Hybrid Shmybrid
Posted 30th September 2009 at 03:49 AM by MJL21193
Updated 16th November 2009 at 11:58 PM by MJL21193
Updated 16th November 2009 at 11:58 PM by MJL21193
Sitting on the highway in stop and go traffic this evening, I notice a funny logo on the GMC Yukon directly in front of me:
???
One of the biggest, most offensive, waste of sheet metal, plastic and steel SUV's on the road - a hybrid? What a joke!
The whole hybrid idea is IMO a total load of bunk, a stop gasp measure at best; really, just another example of the big guys cashing in on a trend, a buzz word..."Hybrid".
Here (on planet Earth) we have an enormous infrastructure built around the car - in particular, the internal combustion engine.
Now, as the supply of fossil fuels start to dwindle, "they" want to abandon the internal combustion engine in favour of electric motors and batteries...BATTERIES! Specifically, lately, lithium ion batteries. I know about rechargeable batteries - I've used them every day for the last 20 years. The technology has improved for sure but they still have some glaring shortcomings: 1 - they have a finite life span and this is relatively short for a lithium ion battery. 2 - they are expensive (and, going back to point #1, you need to replace them when they wear out). 3 - this is the big one: they need to be charged. Where does the electricity come from to charge these batteries? How about coal fired generators? How about nuclear reactors?
We have all of these cars with fuel burning engines - why not produce a better fuel? A cleaner fuel? Alcohol comes to mind but right up there at the top of the list (for me anyway) is hydrogen. Hydrogen will power the engines we have TODAY with a few minor changes.
But...
What's the cry? "Hydrogen is expensive to produce" - so are trillions of metric tonnes of batteries, alive and dead.
"Hydrogen is dangerous, did you see the Hindenburg??" - You mean back in '37? 1937?? And gasoline is safe??
The older I get, the more I see how much this world resembles a Monty Python skit - pompous, self righteous idiots proposing ridiculous, moronic ideas and being cheered on by head nodding fools while the rest of us look on helplessly.
???
One of the biggest, most offensive, waste of sheet metal, plastic and steel SUV's on the road - a hybrid? What a joke!
The whole hybrid idea is IMO a total load of bunk, a stop gasp measure at best; really, just another example of the big guys cashing in on a trend, a buzz word..."Hybrid".
Here (on planet Earth) we have an enormous infrastructure built around the car - in particular, the internal combustion engine.
Now, as the supply of fossil fuels start to dwindle, "they" want to abandon the internal combustion engine in favour of electric motors and batteries...BATTERIES! Specifically, lately, lithium ion batteries. I know about rechargeable batteries - I've used them every day for the last 20 years. The technology has improved for sure but they still have some glaring shortcomings: 1 - they have a finite life span and this is relatively short for a lithium ion battery. 2 - they are expensive (and, going back to point #1, you need to replace them when they wear out). 3 - this is the big one: they need to be charged. Where does the electricity come from to charge these batteries? How about coal fired generators? How about nuclear reactors?
We have all of these cars with fuel burning engines - why not produce a better fuel? A cleaner fuel? Alcohol comes to mind but right up there at the top of the list (for me anyway) is hydrogen. Hydrogen will power the engines we have TODAY with a few minor changes.
But...
What's the cry? "Hydrogen is expensive to produce" - so are trillions of metric tonnes of batteries, alive and dead.
"Hydrogen is dangerous, did you see the Hindenburg??" - You mean back in '37? 1937?? And gasoline is safe??
The older I get, the more I see how much this world resembles a Monty Python skit - pompous, self righteous idiots proposing ridiculous, moronic ideas and being cheered on by head nodding fools while the rest of us look on helplessly.
Total Comments 7
Comments
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And did you know China and Chile have 90% of all the lithium on the planet ?? As well as most of the other rare earth elements used for flat screens , LED's , and various other doping materials in our silicon world ...SCARY !!Quote:Specifically, lately, lithium ion batteries
Our world as it is today is NOT SUSTAINABLE , in the next 10 years one will see endless wars over the last limited resources that can not even remotely bring 7 billion humans even close to the standard of living that we enjoy (???) here in north america !
OSPosted 30th September 2009 at 06:38 AM by ostripper
Updated 30th September 2009 at 06:43 AM by ostripper -
I'd rather think of myself as a pigeon . Those animals are everywhere and they perform well for their body size . Electricity , and you didn't mention alternative ones , might be good to carry at least one human ,without any luggage and hopefully not uphill.Posted 4th October 2009 at 08:49 AM by picowallspeaker
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Look what I found here (free translation...)from a magazine.
Douglas Coupland :" It would be nice sometime to be in a pigeon series. Is individualism an ecological disaster ? Probably . One day we will look back and think :"Is it over?"
CiaoPosted 4th October 2009 at 06:11 PM by picowallspeaker
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I've noticed the batteries too. They don't make any sense. The voltage is wrong at best and if you didn't take it out of a charger that has been running nonstop then you can bet that its useless to the purpose for which it is made. Ironically, those that advertised to stay charged longer are those that run themselves down faster. Again, opposite of purpose.
Therefore, it seems that the purpose is something else.
Any ideas on what that is?
I'm stumped!
And, why doesn't that Yukon have a whopping huge solar panel inbuilt to its very large roof? The responsible thing that it could do as a hybrid has been omitted. Weird. I wonder why?Posted 13th November 2009 at 01:30 AM by danielwritesbac
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I also felt that hydrogen was the way of the future... all the benefits of internal combustion, but without the polution basically just water vapour as the waste product.
The first problem is efficiently cracking the water (but I guess solar or wind power could be used to do this). The second problem (which I only recently became aware of) is the storage (and I still haven't verified this). As Hydrogen is the smallest atom, it follows that it isn't possible to build anything that can contain it! as it is the smallest atom it will always find a way to leak out!
Tony.Posted 14th November 2009 at 11:01 AM by wintermute
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I don't see potential leakage as a problem, especially on that scale. The biggest problems are 2: mindset and California. Mindset in that the latest fashion is the environment and going "green" - the car industry responds with the easiest way to make more money - hybrid vehicles. Ford has banked on electric cars, Mitsubishi has built a huge production facility for battery production and will introduce their electric car next year. It's the fastest way to get to the finish line. What's the finish line? California has passed into law that in 2012 75000 of the new cars sold must be zero emission. In 2018, 16% of the cars sold must be zero emission.
Electric is doable today and the cost, present and future, will be carried by the consumer.Posted 15th November 2009 at 02:30 AM by MJL21193
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did you guys see the magazine articles on replaceable batteries at local fill up stations.. like you drive up, a robot ejects your current battery and a charged one gets plug in..
the idea is that you pay the company per month for unlimited "recharges" that is done at their station..
-joePosted 4th March 2010 at 10:32 AM by jtktam
