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Old 12-08-2009, 11:48 PM
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texan_idiot25 texan_idiot25 is offline
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Besides the technology being very expensive, (which is why the EV1 was a LEASED experiment, they were far too expensive for production) it is also creating waste, just at another source. In theory to support a massive number of plug in cars (Hybrid, Series, or purely EV) the electrical infrastructure has to be beefed up as well. This means current coal burning plants will also increase out put. Oh noes, more coal belching... But of course many states are also still resistant to nuclear energy (clean, very efficient/powerful) so it's a slow going situation there.

The Volt works just like a Diesel/Electric train. The IC Engine is only there to charge the batteries. There is no turbo, there is no need. This 1.4 or what ever liter motor's only duty is to power a generator, at no point will it power the wheels directly. What does this mean? Well, as you know gas motors are only effective at a certain RPM range. This includes power, torque, as well as MPG. But, by nature of a normal transmission, your motor is rarely in this ideal range for very long, thus lots of efficiency lost. This is why CVT's have become popular, it keeps the motor at a set RPM where it's most effective, and adjusts the gearing to put that power to the wheels.

But, when you remove that link between the engine and the wheels, you solve all issues of running the gas motor outside it's optimum range. That's what makes the Volt special, and technically not a Hybrid, as it does not use the gas motor for propulsion.

Hydrogen suffers from price, packaging space, and safety at the moment. But thankfully hydrogen will burn in an internal combustion engine, so we get to keep our vroom vroom. But, another problem is electricity as it takes a lot of electricity to extract the hydrogen gas in electrolysis.
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