The EVs I'd really like to see some day in the US are the dirt cheap 100 mile range $5k Chinese EVs. One can dream I guess.
Likely to remain a dream as the people buying a $5k car are likely to prefer a reliable 12 year old luxuery car instead.
Nobody understands the point of hybrid cars [video]
91–100 of 230 posts
Re: Nobody understands the point of hybrid cars [video]
#92If nobody understands them, why would I watch this video - Either he also doesn't understand them, therefore why would I watch? Or he does understand them, in which case the title is incorrect, therefore why would I watch?
https://youtu.be/KnUFH5GX_fI?t=981&si=VNWJu0XaNdu-gj9Y
Thanks for this.
Re: Nobody understands the point of hybrid cars [video]
#93I always thought the problem with hybrids was the complexity of the drive train, but this video is challenging that notion. It argues that the hybrid pack (minus the battery, perhaps?) is more compact and simpler than a manual gearbox, even. It consists of two electric motors and a planetary gear set, which is seemingly simpler than clutch packs, gear sets and belts of regular transmissions, including CVTs. Time code…
There's a lot of memes about how dumb it is to have all of the ICE moving parts, but they're just memes. We know how to make engines and they are cheap to mass produce. The complexity argument is aesthetic.
I don't know much about cars, but I have to assume that fewer moving parts means less wear and repairs.
Re: Nobody understands the point of hybrid cars [video]
#94I have all three ICE, EV and hybrid at home. I was hesitant at first when getting the EV because we already had the hybrid, but we needed a second SUV to carry kids. After two years with the EV it became evident to me the hybrid doesn’t make sense. It has some of the gas savings of an EV but you still deal with the inconvenience of maintaining a ICE. My EV has received zero maintenance other than cleaning the cameras…
I think the problem a lot of non-Toyota manufacturers have run into is trying to have it both ways, like you said. For better or worse (I say better), the Prius really committed to hybrid as its own form. Plenty of hybrids really are an electric motor and a ICE tacked together, and with that system, you're going to hit twice (at least) the problems of either one. The thing I appreciate about the Toyota power-split de…
Ford has had a similar design (sharing patents with Toyota) since the first Escape Hybrid in '04. But they never stuck with a high mpg platform, they're using it to build 34mpg small trucks and SUVs, not 60mpg cars.
Re: Nobody understands the point of hybrid cars [video]
#95Earlier quoted context omitted.
On a completely tangential note, has anyone ever tried a hybrid that was like a diesel-electric train? The engine just charges the battery. IIRC it can be much simpler, no need for gearing at all, the engine just runs at a constant speed and the battery handles delivering variable amounts of power.
Called a series hybrid, and it has been done. However gears are more efficient than a generator -> motor, and charging a battery adds even more losses. Thus if the engine is running anyway you are better off just mechanically connecting it to the wheels. Trains don't do the above in large parts because the gears needed either wouldn't fit in the allowed space. (we may not be able to make them large enough either - th…
Series hybrids do have efficiency advantages in some situations -- for example, they can run in EV mode at any speed, and they can also have more freedom to run the engine at speeds independent of the vehicle speed, which can enable it to be programmed to prefer running it at speeds dictated by efficiency rather than by the drive wheel speed.
The place where they fall behind is at steady state on the highway -- but all of the series hybrid systems on the road have a solution for this problem too! They typically have clutch that engages a one-speed direct drive from the engine to the wheels. This skips the double-conversion losses at highway cruising. Then if you give it some gas to accelerate, the clutch disengages and you go back to full double-conversion again.
Re: Nobody understands the point of hybrid cars [video]
#96I didn't get the "green stairs" reference; can anyone tell me what it's about? https://youtu.be/KnUFH5GX_fI?t=546
Re: Nobody understands the point of hybrid cars [video]
#97Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't get it. I put my Toyota hybrid in neutral while going through a car wash all the time. I just googled this. I had no idea this was a thing some people worry about. I guess it's a problem if the hybrid battery runs out while the car is in neutral, but there's a meter right there to tell you how much charge it's got if you're really worried about it.
What surprised me in the video is that Alec was telling how his engine can charge his battery while in the car wash. I had a 2016 Auris which I had to put it in neutral in the car wash, and in neutral the engine couldn't charge the battery. That was never a problem, I never had an empty battery in the car wash or even came close to it, but it does seem different from Alec's experience (unless I misunderstood).
I checked my Toyota's manual and it does explicitly warn about neutral for long periods of time for this reason. However, when not in neutral, the car will not allow the traction battery to be below 40% or so, so it is difficult to enter a car wash with an empty battery.
However, the car may have a very small, old, or weak battery; there may be significant drain on the battery (air conditioning?) while in neutral; and you may be in a very long car wash.
Re: Nobody understands the point of hybrid cars [video]
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
On a completely tangential note, has anyone ever tried a hybrid that was like a diesel-electric train? The engine just charges the battery. IIRC it can be much simpler, no need for gearing at all, the engine just runs at a constant speed and the battery handles delivering variable amounts of power.
one of the primary arguments of the video is that ecvt is a strictly superior solution. (and that diesel electric exists for massive torque conversion in trains, but loses efficiency)
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Re: Nobody understands the point of hybrid cars [video]
#99I always thought the problem with hybrids was the complexity of the drive train, but this video is challenging that notion. It argues that the hybrid pack (minus the battery, perhaps?) is more compact and simpler than a manual gearbox, even. It consists of two electric motors and a planetary gear set, which is seemingly simpler than clutch packs, gear sets and belts of regular transmissions, including CVTs. Time code…
On a completely tangential note, has anyone ever tried a hybrid that was like a diesel-electric train? The engine just charges the battery. IIRC it can be much simpler, no need for gearing at all, the engine just runs at a constant speed and the battery handles delivering variable amounts of power.
This was addressed explicitly in the video. It's far less efficient end-to-end, even though the gearing is theoretically simpler. Trains do it because diesel engines just can't produce the torque you need to move a train (at least, in the form factor of a locomotive), so they need to use electric motors.
Re: Nobody understands the point of hybrid cars [video]
#100Earlier quoted context omitted.
How many kids do you have that you need two SUVs to carry them all? its not common.
I'm willing to bet they didn't mean to carry kids that don't fit in two SUVs. Probably meant that logistically, they need two SUVs available. If you aren't American—or are, but don't have kids—you might not be aware that even two kids past 10yo and a sedan is a pretty bad experience. And I'm saying this as someone who loves his sedan, hates large cars, passionately hates SUVs, and definitely never wanted one. I have…
This. All of this.
I strongly dislike SUVs but due to transporting the kids around and their friends, my wife and I have switched vehicles during the week: she drives my sedan, I drive her SUV.
Being able to transport my oldest's friends around has resulted in improved relationships for both the kids, and the parents.
"Last minute sleepover after the game? No problem, I'll take your son and his gear in my car. We'll also pick up a pizza on the way back too. Drop off his toothbrush and pajamas at your convenience, after your other children are fed and bathed."
That's a briefer version of the exchange I had with a family last week, and their response was an audible sigh of relief, many thank yous, and an invite to dinner this weekend.