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#hybrids

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Sat Dec 26
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  • posts about #hybrids more →

    Fit For Jeff Bridges: BMW's Vision Efficient Dynamics Hybrid Concept

    Chevy Volt To Get 230 MPG City Fuel Economy Rating

    The First Battery Swap Station for Electric Cars

    Ford Engineer Builds Street-Legal, 125 MPG Hybrid in His Garage

    Honda Creates Pixel Art From Hundreds of Car Headlights

    Hyundai BLUE-WILL Would Clearly Like to Eat the Prius

    President Obama Details $2.4 Billion in Grants For Electric Vehicles

    Chinese Car Maker Begins Selling the F3DM, the World's First Mass Produced, Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle

    Awkward Piaggio Tricycle Could Be First Mass-Produced Plug-in Hybrid

    Bailout Package Includes $7,500 Tax Break For Future Chevy Volt Owners

    Fisker Karma Hybrid Sports Car Gets Production Plans

    Hybrid Technologies Supercar Crushes Prius And Corvette

    Used Cars Are More Eco-Friendly Than Hybrids?

    Twike EV is the Flintstone's Wagon Painted Red

    iZip Express Cycle Transforms Weak Legs into Armstrongs

    Make Your Hybrid a Hybrid-Hybrid with Solar Power

    Samsung's First Hybrid Notebook Makes its Debut

    First Hybrid School Buses Hit the Streets

    Sneak Peek at NYC's Future Taxis

    Toyota Designs Hybrid Vehicle Using Pedal Power and Electricity
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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of dingus dingus
    08/30/09

    In reply to Fit For Jeff Bridges: BMW's Vision Efficient Dynamics Hybrid Concept

    No, this is fit for Jeff Bridges.
     Reply
    dingus was starred dingus was unstarred
    Image of AqueousBeef AqueousBeef
    08/30/09

    In reply to Fit For Jeff Bridges: BMW's Vision Efficient Dynamics Hybrid Concept
    Those seats look less comfortable than bus stop benches...
     Reply
    AqueousBeef was starred AqueousBeef was unstarred
    Image of TheSonOfKrypton TheSonOfKrypton
    08/30/09

    In reply to Fit For Jeff Bridges: BMW's Vision Efficient Dynamics Hybrid Concept
    Is there something wrong that I see this vehicle and automatically think: "SEXXXXXX"
     Reply
    TheSonOfKrypton was starred TheSonOfKrypton was unstarred
    Image of The-Simpsons-Rule!! The-Simpsons-Rule!!
    08/30/09

    @TheSonOfKrypton: and with the BMW vaGINA Concept(oh it's real, look it up) you would have the ultimate fornicating machines.
    Can anyone imgine going over speed bumps with this?
     Reply
    The-Simpsons-Rule!! was starred The-Simpsons-Rule!! was unstarred
    Image of aec007 aec007
    08/30/09

    In reply to Fit For Jeff Bridges: BMW's Vision Efficient Dynamics Hybrid Concept
    I would love to buy one.

    Unfortunatelly they killed it when they stated " a lot of carbon" to get rid of brackets.

    Carbon fiber = stratospheric price out of the realm of the masses and closer to the realm of Ferrari Enzo ownership. (like out of the realm of 99.9999% of the population)
     Reply
    AqueousBeef promoted this comment aec007 was starred aec007 was unstarred
    Image of AqueousBeef AqueousBeef
    08/30/09

    @aec007: That's a gross overstatement. Especially because it's not the whole body that's CF, just certain parts. Not to mention this isn't even close to being in production.
     Reply
    AqueousBeef was starred AqueousBeef was unstarred
    Image of G.O.D. G.O.D.
    05/13/09

    In reply to The First Battery Swap Station for Electric Cars
    What do we do with all the dead batteries; it's expensive to recycle them and creates a huge hazard right now for local dumps. I say we stick to gas or diesel and build engines that get 150 mpg. Until a viable solution comes to along.
     Reply
    G.O.D. was starred G.O.D. was unstarred
    Image of ceilingFANBOY ceilingFANBOY
    05/13/09

    @Zeus: If only it were that easy...
     Reply
    ceilingFANBOY was starred ceilingFANBOY was unstarred
    Image of Russell Lynn Russell Lynn
    05/13/09

    @Zeus: These are not supposed to be dead batteries, they are batteries that need to be recharged, taking like 6 hours. This place would remove the "dead" battery and hook it up to a recharge station then put a "Fresh" battery in your car.


    Like swapping rechargeable AA's in your RC Car.

     Reply
    Russell Lynn was starred Russell Lynn was unstarred
    Image of acarr260 acarr260
    05/13/09

    @Russell Lynn: Eventually (after x cycles), the battery will cease to hold a charge. Then it costs a ton to dispose of said battery.
     Reply
    acarr260 was starred acarr260 was unstarred
    Image of ceilingFANBOY ceilingFANBOY
    05/13/09

    In reply to The First Battery Swap Station for Electric Cars
    This type of idea can also be used in the extend the life of your hybrid implementation rather than just being used as a gas station replacement. If people had the assurance that when their battery eventually dies in their hybrid they can replace it rather than having to buy a whole new car, people would be more apt to buy a hybrid. It would also further make the myth of sport utilities having a lower carbon footprint than hybrids incorrect, especially if they find a viable way of recycling/recovering the batteries.
     Reply
    ceilingFANBOY was starred ceilingFANBOY was unstarred
    Image of ripfire ripfire
    05/13/09

    In reply to The First Battery Swap Station for Electric Cars
    They're going to have to do more than that to replace our economy that revolves on fossil fuels. Just think of all the auto shops out there dedicate to oil change alone.
     Reply
    ripfire was starred ripfire was unstarred
    Image of 2Wheelsor4: The Moto-Stig 2Wheelsor4: The Moto-Stig
    05/13/09

    @ripfire: Retool for electric motor maintenance, lubing the moving parts, etc could be a viable option. There is still stuff on those cars that needs to be maintained, they'll just have to evolve or die.


    Anyways, I seriously doubt Internal Combustion is going anywhere anytime soon.

     Reply
    2Wheelsor4: The Moto-Stig was starred 2Wheelsor4: The Moto-Stig was unstarred
    Image of ripfire ripfire
    05/13/09

    @2Wheelsor4: Ze Ümlaüt in Motörhead: Electric motor maintenance? AC or DC-brushless motors would last at least a couple years before you would need maintenance as opposed to every three months (or 5,000 miles whichever is sooner) with ICE maintenance. Regenerative breaking reduces wear on brakes. Then, there's transmission with ICE...


    My point is, internal combustion engines have more maintenance, and the world makes money out of it. You switch to electric vehicles, and you're basically pulling the plug of our economy.

     Reply
    ripfire was starred ripfire was unstarred
    Image of EVEs_Mako EVEs_Mako
    05/13/09

    In reply to The First Battery Swap Station for Electric Cars
    When does the first girlfriend/wife swap station go up? I want to invest.
     Reply
    EVEs_Mako was starred EVEs_Mako was unstarred
    Image of acarr260 acarr260
    05/13/09

    @EVEs_Mako: I think those are called swinger's clubs.
     Reply
    acarr260 was starred acarr260 was unstarred
    Image of Ben Zvan Ben Zvan
    05/13/09

    In reply to The First Battery Swap Station for Electric Cars
    Lithium iron phosphate batteries are in the works that will charge very quickly.


    [www.sciencefriday.com]

     Reply
    Ben Zvan was starred Ben Zvan was unstarred
    Image of GitEmSteveDave_ My Brute Dojo Code CDIAFIFE GitEmSteveDave_ My Brute Dojo Code CDIAFIFE
    05/13/09

    @Ben Zvan: Yeah, you hear about that every year. Never materializes. We can hope though.
     Reply
    GitEmSteveDave_ My Brute Dojo Code CDIAFIFE was starred GitEmSteveDave_ My Brute Dojo Code CDIAFIFE was unstarred
    Image of not_a_virus.exe.vbs not_a_virus.exe.vbs
    05/13/09

    In reply to The First Battery Swap Station for Electric Cars
    or just make clean hybrids and be done with it. Electric cars are nice but a better short term solution tell we get better batteries is a hybrid motor that runs on a clean fuel.
     Reply
    not_a_virus.exe.vbs was starred not_a_virus.exe.vbs was unstarred
    Image of sunshine06 sunshine06
    05/13/09

    @Life Is Eat And Die: Yeah, dude. Lets not look more than 10 years into the future. Lets continue to base our infrastructure on dying technology. Lets continue to give oil interests control.
     Reply
    sunshine06 was starred sunshine06 was unstarred
    Image of not_a_virus.exe.vbs not_a_virus.exe.vbs
    05/13/09

    @sunshine06: What dying technology? Combustion engines will be around forever. Ones that run on gasoline won't be. Which is why I mentioned clean fuels.
     Reply
    not_a_virus.exe.vbs was starred not_a_virus.exe.vbs was unstarred
    Image of Hello Mister Walrus Hello Mister Walrus
    05/13/09

    @Life Is Eat And Die: What's a "clean fuel"?
     Reply
    Hello Mister Walrus was starred Hello Mister Walrus was unstarred
    Image of not_a_virus.exe.vbs not_a_virus.exe.vbs
    05/13/09

    @Hello Mister Walrus: hydrogen and CNG are a couple.
     Reply
    not_a_virus.exe.vbs was starred not_a_virus.exe.vbs was unstarred
    Image of blash blash
    05/13/09

    @Life Is Eat And Die: There isn't enough CNG for everyone to transfer over to and hydrogen's a pipedream. We need a solution now, which is why Obama cut federal funding dollars from hydrogen tech and gave it all to electric vehicles.


    The fact is, something better than hydrogen could be found later on - that's the very nature of evolving technology. We would then have to transfer our new hydrogen infrastructure over to MiracleFuel infrastructure, which (like trying to switch over to either a hydrogen or an electric infrastructure now) is costly both in time and money. By investing in an electric infrastructure though, you would only have to invest in new power-plants: can my electric car run on nuclear energy? Yes, if the electricity came from a nuclear plant. Solar energy? Hydrogen? Yes - if the electricity came from either a solar energy plant or a hydrogen energy plant. Same thing with this hypothetical MiracleFuel - my electrical car will run on the MiracleFuel by virtue of running off electricity made by a MiracleFuel power plant. Electric infrastructure is future-proof since it's a hell of a lot simpler to just upgrade the power plants instead of upgrading all the gas stations.

     Reply
    blash was starred blash was unstarred
    Image of climbman27 climbman27
    05/13/09

    @blash: I agree with you that electric infrastructure is definitely the way to go in the future, but as for saying that it is simpler to upgrade power plants instead of gas stations, I disagree. Everyone needs to remember that electric cars will still produce carbon emissions, unless the electricity is generated cleanly. Thus, we need to invest in carbon neutral power generation technologies like nuclear, solar, wind, and geothermal. Building and implementing all these plants, though, will be mach harder then retrofitting gas stations.
     Reply
    climbman27 was starred climbman27 was unstarred
    Image of ceilingFANBOY ceilingFANBOY
    05/13/09

    @blash: Hydrogen is more than a pipe dream. The problem with hydrogen is more that it's viability is so far down the road that most people find spending money on it to be frivolous. People don't want to spend money on a technology that won't be coming until 10 years down the road when there is a technology that can be ready in 2-3 years, even if the 10 year solution is more permanent. Unless we replace our plants with cleaner plants and make batteries that last forever, electric/hybrids will continue to be a temporary band aid to the problem.
     Reply
    ceilingFANBOY was starred ceilingFANBOY was unstarred
    Image of ripfire ripfire
    05/13/09

    @climbman27: @ceilingFANBOY: You guys are forgetting about one crucial factor to hydrogen: it's renewable. Unlike fossil fuels, price of the resource will not change over the course of its life. Ever think about how most post-apocalyptic themes are always based on dependency on fuels that will eventually run out?


    @kagekiri: No need to run power lines to stations. You just have to make electricity transportable. How? Turn it into chemical.

     Reply
    ripfire was starred ripfire was unstarred
    Image of climbman27 climbman27
    05/13/09

    @ripfire: Hydrogen is great, but I think you are forgetting the process and amount of energy needed to create hydrogen. There is no such thing as a hydrogen "source". Since it has such a low density, storage and transportation are also big issues. One of the more promising technologies I have heard about is using electricity from wind turbines to power hydrogen production. Then you have a completely carbon neutral process. It is definitely a promising fuel source, but as far as price, I think that will fluctuate greatly with how it is produced.
     Reply
    climbman27 was starred climbman27 was unstarred
    Image of ceilingFANBOY ceilingFANBOY
    05/13/09

    @ripfire: I'm on the same side of the argument as you are. I was just stating that it is currently too expensive cashwise and energywise to obtain hydrogen for it to be viable. However, down the road it will be viable when better methods of obtaining hydrogen are discovered. Who knows, in the future we may even be able to find a way of extracting hydrogen from water that is so efficient that a car could run for years without any external input by using the hydrogen and then re extracting it from the water that is produced.
     Reply
    ceilingFANBOY was starred ceilingFANBOY was unstarred
    Image of ripfire ripfire
    05/13/09

    @climbman27: Yeah, I agree hydrogen production is inefficient now, but its all I could think of that's transportable. Who knows, maybe later on we'll discover a way to produce hydrogen cheaply through organic means (ie, photosynthesis).
     Reply
    ripfire was starred ripfire was unstarred
    Image of GitEmSteveDave_ My Brute Dojo Code CDIAFIFE GitEmSteveDave_ My Brute Dojo Code CDIAFIFE
    05/13/09

    In reply to The First Battery Swap Station for Electric Cars
    Ah, nothing improves resale value like a failure of a lifting mechanism, and then a acid spill.


    Of course, this thing will become a moot point once a storage device is designed that can be charged quickly and hold the charge. Then solar panels and energy capture devices on cars would actually do something significant.

     Reply
    GitEmSteveDave_ My Brute Dojo Code CDIAFIFE was starred GitEmSteveDave_ My Brute Dojo Code CDIAFIFE was unstarred
    Image of ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
    05/13/09

    In reply to The First Battery Swap Station for Electric Cars
    there is a plan in Israel that involves owning the car and leasing the battery, then implement this exact plan. I think it sounds genius.
     Reply
    ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo was starred ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo was unstarred
    Image of Hello Mister Walrus Hello Mister Walrus
    05/13/09

    @odnet: I know someone who went to Israel to build electric car integrated parking/charging stations. Seriously, people in that country REALLY want to cut their dependence on oil, for obvious reasons.
     Reply
    Hello Mister Walrus was starred Hello Mister Walrus was unstarred
    Image of Hello Mister Walrus Hello Mister Walrus
    05/13/09

    In reply to The First Battery Swap Station for Electric Cars
    Replace non-removable car batteries with standard ones that can be recharged separately? This is another of those brilliant obvious things that no one thinks of.
     Reply
    Hello Mister Walrus was starred Hello Mister Walrus was unstarred
    Image of ripfire ripfire
    05/13/09

    @Hello Mister Walrus: But then they're going to make it different sizes like HH or the smaller HHH or J-Cell or K-Cell, or the ever so useless (except for critical vehicles like a firetruck) 18-volt size.
     Reply
    ripfire was starred ripfire was unstarred
    Image of Software_Goddess Software_Goddess
    05/13/09

    In reply to The First Battery Swap Station for Electric Cars
    Sure, take my stock battery and replace it with some cheep after market used crap! I don't think so!!!
     Reply
    Software_Goddess was starred Software_Goddess was unstarred
    Image of Hello Mister Walrus Hello Mister Walrus
    05/13/09

    @Software_Goddess: If this ever happens, they'll probably make it so you don't own the batteries but have fuel company lend them to you.
     Reply
    Hello Mister Walrus was starred Hello Mister Walrus was unstarred
    Image of ceilingFANBOY ceilingFANBOY
    05/13/09

    @Software_Goddess: It sounds to me more like everyone would be sharing their batteries. You don't get a cheap aftermarket battery, you get one from someone else's car that has been charged up to replace your dead battery that will be charged up and eventually put into someone else's car in place of their dead battery which will eventually be charged up and put into someone... I think you get the idea.
     Reply
    ceilingFANBOY was starred ceilingFANBOY was unstarred
    Image of bobman1235 bobman1235
    05/13/09

    @ceilingFANBOY: The OP still has a point, though. Batteries for these cars are (at least, right now) ridiculously expensive, and they have a shelf life. If you have a brand new electric car with a brand new battery, and you swap it out, yo ucould be getting someone's 3 year old battery that's on its last legs. Who covers the cost of replacement once that battery dies? The only way this would work is if the charging / battery swap station owned all the batteries and lent them out, which is a VERY large cost for them to assume (considering the station itself costs 500k).
     Reply
    bobman1235 was starred bobman1235 was unstarred
    Image of ceilingFANBOY ceilingFANBOY
    05/13/09

    @bobman1235: My guess is that the way that they would prevent you from getting stuck with a crappy battery is to require you to register with the company to use the service. That way they could keep track of how many miles/years you have put on your battery so that whenever you go to exchange your battery you get one that is of similar wear and tear. Then, if you purchased a new battery, whether it be through your car dealer or through this company, you could have the date and miles reset to reflect your new battery.
     Reply
    ceilingFANBOY was starred ceilingFANBOY was unstarred
    Image of Jrsy Devil's Advocate® Jrsy Devil's Advocate®
    05/10/09

    In reply to Ford Engineer Builds Street-Legal, 125 MPG Hybrid in His Garage
    I thing Otis Peabody said it best...


    "It looks like an airplane, without wings."

     Reply
    Jrsy Devil's Advocate® was starred Jrsy Devil's Advocate® was unstarred
    Image of frigg frigg
    05/09/09

    In reply to Ford Engineer Builds Street-Legal, 125 MPG Hybrid in His Garage
    What does it say that the "Ford efficiency expert" has enough spare time to make a car in his garage?


    Either they're not giving him enough to do, or he makes really efficient use of his time.

     Reply
    frigg was starred frigg was unstarred
    Image of Serolf Divad Serolf Divad
    05/09/09

    In reply to Ford Engineer Builds Street-Legal, 125 MPG Hybrid in His Garage
    That's very cool, but keep in mind that "street legal" means different things whether we're talking about home-builts or production cars.
     Reply
    Serolf Divad was starred Serolf Divad was unstarred
    Image of madog madog
    05/09/09

    In reply to Ford Engineer Builds Street-Legal, 125 MPG Hybrid in His Garage
    More proof that the current lineup of fuel efficient vehicles are bullshit. They have the technology to make something better than 35mpg. Well, they actually have before, but that was killed off.


    Keep your tinfoil hats on.

     Reply
    madog was starred madog was unstarred
    Image of UlbrechtHawk UlbrechtHawk
    05/09/09

    In reply to Ford Engineer Builds Street-Legal, 125 MPG Hybrid in His Garage
    Is that a headlight or a machine-gun port in the nose? If it's the latter, sign me up!
     Reply
    UlbrechtHawk was starred UlbrechtHawk was unstarred
    Image of bosskev bosskev
    05/09/09

    @UlbrechtHawk: To achieve its levels of speed and efficiency, I was assuming it was some kind of deflector array.
     Reply
    bosskev was starred bosskev was unstarred
    Image of bosskev bosskev
    05/09/09

    In reply to Ford Engineer Builds Street-Legal, 125 MPG Hybrid in His Garage
    Street-legal? Looks more like Fleshbot-legal. King-size.
     Reply
    bosskev was starred bosskev was unstarred
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