Expect to see more hybrid cars
<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/01/06/hybrid.cars.ap/index.html"; target="_blank">http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/01/06/hybrid.cars.ap/index.html</a>;
The article also mentions that Ford and Chrysler are planning on making hybrids part of their fleet. On this news I expect European and Japanese manufacturers to ramp up their schedules and by mid to late this decade we may be seeing a whole lot of hybrids on the road instead of the odd one we see now and then today.
The article also mentions that Ford and Chrysler are planning on making hybrids part of their fleet. On this news I expect European and Japanese manufacturers to ramp up their schedules and by mid to late this decade we may be seeing a whole lot of hybrids on the road instead of the odd one we see now and then today.
Comments
If demand is high for all hybrid models, GM says it could produce a million or more a year by 2007. GM sold nearly 4.8 million vehicles in 2002.
That's almost 25% (maybe closer to 20% using 2007 numbers) in 5 years. If demand is there. Just to give an idea where I got my 50% number in the above post extrapolating from the above estimate.
edit. I realize this is only estimates for one company (GM) but I expect the numbers to be higher for European and Japanese manufacturers because of their needs and those units will seep into our market. And I expect Ford and Chrysler to match whatever GM does. IMO
[ 01-06-2003: Message edited by: Outsider ]</p>
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Give it 10-15 years for a significant difference. By significant I mean >50% hybrid, 20% fuel cell/electric, and 30% gasoline/diesel.</strong><hr></blockquote>
I would consider that a huge success and I hope to see it happen. I hope I live long enough to see it happen.
Personally, I'd like to see large cities forced to make the switch sooner with the farmers left alone for the time being.
<strong>Personally, I'd like to see large cities forced to make the switch sooner with the farmers left alone for the time being.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Your right, the legislation should be for dense auto populations because that's where most of the environmental damage is done. Out in rural and suburban areas it's less of an issue...
<strong>And how exactly are hybrids anything more than marginally better than diesels?</strong><hr></blockquote>
Like I said, a hybrid uses its electric motor for the times where a gas engine is the least efficient and most pollution producing: when accelerating. And I don't see the industry heading toward diesel. It's been around for a long time and if they were going to they would have already. Around here you're hard pressed to find a diesel fill up station, most are near highways. But a diesel/electric hybrid... now that's interesting.
A Toyota Prius is only $20,000 US, pretty reasonable considering the mileage over the lifetime of the vehicle. A Mac user should appreciate the TCO of something they use their hard earned cash on.
The next billionare is the guy that invents a fuel cell that runs on Nitrogen.
i can't wait til the first SUV hybrid. what a joke...
sometimes i hate this country...
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The next billionare is the guy that invents a fuel cell that runs on Nitrogen.
why would we want that? hydrogen is perfect. when i reacts with O2, all we get is water as exhaust. if we start with nitrogen and then react with O2, the results won't be quite as pleasant...
look no further than to the japanese to innovate and then be adopted by us over here years later. til the japanese think of it, we don't have any use for it, right...?
<strong>And how exactly are hybrids anything more than marginally better than diesels?</strong><hr></blockquote>
Who says you can't make a Diesel/Electric hybrid? The battery and electric motor in the hybrid cars do one thing, they recover energy you ultimately waste while driving. Whenever you're moving and find yourself braking, you are wasting energy. Hybrids try to reuse some of that energy.
It doesn't matter what other kind of fuel the hybrid uses. Hybrid designs just make sense.
And like Outsider said, hybrids are getting pretty affordable, especially when you figure in the tax breaks many states are offering potential hybrid and clean-air vehicle buyers.
<strong>i still remember this one stupid girl in my speech-com class this past summer. her answer to the natural feul crisis in arabian parts of the world were to find gas elsewhere, like alaska. the next day i said my speech: the answer is NOT to find more damn gas. the answer is to make a new engine that doesnt NEED gasoline to run at all, but that uses a cleaner solution, ie hydrogen feul cell based electric motor. yeah, she looked like a moron after i was done...
look no further than to the japanese to innovate and then be adopted by us over here years later. til the japanese think of it, we don't have any use for it, right...?
Well to me YOU look like the moron because there is no such thing as a "hydrogen feul cell based electric motor" that can run a car. So her solution was practical and yours is R&D with no grantee of success.
BTW where does all the hydrogen come from <img src="confused.gif" border="0">
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The next billionare is the guy that invents a fuel cell that runs on Nitrogen.
Make the right investments today and you should be very well off in 20-30 years time.
Edit: heyy, you said nitrogen, I didna even notice that, cheeky bastard!
[ 01-06-2003: Message edited by: Matsu ]</p>
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why would we want that? hydrogen is perfect. when i reacts with O2, all we get is water as exhaust. if we start with nitrogen and then react with O2, the results won't be quite as pleasant...</strong><hr></blockquote>
It was a joke. Hydrogen is hard to contain, while nitrogen we can just take from the air, you know the stuff that makes up over 70% of our atmosphere?
[ 01-06-2003: Message edited by: Matsu ]</p>