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That's because most trips are short. Vehicles driving less than 30 miles a day account for about 60 percent of annual U.S. passenger-vehicle miles, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. Meanwhile, batteries are heavy. Michalek says that plug-in batteries, plus the structural material to support them, could substantially increase the weight of a car. "If you're carrying around batteries that you're not using, you're spending more money and actually hurting the planet," says Michalek.
Etienne Plas, a European spokesman for Toyota, says that three plug-in Priuses test-driven by employees of power-company Electricité de France since November 2007 are demonstrating a significant improvement in fuel efficiency. "In France, the early testing indicates that for trips up to 25 kilometers in duration, we see fuel efficiency up to 60 percent better than a regular Prius," says Plas. "That's quite significant."
Plas says that Toyota is still studying how frequently test drivers plug their cars in--a variable that, as Michalek notes, will have a large impact on the plug-ins' real fuel efficiency. But even consumers who never plug in are likely to see some benefit from the low-range Prius, at least when they're driving in town. The Prius already captures energy from braking to recharge the battery. According to Plas, that energy can actually max out a small battery in stop-and-go driving. "With the current Prius, if you are in really heavy city traffic and you keep on braking, you will not be able to capture all the energy," he says.
Such economic and environmental details could make the difference for automakers in the months and years ahead, as they seek to woo consumers back to showrooms. Auto sales in the United States in November were 37 percent lower than in 2007, according to industry tracking firm Autodata. Relatively pricey hybrids were hit even harder, slumping 53 percent relative to November 2007.
This spring, Toyota plans to shut down all of its Japanese production for 11 days to reduce the resulting supply glut; most automakers have taken similar steps. But Toyota remains convinced that high gas prices will be back to drive the continued electrification of the industry as a whole. As Irv Miller, vice president for environmental and public affairs at Toyota Motor Sales USA, said in Detroit this past weekend, "Last summer's four-dollar-a-gallon gasoline was no anomaly. It was a brief glimpse of our future."
The electric propulsion system for GM's new plug-in hybrid gives a silent yet powerful ride.
A spinoff from the Rocky Mountain Institute has developed a 100-miles-per-gallon plug-in hybrid.
This article is truly dumb - it quotes results from universities as to the carbon foootprint
of electric cars as if they knew : 1) what the battery packs will actually cost and 2) what the carbon footprint actually will be when the number of EVs becomes meaningful (more than 10 years after their introduction). Any study that assumes the current state of these all-important characterisitcs is totally without value. A123 Systems execs have predicted a halving of battery costs within 5 years - that completely destroys these short-sighted and brainless university studies right off the bat. Add to that the knowledge that the power generated 10 years from now certainly will not have the same carbon component and we have another fact that makes these studies nothing but attempts to make news,
which is clearly what they are. There is also the more important consideration that these narrow-visioned studies don't even mention - the avoidance of oil - which I consider more important than any carbon reducing elements and in this regard, 20 mile range plug-ins are about half as effective as those with a 40 mile range, which can easily be shown to reduce commuting gas consumption by well over 90%. I'm amazed that
this publication would publish such useless study results without even a glimmer of intrelligent analysis. This is embarrassing.
The review was about Toyota announcing that the new model Prius comming out will have the ability to later be converted to a plug-in hybrid. They then site a study that says that for right now due to battery costs and weight that the current "sweet spot" for the technology would be around a 20 mile EV range. I beleive it is a nod to the wisdom of Toyota's choice to allow for later updates to the Prius vs. the Chevy Volt. I admit I was all excited by the Volt until I saw the estimated prices. In these uncertain times I don't see many people paying $40K+ for a hybrid. So unless Chevy offers models with shorter range or can get some major incentives I see it more as a publicity stunt than a pracitcal car. Personally I would prefer a pure EV over a hybrid as it is a simplier system and I just don't drive very far. But that is another discussion.
Confirming that GM's Volt will be first
This article is very misleading, it states that 2010 Toyota Prius "will still come equipped with a nickel-metal-hydride (NiMH) battery pack and no plug" and that EV version will only be sold to fleet operators. This totaly nulifies the article title and the first three paragraphs. The article seems to be a Toyota publicity effort to upstage General Motors and the Volt.
It is more important to cut our oil consumption as soon as practical, this will help lower carbon emissions, but right now I'm more woried about $4 gal gasoline and car to drive to work.
This article is also an example why we need to let the scientists and engineers work on our "carbon footprint" a little more until they get their facts straight.
Re: Confirming that GM's Volt will be first
...at the time you are writing this comment, gasoline is not $4/gal, but lower than $2/gal in most of the USA. Facts are not imaginary things, so you should try to stick to them.
PS - the article is very clear, stating that the new Prius batteries will be swappable for plug-in batteries. 500 government fleet vehicles will start out as an experimental fleet, to see how plug-ins behave in the hands of average people, other than electric enthusiasts.
What's so hard to understand? Read it again! :))
Seems to me that we are barking up the wrong tree with the strategy of forever increasing cost and weight for these vehicles by adding more energy storage.
I think it makes more sense to create a system where cars can pick up electricity along the way.
First, you need energy storage that can charge quickly - - like flywheels or ultra-capacitors instead of (or in addition to) batteries. Next you have a means of transferring the energy to the cars. This may be a "third rail" that the car gets power from or some form of buried cable that interacts with the car briefly to charge the storage medium.
Alternatively, a short plug-in time to an AC outlet would do it.
Norm
It would cost the equivalent of 60 cents a gallon to charge and drive an electric car.The electricity to charge the car could come from solar or wind generated electricity.If all gasoline cars,trucks,and suv’s instead had plug-in electric drive trains, the amount of electricity needed to replace gasoline is about equal to the estimated wind energy potential of the state of N.D.This past year the high cost of fuel so seriously damaged our economy and society that the ripple effects will be felt for years to come.Why not invest in setting up some alternative energy projects on a national basis, create clean cheap electricity,create millions of badly needed new green collar jobs, and get out from under our dependence on foreign oil.What a win-win situation that would be. There is a great new book out called The Manhattan Project of 2009 Energy Independence NOW by Jeff Wilson. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in alternative energy.
A complete Li-Ion PHEV conversion kit is available right now under $2000 on ebay. You don't need to wait for Prius 2012 or Volt 201X
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200344551230
Manufacturing in the United States is in trouble. That's bad news not just for the country's economy but for the future of innovation.
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YankeeBruce
21 Comments
Free Energy
So, regenerative braking in city driving will "max out" the batteries in an EV!
If that is so, then city dwellers can generate energy for free.
Clearly this can not happen, there is some loss in the system and the battery must be recharged from an external source somewhere in the use cycle.
Over hyping the technology for EV's will cause the general public to turn away from the eventual commercial products.
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Gurthang
52 Comments
Re: Free Energy
The person was refering to the current Prius which has a small battery compared to the plug-in varients. And because of that the current Prius treats the battery like a buffer always trying to keep it full enough to "boost" the car in most acceleration conditions and empty enough to store braking energy. However in some driving situations it is possible to "fill" the battery and thus it will have to dump the excess energy.
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