LKJ Setright: Hybrids are not up to the job

Does this even need an explicit reply? Time is answering it.

 

So sad when automotive journalists have absolutely no clue about the topic at hand.
Prius did just what he suggested: do away with the auto or clutch tyep tranny.
HSD as a propulsive system - ICE, elmot, planetary gears, batteries - weighs about as much as a conventioanl engine with auto tranny, but operates at a much higher mean thermodynamic efficiency.
Point, set and match.

 

Hmm

"the prime purpose of powered transport is to provide mobility at the highest feasible speed."


"One who ... understands that decent average speeds are partly the product of late and heavy braking"

Um, Otay

 

Uhm... Hello? HSD, or even the CVTs? Is this article copied from 10 years ago or something?

 

Who is this guy??? He seems very capable of putting out his own opinion without a single bit of fact or investigation. The fact that a news organization is willing to pay for this trash is testament to the idea that the pages have to be filled with something.

Hopefully his next employer will provide him with the proper pitchfork to shovel the horse**** he likes to spread.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MGBGT\";p=\"102294)</div>

Actually, he does know something! The article described Honda's IMA system.

 

Wow!

This commentary made me wonder when the heck it was actually written... either that of this person was in an extreme state of denial.

I actually found it somewhat interesting. Rather than being vague like most articles, it simply didn't mention anything about any actual hybrid at all. There was just a concept type attitude, taking an it-is-just-an-idea-still stance.

Reading the article carefully, the strangely colorful wording doesn't apply to Prius. The "conventional" and "old-fashioned" gearbox references make that overwhelmingly clear, since Prius doesn't have one. The "accumulator" obviously is not a shortcoming of Prius, since it doesn't rely heavily on braking for electricity as accused.

Whatever the case, the typical person is that dumb. They will ask, "What about Prius?" After all, it's hard to get owners like me to stop pointing out the fact that my MPG is in the mid-50's now... especially with oil & gas prices currently at an all-time high.

 

So is the Independent affiliated with the "funnies" aka The Sun. I think this goof spent too much time looking at page 3 instead of researching Hybrids.

 

The Independent is Britain's most progressive and environmentally conscious newspaper. News on climate change frequently gets top billing, and unlike its better known liberal rival The Guardian, it was explicitly against the Iraq war. The Guardian supported the Blair line on the war, pushing for a second UN resolution. The only other British newspaper that was anti-war was the tabloid Mirror, whose editor was later stitched up with some faked photos of Abu-Ghraib style abuse.

It's obvious that the author has never driven a hybrid. File this with articles about marriage from singles and parenting from the childless. This sounds more like an opinion piece than an expression of general editorial policy. The Independent is a good newspaper and I urge people to read it.

As for the British media, the BBC motoring show "Top Gear" also had a good go at the Prius, but that show is now all about little boys and their penis extensions, not real world motoring or god forbid, acting responsibly in the face of rising oil prices and climate change. Conversely, the Channel 4 show "4car" liked the car.

 

Oddly enough, LJK Setright is considered to be a very good automotive journalist. He's written for Automobile and Car magazine.

As I recall though, most of those articles were about driving and motorsports. He's demonstrated that's he's pitifully equipped to write about topics requiring an understanding of basic science and engineering.

 

Nice prose, even if it is bunk.

His base argument seems to be that improved FE occurs because of regenerative breaking, which can only occur at the expense of more time on the road. Speeding to a red light and lurching to a stop will not get you to your destination quicker, so the entire argument is just plain silly.

Then there is the small detail of regen braking in fact only being one part -- and a minor part at that -- of the improved FE of hybrids. Hybrids have about the same FE during acceleration as simpe ICE cars, but vastly improved economy during all other phases of the driving cycle, independent of chosen speed. That is the strength of hybrids, that the author has not grasped yet.

Lastly, some drivers prefer cars that purr rather than fart. It's an aesthetic thing.

 

Man, they let any yahoo publish crap. He has obviously not driven a Prius. My wife stays up with traffic and gets about 48 mpg (lots of errand/short trips). I did get the Prius to save money. By my calculations I have saved about $1200 so far in gas and oil changes. Trading in the Honda Civic and F250 for 2 Prius I more than broke even on the first day so everything else is gravy.

At this point I could care less anymore. I ran into a teenager who said I wasted my money on the Prius - no power, does not get advertised fuel economy, would crumpling in a car wreck. I just laughed and told her she was very wrong on all counts and that I will be laughing to the bank while she worked he butt off at her summer job to pay for insurance and gas for her SUV. I think I gave her some doubts. It is funny how most people I meet try really hard to come up with reasons not to get a hybrid.

 

I remember reading many of his articles in Car magazine years ago. It's not just the Prius he is having a go at, it's ALL current cars (and transmissions!). It would be nice to have a Perfect car with no transmission,no fuel consumption,perfect handling etc, but until then the Prius does a very good job (better thas a souped up Sirocco (L.JK had one many years ago!)).He obviously hasn't driven a Prius, and experienced how quickly it gets away from the lights. THe Prius is the ultimate car for commuting, and is also quite good on the open road (we all don't drive like Michael Schumacker).How fast does he want to go! (we have a maximum speed limit of 120kph in Ireland (and I have to watch my Prius in case it exceeds it!). One thing L.J.K can't be accused of is sitting on the fence. He does tend to get people talking about a subject.

 

It is one thing to facilitate discussion and another to publish an article without seemingly doing any research. I will be the first one to say the Prius is not perfect but guys like this make it harder for hybrids to be accepted (which will lead to more research being done to improve them).

Max speed here is 75 mph (about 120 kph) but there has been talk of raising it to 85 in certain areas (long straight, desolate stretches of highway). I do not think the Prius would have any problems with that although the fuel economy would probably be about 30 mpg.

 

Plus the author writes that he wishes the piston engine would be relegated just to recharge the battery and never drive the car itself at all. This is a series hybrid he is describing and the Prius is a combination series/parallel hybrid. It does, of course, often use pure electric power for driving, using the engine only to recharge or just off completely.

Honda's hybrids, on the other hand, are pure parallel hybrids; the engine is always driving the car. I think this guy took a Civic Hybrid for a test drive and felt he could generalize about all other hybrids just from that.

 

too bad he did not have an email address like most other internet journalist to write him.