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Featured Hybrids to combat pollution and global warming

Discussion in 'Prius, Hybrid, EV and Alt-Fuel News' started by MikeDee, Dec 12, 2019.

  1. MikeDee

    MikeDee Senior Member

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    I was reading the latest Consumer Reports and they said "Eliminating unnecessary engine idling of personal vehicles vehicles would reduce as many emissions and save as much fuel as taking 5 million vehicles off US roads." That's huge. How come the Government doesn't offer tax breaks for and incentivize hybrids?
     
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  2. Bob Comer

    Bob Comer Active Member

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    Oil lobby
     
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  3. schja01

    schja01 One of very few in Chicagoland

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    The administration that wants to repeal the light bulb and water restrictions?
     
  4. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    The government did have incentives for hybrids, and start/stop systems get a boost to CAFE figures greater than their impact on the EPA test.

    Taxing oil would do more to get people into more efficient cars than picking an individual technology.
     
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  5. vvillovv

    vvillovv Senior Member

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    oil, gas, lack of sustainable grid during heavy use times.
    status quo is the easy way to regulate, until the population starts dwindling from lack of appropriate measures. All of us World Wide. Perhaps even the illegal aliens amongst us.
     
  6. smyles

    smyles Active Member

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    I bet the same Government is #1 in unnecessary idling stats.

    I also question the very science behind the "5 M vehicles" claim. Seems very much like "90 (or whatever) % of scientists" that agree on global warming.
     
  7. vvillovv

    vvillovv Senior Member

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    @smyles It all depends are how the numbers are being run. How many start / stop vehicles are they talking about? The ones currently on the road. currently built, some imaginary number? It could be any number of calculations used to reach that estimate. Computers and AI are nice at making predictions, keeping track of which ones are accurate is not so nice when it hurts the bottom line,
     
  8. MTN

    MTN Active Member

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    Lowest common denominator.
    The average consumer is an idiot. Doesn't care about the actual personal economics of owning a vehicle, let alone fuel costs, the environment, etc.
    Case in point:
    Growing demand for SUVs was the second largest contributor to the increase in global CO2 emissions from 2010 to 2018, an analysis has found.
    Growing preference for SUVs challenges emissions reductions in passenger car market – Analysis - IEA

    All of the environmental "gains" that have been achieved by EVs/PHEV/Hybrids - they've been offset by the SUV craze. Bigger, costlier, thirstier vehicles.
     
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  9. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    That's not what that study said, and if it is....it's a VERY FLAWED study.
     
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  10. m8547

    m8547 Senior Member

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    This one is easy to fix with a tiny bit of technology that already exists. Most days I could charge my car any time between 5pm-7am and have it ready to go the next morning. If the utility company wanted to, I'd let them pick a time. As it is, I set a charge timer to finish by 7am.

    They already have a "Saver's Switch" device that can temporarily turn off a central AC compressor during peak times. The same hardware could work for a hardwired EVSE. For a plug-in EVSE, the device could be as simple as a $20 Wemo plug that they control. For the rare days when I want to charge in the evening, I could choose to override the device and miss out on a portion of the incentive for that month.

    My electric water heater and dehumidifier are other big power users (each uses about as much as the car) where it doesn't matter precisely when they run, as long as they run for a sufficient amount of time reasonably close to when they are needed.

    I pay for "100% wind" power, but obviously it all comes from the same place. If I use more power during peak times or when the wind isn't blowing, it's going to cause more unsustainable generation. In theory that gets made up later, but since the amount of wind production is inherently limited, that just means slightly less used by everyone else. I still think it's worthwhile, because it incentivizes more wind turbines being built, and because it shows that I'm willing to pay a small premium ($0.01/kwh or about 9%) to support clean energy.

    Anyway, if they could control some of my power usage in a way that doesn't significantly impact me, I could help more effectively use the renewable capacity that exists.
     
  11. smyles

    smyles Active Member

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    Not sure they're more idiots - if at all,- as the folks that rely on such 'studies'.
     
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  12. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    The government has fleet CAFE / MPG requirements. Even P43 pushed the targets upward several notches. Stop/start and other hybrid features all help manufacturers meet the requirements, so are already rewarded.

    Well, unless this Administration's efforts to roll back those CAFE requirements succeed.
     
  13. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    Not all hybrids are as good as Prius for stopping the engine idling. Our Pathfinder Hybrid can't stop the engine if I have A/C or heat on. On the other hand, our Honda hybrid was good at stopping the engine, but it also shut off the HVAC when the car is stopping at an intersection.
     
  14. vvillovv

    vvillovv Senior Member

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    I've been using weather underground for a few years, A lot of their content was and is presented with at least a soft warning bell.
    Global CO2 Emissions Hit an All-Time High in 2018; is a Hothouse Earth in our Future? | Weather Underground
    Losing Marine Stratocumulus Clouds Could Create a Mega-Hothouse Climate | Weather Underground
    I waited a while to post these in the hope it would get into a relevant space here.
     
  15. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    Hybrids are not favored in America, that simple.
    In part Toyota has lead so why would we give advantage Japan technology?
    Japan likes hybrids more than we do, and is better position to solve their problems with it.
    We like to villify fossil fuels and Prii are guilty as charged 100% gaso fuel.
    So our focus is plug-ins/BEV for politcal favor here.

    PS- You could talk to hybrid lobby...oh wait, that's just me, and I am busy
     
    #15 wjtracy, Dec 13, 2019
    Last edited: Dec 13, 2019
  16. MikeDee

    MikeDee Senior Member

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    How does that help a consumer that has to make a choice of a gasser or an equivalent hybrid where the gasser is priced thousands less?
     
  17. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    nothing will help them
     
  18. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    What is the price difference on the current Subaru Forester?
     
  19. CharlesH

    CharlesH CA HOV Decal #5 on former PiP

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    Not all hybrids have an electric A/C compressor like the Prius (since generation 2 in I believe 2004). For conventional cars that just add engine stop, that will also stop the A/C, which uses a compressor powered by the gasoline engine with a belt. In the Prius, nothing other than moving the car is done by the gasoline engine; the A/C, coolant pump, power steering, and power brakes are all electric.Those "light" hybrids don't necessarily do that.
     
    #19 CharlesH, Dec 13, 2019
    Last edited: Dec 13, 2019
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  20. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    With car companies that sell a lot of less efficient vehicles, it could mean great sales to move their hybrids for CAFE.