Biodiesel vs Hybrid
A gasoline hybrid uses its electric motor to keep the internal combustion engine running at optimal performance. Hybrids can recapture about 2% of the braking energy through regenerative braking and some models completely turn of their IC engine when waiting at a traffic light. All of these things combine to make the vehicles drive system 35-40% more efficient than an equivalent conventional gasoline vehicle. Most hybrids’ computers are optimized for the EPA fuel economy test. The Prius, for example, is rated at 50/60 mpg by the EPA but the actual user average is 46mpg. (fueleconomy.gov) Today’s hybrids do not have the ability to plug in and use electric energy directly so all the energy used to move the vehicle comes from gasoline.
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Hybrid Cars: The Answer to High Gas Prices?
High oil and gas prices are here to stay. This has many people wondering what they can do to save money at the pump.
Hybrid cars have touted themselves as a great way to save money. Many owners of hybrids believed this upon purchase and soon found out that the gas mileage estimates were very overrated. Data from independent product-testing organization Consumer Reports indicates that hybrid cars get less than 60 percent of EPA estimates while navigating city streets. In Consumer Reports' real-world driving test, the Civic Hybrid averaged 26 mpg in the city, while the Toyota Prius averaged 35 mpg, much less than their respective EPA estimates of 47 and 60 mpg. Hybrid cars performed much closer to EPA estimates in Consumer Reports' highway tests. This discrepancy could be due in part to the way the EPA conducts its tests.
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Hybrid Cars: How They Work
There are two main types of hybrid cars: series hybrid cars and parallel hybrid cars. Parallel hybrid cars work by using a combination of a traditional gas engine and a high output electric motor.
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What Are The Benefits of Plugin Hybrid Electric Vehicles
Are you considering converting your current hybrid into a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle but you're wondering what the benefits are?
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Ford Ranger Electric Vehicle
The Ford Ranger EV (Electric Vehicle) is a battery electric vehicle produced by Ford Motor Company. It was produced starting in the 1998 model year through 2002 and is no longer in production. It is built upon a light truck chassis used in the Ford Ranger. A few vehicles with lead-acid batteries were sold, but most units were leased for fleet use. A few persistent and interested private parties were able to obtain leases over a period of three to five years. All leases were terminated in 2003-04, and the vehicles were recalled.
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Battery Electric Vehicle
The electric car, BEV, or simply battery electric vehicle is a vehicle that utilizes chemical energy stored in rechargeable battery packs, and electric motors and motor controllers instead of internal combustion engines (ICEs).
Vehicles using both electric motors and ICEs (hybrid electric vehicles) are examples of hybrid vehicles, and are not considered pure BEVs because they operate in a charge-sustaining mode. Hybrid vehicles with batteries that can be charged externally to displace some or all of their ICE power and gasoline fuel are called plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV), and are pure BEVs during their charge-depleting mode. BEVs include automobiles, light trucks, and neighborhood electric vehicles.
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Venturi To Sell Solar-Powered Car in 2008
With 3.6 m2 of photovoltaic cells giving an exceptional yield of 21%, and covered by a film composed of nano-prisms enabling denser concentration of solar energy, Astrolab is the first high-performance solar vehicle to be commercialized in the world.
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American Drivers and the Alternative Vehicle ChoiceThe questions about alternative fuel vehicles increase every time gasoline prices rise. There are many options for vehicle manufacturers. Getting these vehicles from the research and development phase to the mainstream public has been a long and tedious process. The American vehicle manufacturers seem to have lagged behind the Japanese in this regard or have they?
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The Air Car
The MDI Air car is powered by an air engine, specifically tailored for the car. This air engine is being developed by CQFD Air solution, a company closely linked to MDI.
The engine is powered by compressed air, stored in a carbon-fiber tank at 30 MPa (4500 psi or 300 bar). The tank is made of carbon-fiber in order to reduce its weight and still remain strong. The engine has injection similar to normal piston engines, but uses a jointed connecting rod to keep the pistons at top dead center for about 70 degrees of the crankshaft's cycle. This allows for a remarkably flat torque curve. This engine is more akin to a Stirling engine than a traditional turbine-style pneumatic motor, relying on its thermodynamics to produce power.
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The Vectrix EV Motorcycle
The Vectrix electric maxi-scooter is the world's first high-performance electric two-wheel vehicle to offer all the benefits of a traditional gasoline-powered scooter but without the noise, pollution, expensive maintenance, frequent oil changes, and regular trips to the gas station.
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Flex Fuel: Will You Bite?
All the talk about gas-electric hybrid vehicles is overlooking another area where fuel economy can be realized. No, I am not talking about diesel engines and I am not even thinking about hydrogen power. Instead, corn powered vehicles are coming into their own. That’s right, ethanol, a fuel that has a history going back a full century, may be the fuel of the future. Is ethanol a good choice for a fuel source? I’ll let you be the judge of that!
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