Obama's Trip to Saudi Arabia
- Thread starter Puppyjump
- Start date
PhoenixOSU
100 W
s-ok, we still got Tesla, Toyota, and Honda all working on various forms of electric and hybrid electric vehicles targeted at consumers. GM looks like they might possibly be considering being serious about the Volt, but I'm still unconvinced (there's the ever present possibility they're doing it to boost their image as a company).
PhoenixOSU said:
Well...The Tesla is a beautiful work of engineering, but the roadster, and even the sedan "S" (if it really comes out) are too costly to make genuine sales to the mass market. I certainly will never be able to buy one, as I suspect neither will most readers of this post, so not many will make it to the street.
As for the more proletarian e-vehicles promised by the major auto guys, I'll believe it when I see it. Such vehicles have been "2 years away" for decades. They just never seem to make it to a showroom.
New Hybrids: Will they be plug-in serial? or will they be the fake kind already built: non plug-in parallel, basically just gas cars.
As for the Feds, they just introduced very harsh rules to limit shipping of Lithium batteries with the likely result that nobody will be able to afford the certification to ship them. Where the h##l did this come from? I've never heard of any battery shipments blowing up, and certainly it is well known that LiFePO4 lithium batteries are very safe, but no exclusion was provided to them for shipping requirements. This, at the very least, looks like a roadblock to EVs by hobbyists or small companies like ZAP, ZENN, NMG, etc. If too many EVs make it onto the streets, people will notice, and want one for themselves. You won't even be able to buy a lithium pack for your e-bike.
One thing to watch will be if Tesla really does receive that Fed stimulus grant they were promised.
We now know that the $25 Billion "Advanced Battery Fund" (or whatever it's called) never paid a single grant in the (3?) years of its inception, even though more than 75 apparently reputable companies applied. Not one dollar.
I hate to be a defeatist pessimist, but unlike the stock market, for the EV world, "history is an indicator of future performance"
dnmun
1 PW
not sure what you think is serial versus parallel. honda IMA is serial, and toyota is parallel hybrid.
the volt uses the term serial hybrid for itself, but is really just a gasoline powered vehicle with a generator to charge the batteries and run the electric traction motor.
the problem with the volt design is that the total power available is only the power that the electric motor can provide so the motor and batteries need to be massive by comparison to the IMA which uses the electric power to fill in the gaps in the power cycle between firing of the cylinders. to me that is serial, where electric and ICE power are delivered to the same shaft. and parallel is where in the toyota design the power of the underpowered long stroke gas engine is added to the power of the electric motor to increase total power. and it is capable of running entirely electric for as long as there is stored power. the plug in is just a simple addition of more capacity to increase that distance it travels under electric alone.
GM cannot make a vehicle with the acceleration of the prius or the honda in the same weight and cost category. it is just impossible and they will always be considered underpowered, a wimpy car which just will not sell. people want that kick and the prius can deliver it by using all the available power of both motive sources. that's why they are successful. all imho.
the volt uses the term serial hybrid for itself, but is really just a gasoline powered vehicle with a generator to charge the batteries and run the electric traction motor.
the problem with the volt design is that the total power available is only the power that the electric motor can provide so the motor and batteries need to be massive by comparison to the IMA which uses the electric power to fill in the gaps in the power cycle between firing of the cylinders. to me that is serial, where electric and ICE power are delivered to the same shaft. and parallel is where in the toyota design the power of the underpowered long stroke gas engine is added to the power of the electric motor to increase total power. and it is capable of running entirely electric for as long as there is stored power. the plug in is just a simple addition of more capacity to increase that distance it travels under electric alone.
GM cannot make a vehicle with the acceleration of the prius or the honda in the same weight and cost category. it is just impossible and they will always be considered underpowered, a wimpy car which just will not sell. people want that kick and the prius can deliver it by using all the available power of both motive sources. that's why they are successful. all imho.
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