How to Hack a Hybrid...
...so it gets 100 miles per gallon. The Economist looks at the "motley crew of hackers, entrepreneurs and idealists that has sprung up to boost the nascent technology of plug-in hybrids."
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9 Comments:
cool.
very cool. but remember: hacking your car also means voiding your warranty. but i look forward to the day when we can all drive a plug-in hybrid off the lot.
Plug -In Hybrids are a crock. Look at the latest numbers from engineers and clean air models are clear - plug in hybrids will create air pollution in much of the country. That's because of power grid is dirtier than car exhaust. In states like California, where you get a lot of energy from hydro and wind power, it might make sense. But in the rest of the country, and particularly in states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Texas, it will increase air pollution.
Plug ins may be the future, but they are a far off future. That's why no auto company has serious plans to make them anytime soon, and that's why there's only a handful of them in existence. That's also why groups like the Sierra Club don't support them.
Hey anonymous (above), why don't you read the article before sounding off? it addresses your concern:
"Sceptics also argue that electric cars are misleadingly clean: they are “pollute somewhere else” machines, they scoff. While running on battery power they produce no tailpipe emissions but, critics note, the coal-intensive grid electricity they use surely produces more greenhouse gases than a petrol engine does. Again, that turns out to be wrong: studies by California's Air Resources Board confirm that generating the electricity to power cars in pure-electric mode produces only about half of the greenhouse gases of typical petrol vehicles. This assumes the power grid is half coal-fired, as America's is today. As the grid “decarbonises” over time, such emissions will fall."
Yeah, I read the article. It's not true. While coal accounts for over 60% of our current electricity grid, it also accounts for about 85% of where our future electricity will come from. Thanks to the Bush energy plan, our grid isn't going to "de-carbonize." It's going to carbonize further. We're building 140 coal power plants right now. And the added demand of the nation's cars mean that we will get to more coal that much faster. Just because it's in a news article doesn't mean it's true. Furthermore, I've checked the CARB website, and I haven't found that report. A Google search found the exact some reference all over the websites by the company that retrofits hybrids into plug-ins, as well as the groups that promote them.
I don't mean to say that Plug-in Hybrids don't have incredible possibilities. But we always need to figure out where the pollution comes from. Even in California, the greenest electrical grid in the country, transmission scams are rumored to bring in coal electricty from Nevada nad Arizona. That's the energy that will be powring these plug-ins.
And don't even get me started on the battery problems.
Plug-In hybrids give the consumer an additional option. If I have the opportunity to use less gasoline and bring the cost of oil down in the process I'll take it. A little competition should be good. The oil companies have had a monopoly for too long.
"Just because it's in a news article doesn't mean it's true. Furthermore, I've checked the CARB website, and I haven't found that report. A Google search found the exact some reference all over the websites by the company that retrofits hybrids into plug-ins, as well as the groups that promote them."
it may not be true, and it's hard to prove a negative, granted. but you should be a little more humble. based on what the evidence you cite (or lack thereof) you're in no position to say, categorically, "it's not true."
don't get me wrong. your input's appreciated, but you'll have to do a bit better if you want me to concede your points.
so, why not have the option to plug in where it makes sense. that would put pressure on states to decarbonize their grids. consumers who knew their car *could* get 100 mpg would put pressue on their utilities.
as for the bush admin's coal-fired dreams, it's true. all the more reason we urgently need a new administration. two more years and out. that's what we need to work for and energy should be front and center.
where are the democrats promising to do something different?
Last I heard, the Bush government was still blocking every single wind farm in Minnesota, Michigan, North and South Dakota, and Illinois, asserting that the wind turbines may interfere with the ability of the military to detect and stop terrorist planes coming in from Canada. The Dept. of Homeland Security is in the middle of the game. I know it sounds like something that is too outrageous to be true, I wish it were not true! The things this government has done and continues to do defy the imagination.
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