Not quite ready for prime time
2004-10-29 08:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mdlbearFrom what little I've seen, Honda's hybrid cars aren't quite ready for prime time. Toyota's Prius is closer, but still not there. The fundamental problem is that they're basically gas cars with electric assist. They should be electric cars with onboard chargers.
An electric-assist hybrid needs a horrendous, complicated transmission to split the load between the two power sources, neither of which is adequate to keep the car going by itself. One thing I noticed test-driving the Civic is a distinct hesitation, when accelerating from a standstill, while it restarts the gas engine. I'd be worried on a hill. I believe the Prius is smoother, because more of the load is handled by the electric motor, but it's still not as good as it should be.
Get rid of the load-sharing, and things suddenly get much simpler: the only thing connected to the wheels is the electric motor (or maybe you have one on each wheel). The only thing connected to the generator is the gas engine, and it can darned well be a turbine (which is smaller, quieter, and more efficient). And you can run the generator by itself to power your house in an emergency (100HP = 75KW) And the transmission is simpler because electric motors can deliver full torque over a wider range of speeds.
Lighter, more efficient batteries would help, too -- that's another problem with today's hybrids.
An electric-assist hybrid needs a horrendous, complicated transmission to split the load between the two power sources, neither of which is adequate to keep the car going by itself. One thing I noticed test-driving the Civic is a distinct hesitation, when accelerating from a standstill, while it restarts the gas engine. I'd be worried on a hill. I believe the Prius is smoother, because more of the load is handled by the electric motor, but it's still not as good as it should be.
Get rid of the load-sharing, and things suddenly get much simpler: the only thing connected to the wheels is the electric motor (or maybe you have one on each wheel). The only thing connected to the generator is the gas engine, and it can darned well be a turbine (which is smaller, quieter, and more efficient). And you can run the generator by itself to power your house in an emergency (100HP = 75KW) And the transmission is simpler because electric motors can deliver full torque over a wider range of speeds.
Lighter, more efficient batteries would help, too -- that's another problem with today's hybrids.
no subject
Date: 2004-10-30 04:42 am (UTC)