Giving Hybrids A Real Jolt

[skruse]

Carey, J. (11 April 2005 CE). Giving Hybrids A Real Jolt. Business Week, p. 70, 72.

Excerpts:

Is there a car that can cut US oil imports to a trickle, dramatically cut pollution and do it all with current technology? A Toyota Prius that gets 100 to 180 mpg in a typical commute. Andrew Frank of UC-Davis has converted a handful of such vehicles including Prii and a 325 hp Ford Explorer.

Since most drive less than 45 kilometers (30 mi) per day, such a car could go months without visiting a filling station. According to Frank, "But now all the pieces are here." Toyota has solved the big engineering problems with the Prius, so "it's a trivial matter to make a plug-in," says former DOE official Joseph Romm.

Greg Hanssen and colleagues at EnergyCS replaced the Prius' existing 1.3 kWh NimH battery pack with an advanced 9 kWh lithium ion battery pack. They hope to offer a conversion kit to Prius owners. The mass penalty? About 77 kg (170 lb).

In a project sponsored by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), several utilities, government agencies and DaimlerChrysler, the carmaker is building a fleet of up to 40 plug-in hybrid electric (PHEV) delivery vans. EPRI research predicts the PHEV vehicles will get a fuel economy boost of at leat 50%.

EPRI Program Manager Robert Graham is convinced Toyota already has prototype PHEVs running. Toyota says no. Frank of UC-Davis asks, "If it is such a damn good idea, why are the car companies not adopting plug-ins?" The simple answer is that they don't want to change what they are making."

Cost will drop with high volume production. The City of Austin TX passed a resolution on 3 March calling for rebates for PHEV purchases and asking local governments and businesses to purchase PHEVs.

The Set America Free Coalition is pushing for US$2 billion in incentives, pointing out that "if all cars on the road are hybrids and one-half are PHEVs, US oil imports would drop by 1.271 billion Liters (336 million gallons or 8 million barrels) per day. We will be "gassing up" with electrons. Predicts Romm: "I would bet the mortgage on it." but not quite the whole house.

[hdrygas]

I would buy a plug in Hybrid in a hart beat. What is not to love. Electric car around town. ICE at speed and for distance. This is really a major no-brainer. I don't understand the logic behind not getting behind this. I will admit in some parts of the US the electric plug in component is not environmentally friendly but it could be.

[kidtwist]

I would buy a plug in Hybrid in a hart beat. What is not to love. Electric car around town.

I would have no way to plug in, since I don't have a garage. But a battery pack with greater capacity would certainly mean better mileage. It will be very interesting to see what the next generation Prius is capable of.

[TonyPSchaefer]

This has been tossed around and hasn't it been decided that plugging a Prius into the utility grid basically displaces the consumption of fossil fuels? Before anyone throws out geodymanic, hydro, solar, wind, allow me to remind you that the bulk of utilities in the United States still burn coal to generate electricity. I want to say that the last pie chart I saw had it around 65% if not higher.

So while, yes, plugging in would in fact save gasoline, it would add to the utility grid which would, in turn, increase the amount of coal being burned.

I'm not completely poo-pooing the whole idea here. In places where "green" utilities operate, it's a great thing.

[DanMan32]

That is true, you are simply shifting the location of fossil burning, but honestly, which is more efficient, burning it in a few big 'power factories' or in thousands of little kinetic plants? I am not trying to be smart, I am curious, as I could see this go either way.

I currently pay $0.07, so right now which would be economical financially, gasoline power, or electric power? It was said that gasoline can deliver 36KWh of power, but how many miles per KWh for gas, and how many for electric?

[naterprius]

I pay $.05 per KWh for Hydroelectric and $.075 per KWh for Wind Power. My Prius would be very clean as a plug-in.

Nate

[DonDNH]

That is true, you are simply shifting the location of fossil burning, but honestly, which is more efficient, burning it in a few big 'power factories' or in thousands of little kinetic plants? I am not trying to be smart, I am curious, as I could see this go either way.

When I built my home in 1980 the government was pushing the concept that centralized power generation was more efficient and cleaner than home heating systems. I bought into the idea and my house is all electric. Big mistake. My house is cleaner but I pay a serious bill during winter months and high bill the rest of the year.

New Hampshire now has an electric rate among the highest in the country at 13.104 cents per Kilowatt hour. Retro fitting the house to gas or oil isn't a viable option for me as there is no place for ducting or piping. Installing a furnace would necessitate major structural and design renovations.

[Ken S]

Don,

I know this is completely off topic, but...

I own a home in Edgartown, MA. It also has electric baseboard heat (ugh). We had one of these installed several years ago. One unit keeps the entire 1500 sq/ft house warm.

We also use a Monitor system for heating our water (heats on demand rather than keeping a tank).

You can get them in kerosene, natural gas and propane models.

http://www.monitorheaters.com/monitor_stoves.htm

[jtmhog]

I use a kerosene heater to supplement my home heat pump and the price of kerosene has doubled in the last five years in Wash. DC area. Natural gas and propane prices are rapidly going up. The biggest advantage of using electric vs. gas vehicles is our wealth will not be going to the Arab countries, Russia, Canada, etc. We have plenty of coal and it can be burned clean if the consumer demands it and are willing to pay for it. Any new power plants should be nuclear anyway. The fact is no one in this country has died from nuclear power! Human error can be eliminated and the waste disposal problem can be dealt with--other countries have.

[Ken S]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jtmhog\";p=\"80819)</div>

I use a kerosene heater to supplement my home heat pump and the price of kerosene has doubled in the last five years in Wash. DC area.  Natural gas and propane prices are rapidly going up.  The biggest advantage of using electric vs. gas vehicles is our wealth will not be going to the Arab countries, Russia, Canada, etc.  We have plenty of coal and it can be burned clean if the consumer demands it and are willing to pay for it.  Any new power plants should be nuclear anyway.  The fact is no one in this country has died from nuclear power!  Human error can be eliminated and the waste disposal problem can be dealt with--other countries have.[/b]

Couple points...and I'm not anti-nuclear power...but sometimes you see rhetoric that goes a bit over the top. If this doesn't belong in this section...I fully understand...move it, delete it...put it in a fusion reactor if necessary

1. "The fact is no one in this country has died from nuclear power!" Two things here...first plenty have died in other countries and many nearly died here near TMI. In addition...there have been significant unsafe radiation ventings throughout the program in the US....can you be sure no one died prematurely because of those?

2. "Human error can be eliminated." As long as humans are designing the process than there is always the chance for human error.

3. While human errors can be minimized human greed can't...there will always be someone trying to make an extra buck by cutting corners or lying...and the risk to others never seems to have much effect on this kind of scum.

4. "waste disposal problem can be dealt with--other countries have." Are you volunteering your backyard? By the way other countries are dealing with waste disposal, but you only cite this country when talking about deaths.