Could a new Hybrid car be considered an "appliance" I bought my Toyota Highlander Hybrid last week-been driving it to work-and yes I do notice a reduction in gas usage.When you turn on the "ignition"--no engine sound-but if you engage the heat or AC-the AC compresser starts-acts as a heat pump.It runs from the Hybrid drive converter-you get instant heat.also the gentle whine of the drive motor when you first start driving the car is something-and the whine of the motor as you brake to a stop putting power back into the Hybrid drive battery pack.Its a fascinating expereince to drive it.Any other Applianceville member got a Hybrid car out there-What do you think of it?
Hybrid car
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scott55405
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Keep us posted as to how you like it! Those seem to be quite the thing in some circles out here. I even saw a woman who had to be in her 70s driving one the other day. Right now if you buy one here, they give you a sticker so you can ride in the carpool lane by yourself.
I think they're a really good thing and I hope continued demand will increase production and perhaps decrease the price a bit. The more people that can afford them, the more good they can do for all of us overall.
I think they're a really good thing and I hope continued demand will increase production and perhaps decrease the price a bit. The more people that can afford them, the more good they can do for all of us overall.
Toyota makes some of the ultimate Hybrids, and are the technology leader in them. They are what's frequently called a "full hybrid" because the motor is not directly coupled to the wheels. Honda Hybrids are considered "engine assist" hybrids because they have conventional transmissions.
One of my cousins bought a Prius hybrid, and contrary to Rush Limbaugh who's always knocking them, the little car is quite an amazing machine...not just because it gets 50 MPG's but because it is amazingly fast, handles great, and can carry 4 adults in complete comfort. That SUV ought to be even better with the addition of all wheel drive. I've heard that each wheel is driven by an individual motor on those, and it doesn't use differentals. The truck is supposed to be extremely good in off-road and other limited traction conditions.
I've heard the Prius comes with a special after-sale "plug-in" option too. Conventional Prius vehicles come with a 6 amp-hour, 270 volt battery. With the plug-in option, which i've heard is about $4000, it comes with 3 more battery packs to bring the power level up to 24ah at 270 volts (6.5KWH). It also comes with a 220 volt charger that will charge all the battery packs in 2 hours for an electric-only range of 50 miles, and a software revision to tell the computer not to power up the engine until the batteries get below a certain level. The problem is you must sacrifice some trunk space for the additional batteries, and the charger. The advantage is that you can make all your around town trips off of the dirt-cheap electrical grid power, instead of expensive gasoline! At my local rate of 7.5c per KWH, a full charge would be about 50 cents!
Here in Richmond, a few years back, the transit company bought a handful of diesel-electric hybrid busses, and they have had very good luck with them, and they have saved lots of gas too.
Still, as nice as hybrid technology is, I think it's only a stop-gap technology. Eventually, I think we will end up needing to develop a non-petrolium method of powering cars.
One of my cousins bought a Prius hybrid, and contrary to Rush Limbaugh who's always knocking them, the little car is quite an amazing machine...not just because it gets 50 MPG's but because it is amazingly fast, handles great, and can carry 4 adults in complete comfort. That SUV ought to be even better with the addition of all wheel drive. I've heard that each wheel is driven by an individual motor on those, and it doesn't use differentals. The truck is supposed to be extremely good in off-road and other limited traction conditions.
I've heard the Prius comes with a special after-sale "plug-in" option too. Conventional Prius vehicles come with a 6 amp-hour, 270 volt battery. With the plug-in option, which i've heard is about $4000, it comes with 3 more battery packs to bring the power level up to 24ah at 270 volts (6.5KWH). It also comes with a 220 volt charger that will charge all the battery packs in 2 hours for an electric-only range of 50 miles, and a software revision to tell the computer not to power up the engine until the batteries get below a certain level. The problem is you must sacrifice some trunk space for the additional batteries, and the charger. The advantage is that you can make all your around town trips off of the dirt-cheap electrical grid power, instead of expensive gasoline! At my local rate of 7.5c per KWH, a full charge would be about 50 cents!
Here in Richmond, a few years back, the transit company bought a handful of diesel-electric hybrid busses, and they have had very good luck with them, and they have saved lots of gas too.
Still, as nice as hybrid technology is, I think it's only a stop-gap technology. Eventually, I think we will end up needing to develop a non-petrolium method of powering cars.
I have had the car for about 2 weeks-and enjoy it-love to observe and listen to the various sounds it makes-Normally I am not into cars-but this one is fascinating.the battery pack in the Highlander is larger than that of the Prius.It is rated at 288V-don't know the Amp-hr cap.The electric motor in the standard front wheel drive highlander is rated at 123Kw-or about 165 HP.The Prius motor is half that.also there is a DC converter after the battery that steps up the voltage to 625VDC-than is fed to the motor controller.The 4 wheel drive Highlander is like mine except the addition of an extra 50Kw motor for the rear axle.Toyota comments-and emphasises in the owners manual-these Highlander cars are NOT INTENDED for off-road use.If you want to go "4-wheeling" and bounce around in the hills-you should get the conventional 4Wheel drive model.Maybe if the weather forcast holds out will see how my new car performs under slippery road conditions-I am on my mid shift now and freezing rain and snow is forcast for this morning when I get off work-hopefully my releif people will come in-if not I have to stay until they do.I also like the JBL sound system in the car-best factory car system I have ever hear-sounds as good as a home hi-fi.Also the car has a DVD player in the back seat-need to try it-When I am at Best Buy getting my movies-could try it in the parking lot.I can't try the DVD machine while driving.This has been the nicest car I have had.Didn't know about the "Add on battery" for the Prius-normally Toyota viods the warranty if the car is modified for use with an external charger.the dealer also explained that.Is the extra battery and charger a Toyota part?that is not available for the Highlander.The dealer also commented the car will get better milage as the gas motor "breaks in".also in the cold the gas engine runs more.-Can see why-normally batteries don't have as good of efficiency when cold.There are vents with blowers behind them under the rear seats to cool the batteries-they are under the rear seats.I am saving gas station receipts to check gas use.It does use less than the old gas Highlander I used to have.And the car is good for a $2000 tax deduction next income tax time.(2006)
These cars are very interesting, I would love to have one for working and around town. The gas savings would be tremendous for me. I've read several articles about them and we really need to give a boost to the hybrid/alternative fuel industry and support it. An order for 50,000 cars by the US government would give a huge boost to the nation's interest, technology R&D and help to lower the sticker price for average car buyers. While probably not the end of technology by any means, think of the savings we have the technology to utilize right now. That idea is still a few years off though, we're busy scouring the globe for Osama, and going to scrapbooking classes in Hummers, but we will hope for the best!
Gansky:Thats a great idea-the Govt should purchase these vehicles as "company cars" for gov't employees to use for govt business-I work for the gov't-the cars they have here are real gas hog clunkers-they are no fun to ride.The gas savings would help-they do use their cars a lot.We have a gas tank and pump at the site I work at-deisel as well.they have a tractor and a mower that run from deisel.-Not to mention feul oil boilers for heat(doesn't occur to them to use the transmitters we run as a source of heat?)and a 1.8Mw deisel Cat generator for backup power and load management.
I think hybrid technology is a great, practical way to conserve fuel. It makes no sense to waste all that energy in braking when it can be used to recharge an energy storage device - a battery pack.
Another technology that is already in production is the all-fuel engine. This can run on pure ethanol, a mix of ethanol and gasoline, or all gasoline. Apparently they are available in Brazil, where ethanol is relatively cheap, and are expected to be seen more an more here in the USA. Other work to reduce the cost of ethanol, making it produced from wood and grass fiber, is also in the works, thanks to advances in biotechnology.
One word, though. I don't think electric power is that cheap, at least not in my neck of the woods. Here in Northern California, residential users, especially those whith gas furnaces/water heaters, get penalied for every kWH over a basic minimum that we use. In this house, I don't think I've ever been able to keep usage under the basic minium (well, a fish pond pump that runs 24x7, an extra fridge in a second kitchen, and a chest freezer, sees to that), but I have been able to cut my consumption in half by upgrading appliances and shutting down phantom loads whereever possible. But with rates exceeding $.20/kWH for higher levels of usage, not sure if this is competitive with gasoline. Of course, there are no gas taxes involved in the electric rates - yet. And, I understand there is a special rate for those with all-electric vehicles, but not sure if it's higher or lower than the normal residential rate, and not sure that the enhanced Prius would qulaify anyway. I think the last all-electric vehicle, the GM EV1, has been cancelled and the leased cars have all been called back by GM to be crushed. A shame.
Another technology that is already in production is the all-fuel engine. This can run on pure ethanol, a mix of ethanol and gasoline, or all gasoline. Apparently they are available in Brazil, where ethanol is relatively cheap, and are expected to be seen more an more here in the USA. Other work to reduce the cost of ethanol, making it produced from wood and grass fiber, is also in the works, thanks to advances in biotechnology.
One word, though. I don't think electric power is that cheap, at least not in my neck of the woods. Here in Northern California, residential users, especially those whith gas furnaces/water heaters, get penalied for every kWH over a basic minimum that we use. In this house, I don't think I've ever been able to keep usage under the basic minium (well, a fish pond pump that runs 24x7, an extra fridge in a second kitchen, and a chest freezer, sees to that), but I have been able to cut my consumption in half by upgrading appliances and shutting down phantom loads whereever possible. But with rates exceeding $.20/kWH for higher levels of usage, not sure if this is competitive with gasoline. Of course, there are no gas taxes involved in the electric rates - yet. And, I understand there is a special rate for those with all-electric vehicles, but not sure if it's higher or lower than the normal residential rate, and not sure that the enhanced Prius would qulaify anyway. I think the last all-electric vehicle, the GM EV1, has been cancelled and the leased cars have all been called back by GM to be crushed. A shame.
So thats what happened to the electric cars from GM-they recalled and --crushed them?thats about GM's mananagmement mentality.no wonder that company is on the brink-the morons that run it!!their electric vehicle was a step-they should have tried to improve them.At this point will stick with Toyota.so far my new car is doing fine-and yes-love the sound of its electric motor acting as a generator during slow downs and breaking and feeding power back to the battery.The breaking of this car is much diffrent than a regular one.
