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Good news for the eco retroists
- Thread starter Jonny69
- Start date
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Electric motors have pretty good torque curves (Max torque is at <1 RPM iirc) and 'instant' power delivery so it's a bit of a mix between a petrol and diesel profile in simple terms.
The main problem is keeping enough power stored to use a big motor so small motors tend to be used (in terms of kW rating) so petrol engines not only generate power for the batteries but can assist in the driving of the wheels to get good MPG and good/great acceleration at the sharp end of development.
My favourite example is the Porsche 918 Spyder: http://www.autoblog.com/2010/03/01/porsche-918-spyder-plug-in-hybrid-concept-gets-78-mpg-hits-62-m/ 62mph in 3.2 seconds (theoretical), 78MPG and 70g CO2/km (so it wouldn't qualify for congestion charge or road tax. You can ignore the 'just a concept' bit, it is confirmed for a limited production run.
Seeing as we're allowed to ask hybrid questions...
- Won't the weight of the batteries and extra bits for the hybrid side weigh the car down and mitigate some of the advantage of it being there?
- What about the effect on the environment of manufacturing these vehicles? Surely batteries aren't easy to dispose of environmentally?
- Does it add more stuff to "go wrong"? Do the batteries and extra systems need their own servicing, adding to the cost?
Not trying to be obtuse, i'm genuinely interested in the answers.
- Won't the weight of the batteries and extra bits for the hybrid side weigh the car down and mitigate some of the advantage of it being there?
- What about the effect on the environment of manufacturing these vehicles? Surely batteries aren't easy to dispose of environmentally?
- Does it add more stuff to "go wrong"? Do the batteries and extra systems need their own servicing, adding to the cost?
Not trying to be obtuse, i'm genuinely interested in the answers.
From what I've read and heard:
The batterys do weigh a lot and thus the savings are not brilliant MPG wise, the idea is if you drive around London at 5mph all day you will use such little petrol.
I'm lead the believe it is actually very harmful to produce loads of these batterys - although your car doesn't give out all the co2 it's much worse with all the work that goes into creating the batterys.
The systems so far have no had any major problems but they've not been tested over massive mileage and tens of years, Honda has the first one out about 10 years ago didn't they.
All just what I've heard - no idea what's true or not.
The batterys do weigh a lot and thus the savings are not brilliant MPG wise, the idea is if you drive around London at 5mph all day you will use such little petrol.
I'm lead the believe it is actually very harmful to produce loads of these batterys - although your car doesn't give out all the co2 it's much worse with all the work that goes into creating the batterys.
The systems so far have no had any major problems but they've not been tested over massive mileage and tens of years, Honda has the first one out about 10 years ago didn't they.
All just what I've heard - no idea what's true or not.
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the home made car in the OP is electric, not hybrid or am i missing something?
BMW are opening what the posters on the windows say as their first hybrid show room near the Home Office building on Horseferry road in London (just off Lambeth Bridge). I saw it when nipping down there the other week. I'll keep an eye on it and nip in for a nosy around when it opens
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Different types of battery have different advantages and disadvantages.
Needless to say the 10 year old Honda batteries are probably lead acid or mi-mh, while the newer sort of batteries used in the Leaf are Li-ion, so they can't really be compared.
No battery lasts forever, infact li-ion batteries lose more than half their capacity in 5 years, so I think a few electric car owners may be in for a shock when they need to replace their car battery...
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Honda nickel metal hydride packs, im not sure why these are not cpmparable when no one yet sells a Lithium pack HEV? Any retro install would use NiMh rather than lithium to start with aswell.
Li-ion itself also has a range of chemistrys for use. The better option at the moment is lithium iron phosphate, so the blanket statements arent really appropriate.
Li-ion itself also has a range of chemistrys for use. The better option at the moment is lithium iron phosphate, so the blanket statements arent really appropriate.
Well this thread got interesting. Glad I decided to post it over here after all 
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This is true, but it's not. I don't think that the Prius uses Li-Ion batteries, if it does then Toyota have does some magic tinkering with it: 206k Prius vs 2k Prius. Different car in the tests I believe but same model.
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This is something I find extremely interesting. Always had a love for older/classic cars and ways of keeping them on the road. I like the idea of transplanting modern power-plants/electrics/safety equipment (where possible) to a classic. Although I hadn't considered the hybrid/all electric option before now.
Quite like those Eagle E-Types as a nice example of updating a classic, even if it's not a particularly cheap route
Quite like those Eagle E-Types as a nice example of updating a classic, even if it's not a particularly cheap route
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This is the point I was originally trying to make, that you cannot compare the life expectancy of batteries being sold 9/10 years ago to the batteries being included with cars like the Leaf as they use totally different chemistries.
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Dont forget the cost of the inverters either!