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Posted by Kris Krieger on May 26, 2008, 4:20 pm
> Trade electric for gas, plug your current ride into an electrical
> outlet and *idle* your way to your destination.
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~
> The development is based on the observation that only 10-15 horsepower
> is required to propel a compact or mid-size automobile along a level
> road at a steady 60-70 mph. leading to the conclusion that this
> relatively small amount of electric power would be able to cope with
> 70-85% of normal driving, only aided by the combustion engine during
> start up and when extra energy is required for acceleration and hill
> climbing. ~~~~~~~~~~~~
> http://green.yahoo.com/blog/ecogeek/522/turn-any-car-into-a-plug-in-hyb
> rid-for-3-300.html
>
>
>
Interesting widget, but the comments...
THe commentor writes:
"This system doesn't have regenerative braking, thus one is simply
"trading the cost of gasoline for electricity. At $4,000, a break-even
"point comes well after saving 1,000 gallons of gasoline.
$3900, actually, and that is *suggested* retail.
Further: Say you drive to work 200 days a year (260 business days minus
a *very* generous 60 days for vacation, and various forms of leave). If
you're lucky, you live around 10 miles from work. 200 X 10 = 2000 miles.
I've seen damn few cars whose official MPG ratings are much better than
20 MPG mixed highway/city driving. So that is back to the number 200,
for gallons of gas. At $3 a gallon, that's $600; at $4 a gallon, it's
$800.
BUT, it's dang rare that th evehicel just sits in the driveway every
weekend and throughout all leave days.
Then too, if someone actually cares even a littel abotu emissions, and
the effect thereof on things such as rising asthma rates in children, one
could also consider the tax costs and so on that could potentially be
saved if everyone switched to a hybrid...
"Thus, how much gasoline is "really saved as this system basically moves
"the ICE to idling while the "electricity handles acceleration.
duuuuh, more than would eb saved without it.
"The addition of this system outside the car will increase wind drag. A
"meaningful amount? Don't know.
This is just plain stupid. How the heck aerodynamic are most of these
vehicles on the road today?! Pretty damn few. Also, how heavy? THe
weight of any vehicle offsets aerodynamics. Same goes for overpowered
engines and crappy driving habits.
"Also, some basic safety questions must arise. What are the implications
"for adding these systems outside the car?
At least that question was legitimate.
Personally, I'm interested. I'd like to know whetehr it can be
transferred to a new car. If nothing else, it'd make driving a lto
quieter, at least in my littel old Saturn - which gets 29 MPG mixed
city/hwy, but I wouldn't mind cutting that back further, if ony to reduce
how often I need to deal with the gas station ;)
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