hybrid info

There is still much to be done with hybrid technologies to maximize their fuel economy and performance, and many questions remain to be answered. Lithium ion battery development, giving the electric motor more power and storage capacity at less weight, is promising, but uncertain, when taking into account cost and resource availability for mass production. The introduction of ultra-capacitors as a potential complement to batteries, or hydraulic hybrid systems that could even replace batteries, may push that technological envelope even further over the course of the next decade. The growing interest in plug-in hybrid technology to enable longer and higher speed driving only on battery power will depend on battery advances, but they’re expected to be on the market by the middle of the next decade.

http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/feb2008/gb20080214_783667.htm

Frank, A. A., B. Johnston, T. McGoldrick, D. Funston, H. Kwan, M. H. Alexander, F. Alioto, N. Culaud, O. Lang and A. F. Burke. 1998. The continued design and development of the University of California, Davis Futurecar. SAE Technical Paper 980487. New York: Society of Automotive Engineers.

Meyr, N. 2003. Design and development of the 2002 UC Davis Futuretruck. SAE Technical Paper 2003-01-1263. New York: Society of Automotive Engineers.

Post, R. F. and S. F. Post. 1973. Flywheels. Scientific American 229(6):17-23.

Romm, J. J. and A. Frank. 2006. Hybrid vehicles gain traction. Scientific American 294(4):72-79.

Sanna, L. 2005. Driving the solution, the plug-in hybrid vehicle. EPRI Journal (Fall):8-17.

Solik, E. A., A. A. Frank and P. A. Erickson. 2005. Design improvements on a vee belt CVT and application to a new in-line CVT concept. SAE Technical Paper 2005-01-3459. New York: Society of Automotive Engineers.

 http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2005/hybrid_2006.html

www.ucsusa.org.

At the end of the day, the success of hybrid technology in total will be in how much the technology is used to improve fuel economy and maintain the power of the vehicle, rather than just make a car go faster on the same gallon of gas. Hybrids are just one of the first steps in the larger sea change taking place in vehicle efficiency and in finding solutions to global warming and dependence on oil.

About the Author

Scott Nathanson is a Toyota Prius owner and the U.S. field organizer for the Union of Concerned Scientists’ clean vehicles program. He is the administrator of the Webby and APEX Award-winning Hybridcenter.org Web site. Web site www.ucsusa.org.

Gale Document Number:A165693150

info on hybrid vehicles

There is still much to be done with hybrid technologies to maximize their fuel economy and performance, and many questions remain to be answered. Lithium ion battery development, giving the electric motor more power and storage capacity at less weight, is promising, but uncertain, when taking into account cost and resource availability for mass production. The introduction of ultra-capacitors as a potential complement to batteries, or hydraulic hybrid systems that could even replace batteries, may push that technological envelope even further over the course of the next decade. The growing interest in plug-in hybrid technology to enable longer and higher speed driving only on battery power will depend on battery advances, but they’re expected to be on the market by the middle of the next decade.

At the end of the day, the success of hybrid technology in total will be in how much the technology is used to improve fuel economy and maintain the power of the vehicle, rather than just make a car go faster on the same gallon of gas. Hybrids are just one of the first steps in the larger sea change taking place in vehicle efficiency and in finding solutions to global warming and dependence on oil.

About the Author

Scott Nathanson is a Toyota Prius owner and the U.S. field organizer for the Union of Concerned Scientists’ clean vehicles program. He is the administrator of the Webby and APEX Award-winning Hybridcenter.org Web site. Web site www.ucsusa.org.

Gale Document Number:A165693150

more info

Full Text:COPYRIGHT 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Byline: Dexter Roberts

China, so notorious for its toxic air that athletes competing in this summer’s Olympics are desperate to spend as little time in Beijing as possible [BusinessWeek.com, 2/12/08], should be a promising market for eco-friendly hybrids. Auto sales grew 22%, to 8.8 million last year, and will probably top 10 million in 2008. Meanwhile, oil imports have soared and air pollution increasingly clogs the skies of China’s cities. But high sticker prices for hybrids and unclear policies from Beijing have deterred many buyers, and companies that have tried to sell green cars so far have met with disappointing results.

Still, companies are hardly giving up. The latest is General Motors (GM). On Jan. 22, the American giant known for its gas-guzzling heavy metal announced it will produce a hybrid later this year in China. GM will launch the Buick LaCrosse Eco-Hybrid, an upper- to mid-end sedan with a 2.4-liter engine. [The exact date and price have not been announced.] Toyota Motor (TM) started selling its Prius in China in 2005 and now assembles the world’s most popular hybrid in the northeastern city of Changchun. Honda Motor (HMC) started importing its Civic hybrid from Japan last year.

GM isn’t a global leader in hybrids, and while Toyota’s Prius gets more than 50 miles per gallon, the LaCrosse will get only 34 mpg. That’s just a five-mile-per-gallon improvement over the nonhybrid model. GM nonetheless contends the launch of its first China hybrid shows that it is being a good corporate citizen. The company, which commands 9.5% of the Chinese auto market, has “a responsibility to contribute to sustainable development of our society by promoting long-term energy security,” said Kevin Wale, president and managing director of the GM China Group in an e-mail answer to

info on hybrid

Most students believe the main reason to buy hybrid cars is to contribute to less dependence on foreign oil and to a cleaner environment rather than to save money on gasoline. In this study, it was found that students have been misinformed about the premium charged on hybrid cars and the actual money they can save by driving hybrid cars. The researchers suggest that the media and government agencies be more honest and ethical and provide accurate mileage information, while continuing to stress environmental benefits to potential hybrid car consumers.

Students in this study are like the typical domestic consumers who want to drive larger cars or SUVs rather than midsize or compact cars. Therefore, there is reason to believe the domestic auto industry will have more success with larger cars than with small hybrids like the most popular make and model, Toyota Prius.

In general, to the writers’ knowledge, this is the pioneer study relating this demographic group to the future of hybrid cars. Although a convenience sample was taken, the current statistics presented here may well represent young consumers from the North Alabama region and should well reflect U.S. college students’ attitudes towards hybrid cars. A follow up study might be feasible when more information and data on car rental companies’ hybrid vehicles demand report becomes available in the North Alabama region and/or for the entire country.

LITERATURE CITED

Benton, J. 29 Dec. 2005. 2005: The year of the hybrid. Consumer Affairs.Com URL: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2005/hybrid_2006.html

hybrid info

BATTERY COOLING SYSTEM

With most hybrid vehicle traction batteries mounted inside the passenger compartment, a traditional cooling system employs forced cabin air for cooling. Using air cooled by the rear air conditioning system, as well as cabin air to cool the battery, DENSO Corp.’s battery cooling system (http://rbi.ims.ca/5705-503 ) provides comparable cooling performance with only half of the air flow required by previous models. The reduced noise level (approximately 30 percent lower) was required for passenger comfort in the Lexus LS600h and the Lexus LS600hL. In addition to the batteries, other system components such as the system main relay and the current sensor are typically cooled by the battery cooling system.

HYBRID POWER CONTROL UNIT

DENSO Corp. developed a Power Control Unit (PCU) (http://rbi.ims.ca/5705-504 ) that includes the boost converter and two inverters for the main traction motors of hybrid vehicles. Used initially on the Lexus LS600h and LS600hL, the dc-dc converter boosts the 288V battery voltage to 650V. Compared to the company’s conventional technology, the new PCU produces approximately 60 percent higher output power per unit volume. Cooling relies on a new structure that sandwiches the heat generating power devices between two heat sinks and in layers between stacked cooling tubes. Soldering both sides of the power devices to the heat sinks reduced the thickness of each power device, as well as the stress on the solder joints to ensure high reliability. By changing the number of stacked power devices and cooling tubes, the PCU’s design can easily be revised to handle different output voltages in other hybrid systems.

Gale Document Number:A176774834

more info on hybrid cars

Most students believe the main reason to buy hybrid cars is to contribute to less dependence on foreign oil and to a cleaner environment rather than to save money on gasoline. In this study, it was found that students have been misinformed about the premium charged on hybrid cars and the actual money they can save by driving hybrid cars. The researchers suggest that the media and government agencies be more honest and ethical and provide accurate mileage information, while continuing to stress environmental benefits to potential hybrid car consumers.

Students in this study are like the typical domestic consumers who want to drive larger cars or SUVs rather than midsize or compact cars. Therefore, there is reason to believe the domestic auto industry will have more success with larger cars than with small hybrids like the most popular make and model, Toyota Prius.

In general, to the writers’ knowledge, this is the pioneer study relating this demographic group to the future of hybrid cars. Although a convenience sample was taken, the current statistics presented here may well represent young consumers from the North Alabama region and should well reflect U.S. college students’ attitudes towards hybrid cars. A follow up study might be feasible when more information and data on car rental companies’ hybrid vehicles demand report becomes available in the North Alabama region and/or for the entire country.

LITERATURE CITED

Benton, J. 29 Dec. 2005. 2005: The year of the hybrid. Consumer Affairs.Com URL: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2005/hybrid_2006.html

Attic

I can remember going back thirty two years ago, my dad purchased a house and after  we moved in we  had to clean the attic. I can remember barely being able to walk in the attic, there must have been fifty years of junk or treasures, in this attic.  We started by bringing down as much as we could to put out on trash day, for months we filled the area of the sidewalk from the start of the property to the end.  As we got down to the end we found old furniture that had been hand carved and the detail of workmenship was outstanding.  I moved out of that house when I got maried in the year 1980.  My parents lived there for the rest of their lives.  in the year 2000. my dad passed away,and I started taking care of the property, paying the bills and taking care of my mom, along with my brothers.  In the year 2003. the tennant on the third floor moved out and me and my brothers started cleaning up removing all the carpets, and evaluating  the repairs that we needed to do to rent the apartment.  My brother got the key to the attic,and we went up to see what was in the attic.  once again the attic was full of furniture, vcr,strollers,dolls, all kinds of toys accetra. aparently my dad had let the tennants put some stuff up there and  through out the years it had acumulated, we filled three dumpsters of junk.  At this time I decided to lock up the attic and Im the only one that has the key.   Tennants will store things in the attic but once they move out the junk stays behind.

Man on a beach

This picture reminded me of a person that is on a beach over looking the water and the bridge.  He is probably enjoying the sights of the water and the natural beauty, of nature, the sound of the waves hitting the rocks the sunset glaring on the water, but  he is not dressed to be at a beach.  This reminded me of an old commercial on tv of President Nixon walking a dog on a beach wearing a suite.  Some of the pictures that we see the close attire doesnt match the scenery.    

practice

The word practice reminds me of practice makes perfect, this applies to just about everything the runner that practices for an up coming event. such as the Boston marathon or a baseball player that practices playing baseball all of his life to be good enough to play in the major league.  Or the student thats going back to school to get a college education, and has to practice and  do his homework to improve his skills to acomplish the task that he started, and close the chapter in this book.  

Picture

This picture reminded me of school children getting ready for a school play. It brought back some memories of my sons having parts in school plays.  And we were  so nervous that they that they didnt forget their lines.  I can also remember my youngest son playing in the school band, he played several years threw middle school and high school.  He played drums and  a baratone threwout school, he still plays the drums today and occasionally he gets together with some of his school friends to play they play in my garage, the band sounds alot better than they did a few years ago.