Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
]My hybrid, and most of the others, would be recharged off the grid during the nighttime off peak hours. I my specific case it would be the Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant. As I would, theoretically, be using this car to get to the bus station and back it would rarely use any petroleum fuel except in winter to provide defrost and heat. The California electric car designers rarely address these functions. I have been in a small gas fueled car (Hondat Civic) that did not use enough fuel on the expressway to keep the heater working on a 15 below zero night. That was a COLD trip.
I would like to use the technology but I am not about to get into debt to buy a car.
I'm a bit surprised about the heater issue. The California car has a heat pump set up for warming the car, don't know how effective that would be in your area. However, about 15 years ago I had a Hyundai Excel, and the heater kept me warm in below zero weather in Ohio. It did take about 8-10 minutes to work effectively, but from that point on I didn't notice it being weak at all.
NtCA - if it took 8 - 10 minutes to heat up the thermostat was broken or missing. Supplying heat for demisting and comfort is very important. It also requires a lot of energy. I spoke with an owner of a new Toyota mid-size hybrid (I forgot the model name) and she said the car got about 35+ mpg in the summer and less than 30 in the winter. i assume the difference was running the engine for heat, not power. An Air conditioner will also eat power.
calculated that my old Buick Wagon requires about 40 Hp at 75 mph on a flat expressway. It delivers 26 mpg in those conditions. Not bad for a 16 year old and $2500 car. Winter milage is abyssal because the car never really warms up.
Electric vehicle update, Aptera has obtained production facility funding and is planning on releasing their first actual production models out here in California by the end of this year:
The Typ-1 PHEV can drive 40 miles on electric power alone, but as soon as you get over that threshold, you start using fuel. As such, on a 50 mile trip the Typ-1 PHEV would have a fuel economy of 1000 miles per gallon.
As you drive further the battery energy is depleted and the engine is turned on with increasing frequency, which uses more and more fuel. The result is that on a 75 mile trip, the fuel economy of the Typ-1 PHEV is around 400 miles per gallon and on a trip of 120 miles, fuel economy is around 300 miles per gallon.
Electric vehicle update, Aptera has obtained production facility funding and is planning on releasing their first actual production models out here in California by the end of this year:
The Typ-1 PHEV can drive 40 miles on electric power alone, but as soon as you get over that threshold, you start using fuel. As such, on a 50 mile trip the Typ-1 PHEV would have a fuel economy of 1000 miles per gallon.
As you drive further the battery energy is depleted and the engine is turned on with increasing frequency, which uses more and more fuel. The result is that on a 75 mile trip, the fuel economy of the Typ-1 PHEV is around 400 miles per gallon and on a trip of 120 miles, fuel economy is around 300 miles per gallon.
In the meantime though, I believe the ForTwo will be sold by Ford, and I have already seen two of them out on the road. Supposedly they are coming out with an all elec. version and a hybrid pretty soon. For the price and doing daily runs to work and the store... I'm seriously considering it.
In the meantime though, I believe the ForTwo will be sold by Ford, and I have already seen two of them out on the road. Supposedly they are coming out with an all elec. version and a hybrid pretty soon. For the price and doing daily runs to work and the store... I'm seriously considering it.
We have them zipping around in CA right now. Better beware though, the mileage ain't that great AND it uses premium fuel:
The 2008 Smart Fortwo is powered by a 1.0-liter three-cylinder engine that produces 71 hp and 68 pound-feet of torque. Surprisingly, it requires premium fuel. The maximum speed is 90 mph, with a 0-60-mph time of 14.1 seconds. A five-speed automanual transmission drives the Fortwo's rear wheels and is shifted without a clutch pedal via a simple console-mounted stick (and column-mounted paddles on Passion models), and there is a fully automatic mode as well. With its 8.7-gallon tank, the Fortwo will return 33 mpg city, 41 mpg highway.
hummm, that is actually pretty lousy mileage considering its size. Heck, they may have gotten better mileage with a larger motor that wasn't using a higher compression.
I may just wait on the Aptera as long as production starts within the next 2 years.
Tennessee has one of the lowest killowatt hour prices in the nation, and I will at some point be going at least hybrid if not completely electric. Gas will only continue to rise, it is never going down significantly again.
Agreed, the type of use you describe is where currently available electric technology fits well, That seems to be a major factor, range. We'll also need to make progress in making charging stations available which could double the effective commuting range of current vehicles if users had a way to recharge while they were at their jobs.
This is where the Chevy Volt comes in, it has a gasoline engine to use when your charge is out. It will then take over in charging the batteries while you are driving it, short trips you use no fuel, long trips you end up tapping into your tank to recharge the batteries.
I can't help but think if Al Gore was president things might have been different.
Um, Al Gore the Environmental Savior was Vice-President when the electric car was killed in 2000.
The Dynamic Environmentally Challenged Duo of Clinton and Gore also canceled funding for Integral Fast Reactors (a breeder reactor designed to prevent nuclear proliferation).
I hope you're in favor of building more nuclear plants, because that's what it's going to take to support these cars if they start to take off.
Why would we need to add a nuclear plants to support more hybrid cars, being they have both gasoline and electric motors?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
