A good idea?

http://www.zapworld.com/about/news/watc ... ybrids.asp

It would be a good idea ONLY if there is a built-in timer that prohibits it from being charged between 4pm and 10 pm local time, or if the outside ambient temperature is over 24°C. At these times and temperatures, there is already a massive peak load on the power grid, and the last thing we need is for people to all come home from work and plug their cars in.

If you're getting the power when the grid is lightly loaded, it's a great idea. Those things have pretty efficient engines in them, but the big power plants have even better overall efficiency.

-Paul

I'd really like a hybrid with 60 mile electric range and a plug for the grid. They could easily compensate by putting in a small gas engine instead of the monsters in many new cars (ie. 300+ HP for a minivan!!)

I think the key to grid overlead is demand pricing (ie pay much more at peak demand times for power, much less off-peak).

couldn't you design a new type of alternator? that would charge the battery as you're driving?
Vito

Vito,

The hybrids do have a gas engine which can charge the batteries. It charges the batteries when its power is not needed to supply the drive motors (i.e. when idling).

The point in question is that when you arrive home, if your batteries aren't fully charged, why not be able to charge them from the grid?

-Paul

I'd say it goes beyond that Paul. Turn off the gas motor and only use the electric one unless you are going beyond the range of the batteries. Make sure there is a sufficient range for most commuting -- say 60 miles by installing sufficient amounts of battery storage. Charge it when you get to work, charge when you get home, and avoid the local Exxon except for rare trips out of town.

The ideal is if the electricity is generated by a "clean" power source (a source of argument itself) but even if created by "dirty" coal way less pollution and even greenhouse gas is created than using an internal combustion engine.

You're right Matthew. If your commute is short enough, and you can charge from the grid, you don't need the engine at all--it's just an electric car with gas only in case you go too far from a charger!

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A friend of mine worked until recently building prototype hybrid-electric locomotives. Now these are useless as main-line locomotives, but are perfect for switching locomotives (found in railyards). A switching locomotove typically has 2000 hp of diesel engines powering generators which run the traction motors. That's a fair bit smaller than a mainline locomotive, but the key difference is the duty cycle. While a mainline locomotive is running at a fairly high duty cycle most of the time, a switching locomotive is idling most of the time--it's producing real power only about 5-10% of the time. (The operator powers up for a few seconds to accelerate his line of cars to 10-15 mph at max, and then coasts for a while, and then sits idling while cars are hooked and unhooked, and then repeat until the end of his shift.) So my friend's company took a switching locomotive and removed all the big diesels and generators. The replaced them with a huge bank of batteries and a small control room full of electronics. Up at the front, they installed a small (100 hp) diesel engine, connected to a small generator. The batteries power the 2000 hp of traction motors. When the battery charge drops below a certain level, the diesel starts itself up automatically and charges the batteries up. The diesel is never operating at an inefficient idle or "full power" mode, but always at its most efficient power level.

It's a great idea, and if they can work out the bugs and then make it marketable by bringing their price down or getting government incentives for rail yards to buy them, then this technology can make a substantial impact on greenhouse gases.

-Paul