Posted by Michelle Steiner on January 5, 2010, 5:20 pm
> With the Prius, you put in gasoline. Period. The Prius is not an
> electric car, anymore than your television is a microcomputer.
Not quite that simple; the traction battery is initially charged from an
outside source of electricity.
> The Volt, however, takes electricity in from the outside. Way, way
> different--and that makes it an electric car.
But it also uses a gasoline engine to charge the battery when in motion
after the battery is depleted.
--
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Posted by Elmo P. Shagnasty on January 5, 2010, 6:39 pm
> > With the Prius, you put in gasoline. Period. The Prius is not an
> > electric car, anymore than your television is a microcomputer.
>
> Not quite that simple; the traction battery is initially charged from an
> outside source of electricity.
well, note that I said "YOU" put in gasoline.
The car is delivered from the delivering dealer all full up with energy.
To replace that energy, the owner--any owner, at any time down the
road--fills it with gasoline. That is the ONLY source of energy that
the car takes in after it leaves the factory.
> > The Volt, however, takes electricity in from the outside. Way, way
> > different--and that makes it an electric car.
>
> But it also uses a gasoline engine to charge the battery when in motion
> after the battery is depleted.
Yep--and then the battery runs the electric motors that drive the
wheels. Unlike the Prius, the Volt has zero mechanical connection
between the gasoline engine and the wheels.
The Volt is an electric car, or at best a dual-fuel car.
Posted by Michelle Steiner on January 5, 2010, 8:49 pm
> > But it also uses a gasoline engine to charge the battery when in
> > motion after the battery is depleted.
>
> Yep--and then the battery runs the electric motors that drive the
> wheels. Unlike the Prius, the Volt has zero mechanical connection
> between the gasoline engine and the wheels.
>
> The Volt is an electric car, or at best a dual-fuel car.
It is not a true dual-fuel car; a dual-fuel car means that you can switch
from one fuel to the other, with neither having any connection or influence
on the other. The gasoline fuel is used only to create electricity to
charge the batteries that power the wheels.
Therefore, this discussion boils down what is the definition of a "hybrid
vehicle". You say the Volt is not a hybrid because the gasoline engine
does not directly power the wheels. The other viewpoint is that it is a
hybrid vehicle because the gasoline engine charges the batteries that power
the wheels.
Unless you all can agree on the definition of terms, you'll never come to
an agreement at all.
-- Michelle
--
Member National Rifle Association
Member American Civil Liberties Union
Member Human Rights Campaign
Posted by Elmo P. Shagnasty on January 5, 2010, 10:14 pm
> Therefore, this discussion boils down what is the definition of a "hybrid
> vehicle". You say the Volt is not a hybrid because the gasoline engine
> does not directly power the wheels. The other viewpoint is that it is a
> hybrid vehicle because the gasoline engine charges the batteries that power
> the wheels.
Trains and submarines aren't hybrid vehicles; they call them
diesel-electrics.
Posted by Al Falfa on January 5, 2010, 10:58 pm
>> Therefore, this discussion boils down what is the definition of a "hybrid
>> vehicle". You say the Volt is not a hybrid because the gasoline engine
>> does not directly power the wheels. The other viewpoint is that it is a
>> hybrid vehicle because the gasoline engine charges the batteries that
>> power
>> the wheels.
> Trains and submarines aren't hybrid vehicles; they call them
> diesel-electrics.
All of the diesel train engines I've seen dissipate the energy captured
during braking in the form of heat because they have no way to store the
energy to be used later for propulsion. Perhaps there are some that pull
battery cars and I'm not aware of them. I don't know about subs, but a
diesel-electric train isn't equivalent to what we have come to know as the
hybrid automobile.
> electric car, anymore than your television is a microcomputer.