Featured Threads Archive
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Why two-motor hybrid systems are better than those with just one
Source: Why two-motor hybrid systems are better than those with just one
Six years ago, we wrote that a number of single-motor hybrid systems were about to enter the market.
They represented a new approach to a technology pioneered in 1997, when the first-generation Toyota Prius was launched in Japan.
Through 2010, all the full-hybrid vehicles introduced by Ford and General Motors used systems designed around a pair of motor-generators
. . .
So this was my comment:
In 2005, there was a single motor, Honda IMA, and the two motor, Prius. I chose the system with the higher ratio of electric-to-engine power and never looked back. But technology moved on.
The Prius Prime has two electric motors that with the one-way clutch can work as a single motor. There are no 'shift points' so the transmission remains mechanically simple... -
Ammonia for NOx reduction
Source: Real World NOx reduction by City-SCR
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Diesel vehicles need SCR catalysts to reduce NOx and SCR catalysts need ammonia to work. ASDS™ unlocks the full potential of the SCR by dosing gaseous as opposed to liquid containing ammonia into the exhaust stream. This allows for a NOx reduction of up to 99% in all climates and real driving conditions including slow city traffic.
ASDS™ achieves 3-5 times better NOx reduction in city driving with no CO2 increase (cold engines) and 20% better NOx reduction on motorways (hot engines)
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That is an anhydrous ammonia tank being exchanged. Compare that to the 5-10,000 psi hydrogen fool-cell tanks, this is the way to go. Feed the ammonia to a catalyst to break it down into nitrogen... -
VW Golf GTE plug-in hybrid
Not available in the USA, this would give the Prius Prime a run for the money:
Understand that sometimes EU specs don't translate well when meeting EPA standards. However, I've admired the Golfs running around the streets in Huntsville. It really is a practical, sized car.
Bob Wilson -
Car and Driver tests all three Prius Prime trims
2017 Toyota Prius Prime Plug-In Hybrid Test | Review | Car and Driver
It seems as though they still prefer the Chevy Volt over the Prius Prime. But I still believe the Prime is a great car to get people who may otherwise not have looked at a plug-in car at all to try them out and test out what it's like to drive in electric mode.
That said, it would've been nice if Toyota gave the Prime a little bit more oomph when speeding. 0-60 mph in 10 seconds, or about 12 when running in pure EV mode, is going to cause a lot of anxiety for people merging on a busy freeway, especially if they have to go uphill to merge. -
Toyota diesel+hybrid not happening
Source: Toyota Rules Out Using Diesel Hybrids | TheDetroitBureau.com
A Toyota Motor executive this week ruled out the possibility of rolling out hybrid models powered by diesel engines in the near future.
“Diesel engine is much more expensive than gasoline. The hybrid system which requires sophisticated technology is also costly,” Shizuo Abe, executive general manger at Toyota, told reporters at a forum in Seoul, according to The Korea Herald.
“When combining the two systems together, the price has to go up. Therefore, it will take some time before finding the right solution to cut costs to meet customer demand,” he said.
For more than two decades, Toyota has invested in hybrid vehicles that merge the use of internal combustion engines and electric motors. Toyota now offers 40 models with hybrid powertrains and the new 2018 Toyota Camry, one of the company’s most important... -
EVs have fewer repairs?
A common talking point I've seen in favor of electric vehicles is they are inherently more reliable and will have fewer repairs than gasoline-powered cars since they lack many of the parts required in gas-powered cars, such as a traditional transmission, muffler, catalytic converter, etc.
But thus far, True Delta data suggests some electric vehicles are significantly worse in reliability than most gasoline-powered cars, notably the Tesla Model S, Tesla Model X, and BMW i3. There have also been reports of car insurance companies raising rates on Tesla owners due to unreasonably expensive repairs. Insuring A Tesla Just Got More Expensive – Insider Car News
Meanwhile, the Nissan Leaf has great reliability according to True Delta, but also has a history of rapid battery wear which leaves the car only useful on very short trips.
The Chevy Bolt is not yet on True Delta, so we don't know about... -
Fastest Growing Segment
First off, I hate the term 'Green Cars' because they are actually 'Efficient Cars'. But many traditional car reviewers bought the 'green car is a style' hook-line-and-sinker. Regardless, here is the link:
Source: AD #2134 – New Camry Interior Sizzles, Activist Investors Should Back Off, Green Cars the Fastest Growing Segment – Autoline Daily
GREEN CARS THE FASTEST GROWING SEGMENT
Looks like sales of green cars have hit a tipping point in the U.S. market. For each of the last four years, the green car segment has been shrinking, dropping by a total of 95,000 units. This includes hybrids, plug-ins and electric cars. While sales of EVs and plug-ins were growing strongly, sales of hybrids were falling, which brought the entire segment down. But so far this year the trend is in the other direction. Sales of green cars are up a strong 22%, thanks to growing sales of hybrids, which are up 12% for the... -
Chevy Bolt EV earns top safety rating from IIHS
We've been waiting for the Bolt crash test results for a while now...
Chevy Bolt EV earns top safety rating from IIHS -
hybrid BMW 5 Series at Austrian contract plant
Source: Magna to build new hybrid BMW 5-Series at Austrian contract manufacturing plant - Canadian Manufacturing
SAILAUF, Germany—German luxury carmaker BMW has contracted Canadian auto parts company Magna International Inc. to build its new 5-Series plug-in hybrid.
The Aurora, Ont.-based company will assemble the new BMW 530e at its plant in Graz, Austria—a contract manufacturing facility where it’s previously built a number of vehicles, including the BMW X3 and Mini Paceman.
The 5-Series will become the Graz plant’s second electrified car program after Magna won a contract to produce Jaguar’s new I-Pace at the site last year.
Interesting approach, contracting out the manufacturing. Almost sounds like Apple but in this case:
- German engineering
- Canadian administration
- Austrian manufacture...
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2018 Camry and 2018 Accord coming soon
Source: Toyota Leaves Nothing to Chance with New Camry Launch | TheDetroitBureau.com
“We’re almost doubling the size of the outgoing model’s marketing effort,” said Jack Hollis, who was promoted to group vice president and general manager of the Toyota Division is early March.
His ascension to the top spot came as Toyota was preparing for the launch of the eighth generation Camry, which is played a dominant role in the mid-sized passenger car segment for three decades.
In fact, it’s hard to overestimate the Camry’s importance to Toyota. It’s very much the heart of the Toyota line-up and it has been the best-selling passenger car in the United States for the past 15 years. It also has been the best-selling passenger car for 19 of the past 20 years, losing out barely to the Honda Accord for only one year in the past two decades.
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Source:... -
Safest SUV Ever Tested by NHTSA
This result just in. For 2017 the top SUV safety honors go to .... (drum roll . . . ) AND, it's a plug-in. Sorry Volvo - suck it up - it's not you [emoji33]
Tesla Model X is the Safest SUV Ever Tested by NHTSA » AutoGuide.com News
It looks like the days of Ford Explorers rolling over during blow-outs may become a bygone era. GOOD !
NHTSA seemed to take their sweet time in getting these results out - but there you have it. Undoubtedly Consumer Reports will have to find something (bad) to say about this.
Go plugins !!
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Electric Garbage Truck To Enter Service in California
“Leading the way for cleaner fleets in California, the City of Sacramento will soon be home to the State’s first all-electric automated left-side loader garbage truck. The fundamental technology powering the Electric Refuse Vehicle (ERV) is Motiv Power Systems‘ scalable and modular All-Electric Powertrain. The Class-8 vehicle will be built on a Crane Carrier chassis, and the body will be built by Loadmaster. The City of Sacramento aims to run the ERV on residential and recycling routes and expects to save as much as 6,000 gallons of fuel per year.”
“Sacramento specified that this ERV must meet the demanding requirements placed on all of its garbage trucks. This includes three routes per day to remove trash, recycling and green waste in a downtown Sacramento neighborhood. To supply enough electricity to move the truck and power the hydraulics all day, the ERV... -
Hyundai Ioniq hybrid autonomous – first ride
Might be ready by 2021. Impressive. I'd probably get the next version of the Prius if it's also autonomous. Would you?
Hyundai Ioniq hybrid autonomous – first ride | Autocar
Posted via the PriusChat mobile app. -
2 different experiences
Read 2 different articles today about an hour apart that really highlight the differences in EV's today. When you buy an EV (just like when you buy a phone or computer), you aren't only buying the car itself, but you are buying into an ecosystem/charging system.
The first article was about a guy that had to drive his Bolt back from where he bought it to his home in St. Louis 800 miles away. The main gist was how he had to do a ton of planning, sometimes driving out of his way, to find charging stations.
The other article was about a couple journalists that took a Model X on a cross country trip. It seemed like they weren't necessarily EV people, so they seemed a little annoyed at waiting for the car to charge. But there was nothing in the article about needing to plan ahead or having any trouble finding stations.
2 completely different experiences. Here in the midwest and a lot of places down south, the Bolt doesn't make much sense if you need it for long distance travel. -
Except for: GM Calls Self-Driving EVs Industry First
Source: http://wardsauto.com/technology/gm-calls-new-batch-self-driving-evs-industry-first?NL=WAW-04&Issue=WAW-04_20170613_WAW-04_476&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_2&utm_rid=CPENT000000095975&utm_campaign=12200&utm_medium=email&elq2=a8aa2934bdb04d8ab383fdb8572c3441
ORION TWP., MI – General Motors Chairman and CEO Mary Barra says the automaker makes history today by becoming the first company to apply mass-production techniques to autonomous vehicles with the rollout of 130 self-driving next-generation Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles.
However, the Bolt EVs will not being going into the hands of everyday Americans. That day remains far into... -
Bricked Toyota in the news
Have we gone too far?
Family loses irreplaceable keys on holiday, forced to abandon van in Victoria - British Columbia - CBC News
One thing we've done: attached a small luggage tag with email and phone number to the fobs. -
Honda drive sounds interesting
Source: Green Car Congress: Honda launches 2017 Accord Hybrid; 2nd generation two-motor hybrid powertrain
Engine block, crankshaft and pistons. The engine has a displacement of 1993cc. Cast-in iron cylinder liners provide long-lasting durability.
Cylinder head and valvetrain. The Accord Hybrid 4-cylinder engine has a lightweight cylinder head that is made of pressure-cast aluminum alloy. A silent chain drives dual overhead cams and four valves per cylinder. The cam drive is maintenance free throughout the life of the engine.
i-VTEC valve control system. The Accord Hybrid’s 2.0-liter DOHC 16-valve i-VTEC engine uses an advanced valve-control system to combine high power output with high fuel efficiency and low emissions.
High-efficiency dual bed catalytic converter. A key contributor to the Accord Hybrid’s excellent emissions performance is a single dual bed catalytic...
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