To hell with hybrids!

Discussion in 'Science & Society' started by countezero, May 22, 2009.

  1. countezero Registered Senior Member

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  3. jpappl Valued Senior Member

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    Nonsense.

    First off, it's written by Jeremy Clarkson, and although I like the show, he is a muscle car gas engine fanatic who has already shown his disdain for anything that isn't V8 powered.

    Secondly, it's more a slam of the Honda Insight. Not of hybrid cars in general.
     
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  5. Diode-Man Awesome User Title Registered Senior Member

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    I believe nano-lithium ion batteries will allow electric motors to easily over take gas powered cars and trucks... unless the corporations freak out like little kids trying to keep old technology on the market.
     
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  7. mikenostic Stop pretending you're smart! Registered Senior Member

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    Allow me to correct you on that. He is a fat, douche-bag who thinks he knows quite a bit more about cars than he actually does. I would watch that show more if he wasn't on it.
    And he shows his disdain for any German car, not things that aren't V8 powered.

    But as far as hybrids go, I kinda agree with him. Either get a super economical fully gas/diesel powered vehicle, or full electric.
    I'd rather have a full gas powered SMART car than any hybrid.
     
  8. Giambattista sssssssssssssssssssssssss sssss Valued Senior Member

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    To hell with hybrids indeed!

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    Most of em aint too pretty.
     
  9. jpappl Valued Senior Member

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    I stand corrected.

    Yeah he always bags on German cars too.

    Hybrids are a stepping stone. The auto companies can wean themselves off the ICE and the consumer will gain confidence in dealing with electrics. The other issue is the batteries are getting better and better, but are currently too expensive to make the all electrics compete on price, to put a big enough pack to allow for extended travel .

    But that time is quickly approaching. I agree, I would rather see all electrics, once the batteries get to a certain point and are mass produced it will happen.
     
  10. scorpius a realist Valued Senior Member

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    while Clarkson is funny,I think hes completely wrong,hybrids are here to stay and then some

    http://www.rasertech.com/media/videos/the-electric-h3

    www.afstrinity.com
     
  11. WaZuNg Registered Member

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    hmm...
     
  12. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

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    The evil hand of the auto industry is not secretly sabotaging hybrid technology. What it's doing is lobbying to prevent the spread of telecommuting so we'll keep buying lots of cars, regardless of what kind of engines they have.

    This far into the paradigm shift to the Information Age, with a broadband internet connection in every home, webcams and multiple monitors getting cheaper, and collaborative software like GoToMeeting becoming ubiquitous, it's ridiculous that we all schlep ourselves back and forth across the landscape every day in order to be in an office where we can use their computer and telephone.

    How many of you people do a job that absolutely could not be done at home, with a little more investment in current-generation technology and maybe some new family rules about the DO NOT DISTURB sign? How many of you are surgeons, psychotherapists, diplomats, chefs, cops or have other jobs that must be done in person? (Don't tell me you're an auto mechanic, a dog walker or a janitor in an office building: I want to put you out of business.

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    Why do 90% of us need cars at all, except for recreation and socializing?
     
  13. PieAreSquared Woo is resistant to reason Registered Senior Member

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  14. Blender3d777 Registered Member

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    ...he does sound like a douche bag, but german cars do suck, Im a mechanic, and I work on them all the time...trust me

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    well dont trust me, I don't care, but I told ya so just in case you do get one.

    And hybrids don't suck, they are simply a way to get that kinetic energy and turn it back into potential energy. I mean, wouldn't it be nice to, instead of wasting even more gas accelerating when you stop, just take that energy you just converted by stopping and using it to go? It only makes sense. What doesn't is why it wasn't used before? If you think about it the idea (just recently invented) of a Mechanical Hybrid is not that complicated to design or even build...they are using them in high end cars, I would post a link if i could but just Google mechanical hybrid.

    Electric Hybrids are stupid though, much to complicated to be practical, because like he said, they do need 2 engines(gas and electric), and a heavy battery.
     
  15. mikenostic Stop pretending you're smart! Registered Senior Member

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    I lived in Nuernburg, Germany from 89-91 (Army brat). Luckily I was old enough to have my license over there. I had a '78 BMW 320 that flat out bolted like a cat shot in the ass with a BB gun. From when we got it to when we sold it, never a problem. Wait, one: the water pump went out on it but my friend and I changed it out ourselves. It had the 2 liter I-6 engine with a 4 bbl* carburetor that apparently wasn't available in U.S. spec 320s. What a shame.

    I should have elaborated and specified electric hybrids.
     
  16. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

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    We bought a new Mercedes 240D in 1978, and we've still got it. But the more recent German cars are just not built that way. Nobody wants to keep a car for thirty years any more so they don't bother engineering them to last that long.

    Ironically the best-built cars are now Japanese. I say "ironically" because to subsidize their auto industry, the fee for licensing a car more than ten years old in Japan is astronomical.
     
  17. scorpius a realist Valued Senior Member

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    battery may be heavy, (thats why trucks are perfect for hybrid system)
    but the ICE engine can be small four cylinder...and the electric motor should never need any maintenance..

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uIOxL3M-ys&feature=channel_page
     
  18. scorpius a realist Valued Senior Member

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  19. ElectricFetus Sanity going, going, gone Valued Senior Member

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    Hybrids are a transitional transportation system, the the step the jumps up battery production and design for eventual take over of full electric vehicles, there are inter steps of hybrids between now and the electric future, the next step in plug in hybrids (PHEV) these will bring in the development and creation of charging stations (both in your garage and on the street) and smart griding (to minimize the need for new power plants) after that its just a matter of getting the battery production and recycling up high enough to drop prices to make full range electric cars economical. After electric cars take over the only things that would still be running of fuels would be trucks, trains, planes and large ships, including industrial uses they represent ~50% of our petroleum usage (that right cars take up the other ~50%!).
     
  20. madanthonywayne Morning in America Registered Senior Member

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    Back in the nineties i owned a GEO metro. It cost 6 grand brand new and got 55 mpg. Furthermore, it could easily fit four adults and had a lot of space in the hatchback for storage. So when I looked at a Prius and found that it cost over 30 grand, got like 35 mpg, and had less space for seating and storage than the old Metro; I was not impressed.
     
  21. ElectricFetus Sanity going, going, gone Valued Senior Member

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    riiiiggggghhhhhhttttt
     
  22. madanthonywayne Morning in America Registered Senior Member

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    I had a manual transmission and no air, and the car got 55 mpg. Those are real world numbers, not some EPA bullshit. My father, impressed by the great milage I was getting, bought one too. But his was and automatic with air and got only about 40 mpg. Also, while my car (despite having only 3 cylinders) had a lot of pep with the stick shift, my father's automatic was a dog.

    So, so long as you can drive a stick, the Metro is far superior to the Prius, especially when you consider the price differential.
     
  23. ElectricFetus Sanity going, going, gone Valued Senior Member

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    This is one of those Limbaugh "I don't make this stuff up" moments isn't it? In all Honestly I listen to a government report over you on the crash safety or fuel millage.
     

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