neutrino23

How PHEVs and EVs Will Sabotage America's Drive for Energy Independence

The Prius currently does not use lithium batteries. It uses NiMH batteries. Word is Toyota is researching lithium batteries intensely but they are not there yet.

I applaud the intense research into lithium (and other) technology and it may eventually yield a very useful technology.

The good point about the electric vehicles is that they clearly are designed to use less energy. The problem with hybrids is that not all hybrids are designed the same. The Prius and Honda Insight get fantastic mileage. Many other hybrids get only slightly better mileage than their gas powered counterparts. The car company has to design the whole car to get good mileage.

I get your argument about the EV. I don't go along with you on the PHEV. For example, If the Prius could go about 15 miles on a charge (about 3kWH useful battery, probably nearer 4kWH on the label) that could yield well over 100mpg for many people as much of our travel is short trips near home. This number depends on driving patterns. 3 - 4 kWH is a relatively small amount of energy that could be applied by a relatively small array of solar cells which would help even more.

A separate consideration is to look at the amount of energy invested to manufacture these vehicles. Toyota works hard to reduce the energy needed to build a Prius. If the manufacturer is not careful about this it can take more oil to build the vehicle than is saved in operation.