What's a Hybrid Car?
Hybrids are cars that run off a rechargeable battery and gasoline, rather than just gasoline.
Hybrid batteries help to reduce fuel emissions because the hybrid engine draws on the battery and not gasoline when accelerating. Hybrid gasoline motors can shut off when the car is stopped and run off their electricity.
Why are Hybrid Cars a Good Idea?
Hybrid cars are good for the environment. They can reduce smog by 90 percent and they use far less gasoline than conventional cars.
Hybrid cars are economical. They can get up to 55 to 60 mpg in city driving, while a typical SUV might travel 15-20 miles per gallon, or use three times as much gas for the same distance!
Hybrids are better than all-electric cars because hybrid car batteries recharge as you drive so there is no need to plug in. Also, most electric cars cannot go faster than 50-60 mph, while hybrids can. Most electric cars need to be recharged every 50-100miles.
Figure out how many pounds of emissions your car produces per gallon, including how many trees it will take to offset just one month of your driving using this cool calculator at TravelMatters.
April 22, 2006
April 21, 2006
FROM THE OFFICIAL HONDA WEB SITE.....
With revitalized style and renewed spirit, the all-new 2006 Civic Hybrid is for those with the foresight to improve the future, and the spirit to enjoy the moment. The Civic Hybrid features a lightweight, low-friction 4-cylinder engine with torque-enhancing i-VTEC®. The engine is complemented by a powerful DC electric motor that's less than 2.5" wide. Power for the motor is stored in a compact battery pack behind the rear seat. And the Civic Hybrid IMA battery pack comes with an 8-year/80,000-mile limited battery warranty so you'll have even more peace of mind.
TRIM LEVEL
MSRP*Continuously VariableTransmission
Hybrid• 110-hp,1.3-liter, 8-valve, i-VTEC® 4-cylinder gasoline engine• Dual-point sequential ignition (i-DSI)• Nickel-metal hydride (Ni-MH) battery pack• Anti-lock braking system (ABS)• Dual-stage, dual-threshold front airbags (SRS)• Front side airbags with passenger-side Occupant Position Detection System (OPDS)• Side curtain airbags• Outboard Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children (LATCH)• Blue backlit gauges with electronic IMA™ display
$22,150.00Continuously Variable Transmission$23,650.00Continuously Variable Transmission with Honda Satellite-Linked Navigation System™
April 18, 2006
April 15, 2006
Howstuffworks "How Hybrid Cars Work"
Howstuffworks "How Hybrid Cars Work": "Why Hybrid?
You might wonder why anyone would build such complicated machines when most people are perfectly happy with their gasoline-powered cars. The reason is twofold: to reduce tailpipe emissions and to improve mileage. These goals are actually tightly interwoven.
Let's take the example of the California emissions standards, which dictate how much of each type of pollution a car is allowed to emit in California. The amount is usually specified in grams per mile (g/mi). For example, the low emissions vehicle (LEV) standard allows 3.4 g/mi of carbon monoxide. The key thing here is that the amount of pollution allowed does not depend on the mileage your car gets. But a car that burns twice as much gas to go a mile will generate approximately twice as much pollution. That pollution will have to be removed by the emissions control equipment on the car. So decreasing the fuel consumption of the car is one of the surest ways to decrease emissions.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is another type of pollution a car produces. The U.S. government does not regulate it, but scientists suspect that it contributes to global warming. Since it is not regulated, a car has no devices for removing CO2 from the exhaust. A car that burns twice as much gas adds twice as much CO2 to the atmosphere.
Auto makers in the United States have another strong incentive to improve mileage. They are required by law to meet Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. The current standards require that the average mileage of all the new cars sold by an auto maker should be 27.5 mpg (8.55 liters per 100 km). This means that if an auto maker sells one hybrid car that gets 60 mpg (3.92 liters per 100 km), it can then sell four big, expensive luxury cars that only get 20 mpg (11.76 liters per 100 km).
You might wonder why anyone would build such complicated machines when most people are perfectly happy with their gasoline-powered cars. The reason is twofold: to reduce tailpipe emissions and to improve mileage. These goals are actually tightly interwoven.
Let's take the example of the California emissions standards, which dictate how much of each type of pollution a car is allowed to emit in California. The amount is usually specified in grams per mile (g/mi). For example, the low emissions vehicle (LEV) standard allows 3.4 g/mi of carbon monoxide. The key thing here is that the amount of pollution allowed does not depend on the mileage your car gets. But a car that burns twice as much gas to go a mile will generate approximately twice as much pollution. That pollution will have to be removed by the emissions control equipment on the car. So decreasing the fuel consumption of the car is one of the surest ways to decrease emissions.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is another type of pollution a car produces. The U.S. government does not regulate it, but scientists suspect that it contributes to global warming. Since it is not regulated, a car has no devices for removing CO2 from the exhaust. A car that burns twice as much gas adds twice as much CO2 to the atmosphere.
Auto makers in the United States have another strong incentive to improve mileage. They are required by law to meet Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. The current standards require that the average mileage of all the new cars sold by an auto maker should be 27.5 mpg (8.55 liters per 100 km). This means that if an auto maker sells one hybrid car that gets 60 mpg (3.92 liters per 100 km), it can then sell four big, expensive luxury cars that only get 20 mpg (11.76 liters per 100 km).
April 11, 2006
WOW a 200 mph Hybrid Car??
A fledging Las Vegas-based company called Hybrid Technologies will launch a car it calls LiX-75 at the New York Auto Show on Apr.14. The sleek, $125,000 sports car runs off of electric batteries, boosted by solar panels on the trunk. It recharges in four to six hours from a regular three-prong electric socket. And the company claims it will go from zero to 60 miles per hour in three seconds and hit a top speed of 200 miles per hour.
"It's a sports car that performs like a Porsche Boxster, looks like a Ferrari, and has zero emissions" says Richard Griffiths, head of business development at Hybrid.
The LiX will utilize lithium ion batteries, big versions of the kind that power laptop computers. Because they can store more energy and degrade less quickly when not in use than the nickel metal hydride batteries used in hybrid cars today, they're rapidly becoming the technology of choice for electric-car developers.
Griffiths says the LiX will take four to six hours to charge and get about 100 miles from each visit to the plug. He says the company will be ready to start delivering the cars in about eight weeks from a new 40,000-square-foot production facility it built in Mooresville, N.C.
However, this is not the first time somebody has done something as Hybrid is attempting to do. San Dimas (Calif.)-based AC Propulsion launched a 200 mph electric sports car called the tzero in 2002. Another curvy electric, the Venturi, made its debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show in 2005. It cost a staggering $660,000.
WELL I JUST REPEAT WOWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"It's a sports car that performs like a Porsche Boxster, looks like a Ferrari, and has zero emissions" says Richard Griffiths, head of business development at Hybrid.
The LiX will utilize lithium ion batteries, big versions of the kind that power laptop computers. Because they can store more energy and degrade less quickly when not in use than the nickel metal hydride batteries used in hybrid cars today, they're rapidly becoming the technology of choice for electric-car developers.
Griffiths says the LiX will take four to six hours to charge and get about 100 miles from each visit to the plug. He says the company will be ready to start delivering the cars in about eight weeks from a new 40,000-square-foot production facility it built in Mooresville, N.C.
However, this is not the first time somebody has done something as Hybrid is attempting to do. San Dimas (Calif.)-based AC Propulsion launched a 200 mph electric sports car called the tzero in 2002. Another curvy electric, the Venturi, made its debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show in 2005. It cost a staggering $660,000.
WELL I JUST REPEAT WOWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nobody'S Perfect.
This is an extract from Bradley Berman 's Yahoo News article titled: Hybrid Talk: Big Auto Bandies the H Word
I just pasted it here so to start this blog. Comments are welcomed. Thanks
Don't think that Prius-producing Toyota has escaped the attention of the environmentalists. Last fall, when Toyota (TM) launched its "Hybrid Synergy Drive" ad campaign, BlueWater Network launched its own campaign, entitled "Toyota: A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing." The full-page ads in The New York Times and other publications showed CEO Katsuaki Watanabe in the foreground and a man wearing a wolf's head in the background.
"What people don't know, and what we wanted to tell them, is that Toyota is not as green as it makes itself out to be," says Danielle Fugere, director of climate change at BlueWater. "Yes, it has some good green technology, like the Prius. But Toyota has consistently lobbied against every attempt to increase vehicle fuel economy. It's part of a group of auto makers suing against California's greenhouse gas law."
While the various environmental groups have each chosen a different company to target for their public education campaigns, they stand unified in their criticism of the auto makers who have sued California to block the enactment of AB1493, the greenhouse gas capping law known as the Pavley Law. The regulation, which could affect as much as 30% of the U.S. market (not just California), would be phased in from 2009 to 2016. It would require the auto industry to cut greenhouse gas emissions from its new fleets by approximately 30%
I just pasted it here so to start this blog. Comments are welcomed. Thanks
Don't think that Prius-producing Toyota has escaped the attention of the environmentalists. Last fall, when Toyota (TM) launched its "Hybrid Synergy Drive" ad campaign, BlueWater Network launched its own campaign, entitled "Toyota: A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing." The full-page ads in The New York Times and other publications showed CEO Katsuaki Watanabe in the foreground and a man wearing a wolf's head in the background.
"What people don't know, and what we wanted to tell them, is that Toyota is not as green as it makes itself out to be," says Danielle Fugere, director of climate change at BlueWater. "Yes, it has some good green technology, like the Prius. But Toyota has consistently lobbied against every attempt to increase vehicle fuel economy. It's part of a group of auto makers suing against California's greenhouse gas law."
While the various environmental groups have each chosen a different company to target for their public education campaigns, they stand unified in their criticism of the auto makers who have sued California to block the enactment of AB1493, the greenhouse gas capping law known as the Pavley Law. The regulation, which could affect as much as 30% of the U.S. market (not just California), would be phased in from 2009 to 2016. It would require the auto industry to cut greenhouse gas emissions from its new fleets by approximately 30%
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