264.172051 gallons, equals 2.79 MJ/gallon.

Now 1 kWh is exactly 3.6 MJ. Electricity costs (let's exaggerate) 30 cents per kWh.

What do you pay for gas?

Now add to that the facts that:
1) It is easier to clean up a handfull of power-plants than a millions cars distributed over the whole country.

2) Electricity doesn't have to come from fossil fuel sources

3) Even if it does, power plants still produce energy more efficiently than an automobile engine.

Even compared to other new non hybrids.....

[Original Buddha]

...it's not worth it. You can get a non hybrid Civic for $14k that gets 32/38 milage. The hybrid Civic runs $6k more but gets 10mpg more. How many years does it take you to break even on the gas costs?

Re:Even compared to other new non hybrids.....

[Alex P Keaton in da]

Um- How much money do you save recycling aluminum? How much do you get paid to drive to the city facility to get rid of old paint and batteries instead of throwing them out? How much do you save by (Name any act that is helpful to the enviornment)?
Doing the right thing isn't always about saving money....
I usually plow snow in the winter as a second job (Find me another second job where you make $50 and hour to drive around in a truck smoking cigarettes and listening to music) but I almost never drive my plow truck in the summer. Is at a big, comfy F350 dually crew cab? Yes. Can I afford to gas it and drive it to work everyday? Yes. Do I? No. I sometimes ride my bike, sometimes carpool and sometimes drive my car. But my big, comfy (I am 6'4" so a F350 is nice for me) truck at home all winter. Why? Because I feel a responsibility for the Earth

Re:We care about the children too

[DigiShaman]

It doesn't just piss you off, it really really pisses me off...and I live in Texas.

I wish I could just purchase a car without all of that extra safety shit and roll the dice on whether or not I survive. In return, I get a car with a huge discount. But noooooooo, the Big Government wont give me that option. So I must pay the "safety tax"

Re:So like...

[dal20402]

SUVs don't need to be justified.

I'd appreciate it if you would justify to me why you're wearing out the roads faster, the ones I pay for with my tax dollars. Until there are higher registration fees for heavier vehicles, SUV drivers are getting subsidized by the rest of us.

And that doesn't even touch the global warming issue.