Hybrid Technology vs. Full Electric Cars

The looming energy crisis is not far off, adding impetus to the search for viable alternative fuels and transportation methods. Both hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles have been around for some years now. GM introduced full electric vehicles quite some time ago and hybrids have been introduced by every automaker from Honda to Ford. However, the technologies used in these two applications are widely different. Which one will stand the test of time? Which technology will rise to save the daily driver from fuel prices that seem set to put consumers on the track for bankruptcy?

Full electric vehicles are the dream of many automakers. Rather, electric vehicles with unlimited range are the dream of automakers. Today’s electric cars are sadly lacking when it comes to range of driving. For instance, they are fine for puttering around town for a few minutes each day, but don’t try taking a longer trip in one. The charge time for the batteries is usually overnight, meaning that if you become stranded, you’re stuck that way. This is the major contributing factor (other than sheer cost) to the unpopularity of fully electric vehicles.

Hybrids, on the other hand, combine electric technology with an internal combustion engine, giving them the range that their fully electric cousins lack. However, these vehicles are only capable of saving around 20% on your average fuel bill. In addition, they still produce emissions, though they are less than an equivalently sized vehicle without hybrid technology. In a hybrid, an electric motor and an internal combustion engine work in tandem. The electric motor powers the vehicle at low speeds, while the ICE takes over at higher speeds, such as highway driving.

In addition, the ICE shuts off when the vehicle comes to a stop. When it is time to continue moving, the electric motor starts the engine back up, and off you go. Of course, this is not without a noticeable performance difference, but dedicated hybrid owners swear they don’t mind. The electric motor is powered by batteries, but the car does not have to be plugged in overnight. The batteries are recharged through regenerative braking and the use of a generator, powered by the internal combustion engine.

As of today, the hybrid reigns supreme over the electric car. Will it stay that way? The new line of advanced hybrids coming out in the near future is closer to full electrics, so the hybrid’s days may be numbered.

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Today I am a bit off of the direct automotive topics but this does indirectly affect the automotive world because 99% of the cars, trucks, and SUV’s on the road today in America use some type of Gas fuel that comes from oil. I won’t bore you with restating the fact that some people propose that they lift the ban on offshore drilling (for oil)… you can read about that on cnn.com. The big question I have for you is do you really think they should lift this ban and will it really “help” us? Some say that this will not even affect the gas prices until 5 years later if the ban was eliminated NOW. That means they start drilling today and then maybe 5 years from today you may see the price of gas come down from $10 a gallon… yea, I am thinking in 5 years the price will be around $10 to $15 a gallon at the rate we are going now. If you don’t think this is an answer then let us know what should be done. If you think this is an answer then let us know why.

I can tell you my opinion but then again I don’t want to cause an argument over the internet… but since someone will eventually say it in the comments then why not. Here goes… I think the offshore drilling deal is not the answer. I think it is very risky in further harming our environment. I think we need to start NOW with rolling out more new alternatives so we have time to adapt. It will take America a long time to adapt to new technologies and alternatives not to mention lots of money on the part of investors, the government and consumers. We have taken too many small steps in the past. Just like hybrid cars, yes, they may be great and all but it is only a small step. We need bigger steps and more of our CURRENT technology to be utilized so that we may have some relief at the gas pump SOON. Not to mention, we need to clean up our act, in America we consume way too much and leave a very big dirty footprint on our environment.Let’s just face our reality right now head-on. It will be several years before we have any permanent relief at the gas pump. We need more car companies, government officials and consumers to consider moving to alternatives such as the new Honda FCX Clarity that is on its way to America to be sold eventually as a main-stream car. There are several other viable alternatives available as well. That in its self is a much bigger step than a Toyota Prius. Look at the facts, a Toyota Prius still uses gasoline, yet a smaller amount that any other gas burning car that you can buy at a dealership, but you are still paying $4 or more a gallon to fill its tank. Im not knocking the Toyota by any means, if I was able to purchase one right now and sell my SUV for a good price I would.

What about being GREEN? A lot of people want to become “green” all-off-a-sudden because they are paying almost $100 to fill their big SUV every week or so? Have we dug a bigger hole than we thought? Can we fill this hole in enough time so that we are able to keep our house and current lifestyle? What should America do? What have you done to cope? Let us know, we want to hear from you!

Feel free to post your comments below.

This post is open for discussion and the site editors will pop in their opinion at times.

Tesla’s first store (dealership) will be opening this week and selling the new electric powered sports car for around $109,000. The first Tesla store is located in Los Angeles, California near the University of California which is basically at the intersecting point of Beverly Hills, Hollywood and Brentwood. Being in a prominent location, the Tesla store is in a good position to spark decent sales figures from those who can actually “afford” the new roadster. With a price tag of just over $100K you can own pretty much the cleanest vehicle on the road.

I know what you are thinking, who wants to spend that kind of cash for an electric car, why not suck it up and pay $4.00 a gallon. You may also be thinking that this “sports car” is a “slow car”. Not so and not so. The Tesla electric sports car will do 0-60 in just under 4 seconds and tops 125 mph. Yes, that can beat your car, at least until you hit 125mph… but who wants to go faster than that on USA roads? Okay, maybe you do want to go faster BUT, it’s one of the first electric cars available at an actual dealership and you will be doing more than your part in saving our mother earth.

The Tesla sports car has a 6,831-cell lithium-ion battery park which is the heart of powering this vehicle’s electric motors. You can take a trip of about 225 miles on one single charge. It takes about 3 and a half hours to perform a full re-charge. So pretty much the bottom line is you can drive this baby to work and back home and maybe to the grocery store all in one day and charge it when you get home. Of course long trips may involve some preemptive planning on your part. The Tesla roadster weighs in at 2700 pounds which is pretty light-weight when compared to other hogs on the road that cost about $80 to fill up with gas.

The durability has yet to be proven. People have safety concerns because of the type of battery that is used. We all can recollect laptops catching fire from faulty batteries and now the same type of technology is used in a car. Now we all know that gasoline is very volatile and can be very dangerous. We have to ask the wise people if a laptop with gasoline would be safer than one using a standard lithium-ion battery. Well then, same thing with a car right?

Tesla has sold all of the 2008 models, about 600 of them, and they will all be delivered to their owners by March of next year. The 2009 model production is expected to increase to about 1500 cars which should be spoken for once they start taking orders. In the near future Tesla plans to expand and produce cheaper family vehicles. Will this be the beginning to a revolution, or a big fight between makers of electric cars and the big oil companies (government).

Tesla Motors Website: http://www.teslamotors.com/

The Volt can run up to 40 miles on its initial charge, and re-charges itself when in motion. The vehicle, initially introduced at the 2007 Detroit Auto Show, uses GM’s “E-Flex” architecture, running on electricity and an alternative power source. 

Gm’s goal to have the new Chevy Volt on the road by 2010… We shall see!

Tesla Motors announced several months ago that they would eschew the traditional franchise dealer approach of most car companies in favor of company owned retail and service outlets. The plan was to launch with five stores located in New York, Chicago, South Florida, Los Angeles and the Bay area.

They’ve just announced the details on the Bay Area store which will be in Menlo Park just up the road from the Stanford University campus. The property they are leasing is actually owned by the university and was formerly home to a Chevrolet dealer that closed last year. The first production Roadsters are due off the line in early October and the store is targeted to open by the end of the year as long as construction goes smoothly.

[Source: Tesla Motors]

 

Story Highlights

Ford Motor Company Chief Executive Alan Mulally says he expects the company to sell plug-in hybrids in five to 10 years.

“Within five to 10 years we will start to see this technology in our hands,” Mulally said on the sidelines of a press event to announce an alliance between Ford and utility Southern California Edison to test 20 rechargeable electric vehicles.

When asked if that meant plug-in hybrids would be available on showroom floors, Mulally said, “Yes. Sure.”

Mulally said the rollout of Ford plug-in hybrids is dependent on advancements to lithium ion batteries that will be charged by the car’s owners using regular household electrical outlets.

He declined to give a more precise production target, saying: “I can’t go further than that. We will know a lot more in the next few years.”

Read the full article on cnn.com HERE!

Offers millions to advance plug-in hybrid vehicles and other technologies that link nation’s transport system to the electric grid.

By Steve Hargreaves, CNNMoney.com staff writer

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Google said Tuesday it is getting in on the development of electric vehicles, awarding $1 million in grants and inviting applicants to bid for another $10 million in funding to develop plug-in hybrid electric vehicles capable of getting 70 to 100 miles per gallon.

The project, called the RechargeIT initiative and run from Google’s philanthropic arm, Google.org, aims to further the development of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles – cars or trucks that have both a gasoline engine and advanced batteries that recharge by plugging into the nation’s electric grid. 

“Since most Americans drive less than 35 miles per day, you easily could drive mostly on electricity with the gas tank as a safety net,” Dan Reicher, director of Climate and Energy Initiatives for Google.org, wrote on the organization’s Web site. “In preliminary results from our test fleet, on average the plug-in hybrid gas mileage was 30-plus mpg higher than that of the regular hybrids.”

The project also aims to develop vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology, allowing cars to sell their stored power back to the nation’s electricity grid during times of peak demand.

13 great fuel-efficient cars

“Linking the U.S. transportation system to the electricity grid maximizes the efficiency of our energy system,” said Reicher. “Our goal is to demonstrate the plug-in hybrid and V2G technology, get people excited about having their own plug-in hybrid, and encourage car companies to start building them soon.”

General Motors (Charts, Fortune 500) has promised to sell a plug-in hybrid version of its redesigned Saturn Vue SUV but has not set a specific date for production. The company has contracted with two battery suppliers to work on an improved battery technology for the vehicle. The company is also working toward a production version of its Chevrolet Volt, a plug-in hybrid concept car shown at the 2007 Detroit Auto Show. That vehicle would be driven entirely by electricity with an on-board engine used only as a back-up generator.

Ford Motor Co. (Charts, Fortune 500) also has a drivable plug-in hybrid demonstration vehicle based on the Ford Edge SUV. Similar to GM’s Chevrolet Volt in its basic engineering, that vehicle uses a hydrogen fuel cell as a back-up generator but could use a gasoline engine or some other type of motor to charge the batteries.

Because they have to store up and release large amounts of electricity, plug-in hybrids require more advanced batteries than hybrid vehicles currently on the market. The batteries in non-plug-in hybrid vehicles continuously store and release small amounts of electricity, a work cycle that puts little strain on the batteries.

Google takes on Detroit

While many people don’t associate Google with energy, analysts say the fit isn’t all that unnatural.

Renewable energy, unlike coal or nuclear, will likely come from thousands or tens of thousands of different locations. Analysts have long said that one of the big challenges will be managing that flow into and out of the nation’s electric grid, and that companies that manage the flow of information are well placed to handle that task.

The $1 million in Google grants went to Brookings Institution to run a conference on plug-ins, CalCars and Plug-In America to educate the public about plug-ins, and the Electrical Power Research Institute, the Rocky Mountain Institute and Dr. Willett Kempton from the University of Delaware for plug-in R&D.

Google (Charts, Fortune 500) also said it has turned on its massive solar panel installation at the company’s Mountain View, Calif. headquarters.

At 1.6 megawatts, Google said it’s the biggest solar project on a corporate campus in the United States, and one of the largest in the world.