4 Responses

1. The idea is they use you household 110 to charge batteries that are higher capacity than those on a normal hybrid. They use strickly the batteries until the engine assisted charge is needed. The stats I’ve seen show they will go the first 100 miles or so on no fuel at all, then they are basically a normal hybrid. Not sure what the power consimption on the charge system is, but if you can run it off 110 it can’t be to much.

2. Electricity from the grid, even if your power comes from a coal-burning electric plant, is much much cleaner than burning gasoline to produce electricity as a regular hybrid does. Today’s hybrids still produce 100% of their power from gasoline, directly or indirectly.

   Plug-in hybrids like the upcoming Chevy Volt are a big step in the right direction, using gasoline only when the batteries run out. The more battery technology improves the more range will improve and gasoline will be less and less necessary, as in the all-electric Tesla.

   Plug-in electric is definitely the future and plug-in hybrids are a bridge to that future until the range and cost of batteries overtakes gasoline. Which is inevitable, it’s only a matter of time.

3. Yeah make it a real plug in electric car. Drop the Hybrid part. Corey is Right and wrong about the coal burning and electric cars being no help to the environment. Around 80% of the cars running in the world are NOT running at peak efficiency polluting pretty bad. Cars pollute the most when first started up cold, like in the morning. Coal burning plants rarely if ever start cold since they are running 24/7. AND there is a tech monitoring the emissions and efficiency 24/7. This 24/7 monitoring ensures the least amount of emissions and the most production of power it can. All other fueled cars other then electric use huge amounts of oil for the motor/power steering/ transmissions/ brakes and antifreeze(another product of oil) Fossil fueled cars leak millions if not over a billion gallons of oil on the road every year where electric cars will leak almost nothing to nothing. Electric cars are the future its only the big car manufactures just can’t deal with the fact all good times end. They have been riding the gravy train for over a 100 years. The good times are gonna end becasue electric cars require almost no maintenance and will break down almost never. There is a HUGE loss of income to car manufactures from repairs to part sales. AND THEY KNOW IT..
   The Chevy Volt is not a huge step in the right direction its just an attempt to sell cars yet another way. Like all the other manufactures they are trying desperately to hold onto the internal combustion engine and the huge amounts of money they make servicing/repairing/sell parts for that internal combustion engine. THEY know it and I know electric cars REAL electric cars are the future. All the other ideas are full of nothing but expenses to the car buyers/owners that equal about the same amount of income the big manufactures have enjoyed for over a 100 years.

4. Hi,

   there are multiple points here, lets take them one at a time. This will be a bit of info to give you a full answer, so stay with me.

   1. There are multiple levels of hybrids- full, partial and mild. A plug-in system only works on a full hybrid, it will provide no extended range to a partial or mild hybrid.

   A full hybrid is able to move and run the AC using electricity only, the internal combustion engine (ICE) does not have to start. There will be a large capacity nickel metal hydride (NiMH) storage battery linked to at least two powerful electric motor/generators (the Highlander Hybrid has three when it’s a 4WD version), in addition to an ICE.

   Think the Prius.

   A partial hybrid is not able to move or run the AC without the ICE starting, although the ICE can shut off at stops (if the AC is not running). There will be a smaller capacity NiMH and motor/generators linked to the ICE.

   Think the Civic Hybrid.

   A mild hybrid has a very small or no NiMH with very basic motor/generators linked to a fairly standard ICE (where a full or partial may have a smaller ICE).

   Think Malibu Hybrid.

   2. The idea behind a plug-in system is ideally to boost the range the vehicle can move under stored electric-only power before the internal combustion engine (ICE) has to start.

   So, if you have a partial or mild hybrid that has to have the ICE start just to move the vehicle, there is no benefit to adding a plug-in system.

   3. A plug-in hybrid adds either larger capacity and/or more batteries for the additional electrical power needed to boost the electric-only range.

   Those batteries can be of any material, however, the less advanced the material, the larger and heavier they become. Any additional weight means more power needed to move that weight and that means less distance possible.

   So, the least efficient batteries are lead acid (regular car batteries) up to NiMH and on to some type of lithium configuration (lithium-ion, lithium-sodium, etc) for the latest type with the most storage capacity and lowest weight.

   The problem is that these batteries, no matter how light or strong they are, take up space somewhere. If it is an aftermarket system, then those batteries take up space in the trunk (for example, where the spare tire would be) or behind the rear seats and require complex control systems that must be hacked into the original vehicle’s systems.

   In Toyota’s view (I can only speak for Toyota), this does not void the warranty, however, if any original Toyota component fails because of an aftermarket modification (and believe me, they’ll know- you can’t fool all the computers all the time), then that voids your warranty.

   4. Any plug-in system can be overcome simply by pressing on the accelerator pedal too hard for too long. There is only so much electrical power stored on any system, even one like the Volt.

   As a matter of fact, there have been independent journalists who have driven the Volt and noticed that if they pressed the pedal too hard, the small ICE kicked in well before that possible 40 mile range.

   Any mileage claims are only if the driver is being careful, proactive, and defensive with their driving. Is it possible to get 100 mpg? Sure, but only if you never have someone bearing down on you, forcing you to accelerate hard or you never have to merge onto the highway. Then you can hang up on any claims of 40…80…100 miles of pure electric-only driving.

   5. Conspiracy theories aside, there is a limit to what a vehicle can do based on it’s size, weight, shape and original configuration.

   Using the Prius as an example, it is the shape it is for a reason- it is one of the most efficient forms available that regular people can still use as an everyday sedan.

   You simply can’t add additional batteries, no matter how good they are, to a vehicle like the Tahoe Hybrid and expect it to get 100 mpg.

   6. A great website with hours of reading about details/moving diagrams/graphs on components and how each one works (at least for Toyota) is:

   http://www.hybridsynergydrive.com

   If this doesn’t clear it up enough for you, contact me here at Answers.