MellowGuy

Carmakers Continue to Consolidate

TM and HMC seem to be the only automakers safe to invest in with US listings.

Is Toyota Losing Ground in the Electric Vehicles Race?

The race is for a plug hybrid vehicle. Most people average less than 40 miles a day on their vehicle, but may need to make trips of up to 400 miles on occasion. The long trips necessitate having liquid fueled engine, but the short trips can be handled with an affordable battery (if it can handle a large number of charge/discharge cycles). The hybrid feature is needed to increase the milage of city with its frequent stops by using regenerative braking.

A neighbor has converted his Prius to a plug-in Hybrid and uses a solar array in his back yard to charge it.

Why the Electric Car Mileage Debate Is Meaningless

Nuclear power plants don't take up any more space than coal plants.

Mini nuclear power plants are being designed that can be placed in remote areas such as Alaska to give economical & reliable power.


On Aug 13 09:38 AM huangjin wrote:

> The question is: where are they going to put all the nuclear power
> plants?

Why the Electric Car Mileage Debate Is Meaningless

That ~48% efficiency is a peak fuel efficiency which in a vehicle operating at different speeds and acceleration can be appreciably lowered. I think that plug hybrids should be based on diesel engines but the first one is always a challenge.

Coal, nuclear fuel, and natural gas are priced much lower than diesel fuel which makes a plug hybrid more economical for that first 40 miles or so.

On Aug 13 12:46 PM Gandalph wrote:

> Do the efficiency numbers! The efficiency of a power plant - coal,
> oil, or nuclear is about 40%; the efficiency of the grid is estimated
> at 92%; the efficiency of charging a Li-Ion battery is no more than
> 85% (They get hot!); the efficiency of an electric motor is about
> 85%(They also get hot); call the AC to DC converters 85% (?). Overall:
> 22.5%. Compare with modern clean diesel: ~48%. The electric car
> is a hoax !

Six Cars That Represent the Future of Driving

Regenerative braking is what makes the current hybrids attractive. Any future vehicle will have to have regenerative braking with a battery pack and electric drive motors.
Hydrogen is expensive to produce, dangerous, and has a short driving range. Fuel cells(expensive!) are are a better way to convert hydrogen to power than an IC engine.
Plug in power add on to a hybrid vehicle would work for me, but for vehicles that need to travel hundreds of miles per day, that might not be suitable add-on.
Compressed methane would work for large trucks, but passenger vehicles need something more like propane which is much cheaper than gasoline.
Ethanol has delivery problems that could be improved by converting it to ETBE.
Reducing vehicle size can reduce energy consumption, but that might require a second vehicle that can haul more people, cargo, and trailer.

Half of U.S. Consumers Delaying New Car Purchases

I am delaying partly because a hybrid model I want isn't available locally that isn't overloaded with expensive options.

Better to Let Automakers Go Bankrupt

Bailouts primarily help bond holders. Without a bailout bond holders have to assume ownership of a company and will only get a small portion of their investment back.

Are Hybrid Vehicles Worth the Price?

Since depreciation is the main expense and hybrids have minimal depreciation, it makes sense to get one now if one can be found that isn't way above MSRP.

Are Hybrid Vehicles Worth the Price?

Depreciation is the main expense and since depreciation is minimal with hybrids, it makes sense to get one now if you can find one.

Chrysler's Rebadging Plan: Strategic Blunder for Nissan?

If Chrysler can't deliver a hybrid minivan they should just go out of business.