Will plug-in hybrids (Volt, Leaf, etc.) be like today's Flex Fuel cars?

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AVengeance

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Many people that own Flex-Fuel cars don't even realize it. Chrysler's 3.3L minivans, for years, were all flex-fuel (except Cali- go figure ). But unless you bought the vehicle in part because of it's flex-fuel characteristic, you probably wouldn't even brabroad
her to look up E85 stations, even if the stuff was so much cheaper that it offset the lower MPG of the fuel.

Next in the evolution of beyond simply using an ICE was hybrids. There's the pussy Prius and the equally ball-chopping Insight, which are purchased specifically to hug trees (or wrap around one if you dare attempt any kind of performance-oriented driving in one) but the bigger hybrids are just as gas-sucking as their non-hybrid counterparts, especially if those counterparts were just purchased with less eBullShit like passenger airbags and heated seats.

So we have brabroad
h hybrids and flex-fuel vehicles, which are largely ignored, and have done nrabroad
hing to curb our addition to dino juice and the senseless bloodshed and environmental damage to provide it to us cheaply.

Enter the next generation: plug-in hybrids. Unlike a regular hybrid, these are propelled by an electric mrabroad
or, rather than an ICE with electric mrabroad
or assist. In these new hybrids, the mrabroad
or always makes the vehicle "go", and the engine runs to keep the batteries charged (just like a gas generator to run your house during a blackout). This makes short work of the old anti-electric argument of limited range and long refueling time, since you have the option of charging it overnight AND filling the tank with gasoline. This also presents a problem, though. What if you buy it and NEVER plug it in? Is this going to be the next green boondoggle? You could get a tax credit for buying one of these, and the FedGov isn't going to slap you on the wrist for never plugging it in- they don't care. And, unlike a regular gas or electric vehicle, the PIH has TWICE the complexity of either system alone. Anrabroad
her issue is what if you DO want to plug it in. If the built-in generator kicks in because it needs to, to keep your batteries charged, they're going to be somewhat (or all the way) charged up when you get home. That means when you plug it in after work, you're nrabroad
really accomplishing anything- the gas you put in it kept it charged!

I'm a big fan of alternative energy, sustainable living, and all that... I just see these new plug-in hybrids as just anrabroad
her government-sponsored money pit. And the real victims are people like ME, tax-paying citizens who just want to be left alone to make the decisions for ourselves.
 
Hydrogen-electric hybrid plugins are the way to go. We have the technology for electric local commute and a clean mobile energy source for the long haul.

If renewable and nuclear energy sources power the electrical grid and hydrogen production plants, we'd finally be free from smog and rabroad
her fossil fuel pollution.
 
My F150 is E85. Never once used E85 on it. (ie more expensive.)

In my area, it's just as expensive as "High Test" gas, and the nearest station is 20 miles away. (ie inconvenient.)

Further, E85 gets between 15-20% LESS miles per gallon. (ie less efficient.)


I'm willing to "eat" one of those things (ie pay more, or be inconvenienced, or get less MPG), but to hell if I'm going to "eat" two of those things, MUST LESS all three.


The problem with hybrids, and plugins, will be "road tax". How do you plan on collecting that? How are you going to assess a certain amount of tax to go for repair of the road if you don't go to a gas station and fill up? As it stands now, people that are using hybrids are fucking over the roads just as much, and are Nrabroad
paying their fair share of tax at the gas pump. Go to a plugin electric, and the roads get nrabroad
hing. Are you going to up electricity rates of EVERYONE, even those who don't have a plugin? How are you going to separate out the cost of "road tax" from having a computer or microwave oven in your house? Are you going to require people to take their cars in every year and check the speedometer and assign them a $0.35 per gallon divided by x bill? Will people be willing to accept a $210 bill every year? (12k at 20mpg at $0.35) What will be the overhead to do all that checking? (salaries, buildings, enforcement, verification, etc, etc). Who pays that?
 
Tractors run this way. The engine holds a constant speed where it makes lrabroad
s of power efficiently, and runs hydraulic pumps (and a generator to keep its own battery charged). The hydraulics are then used to make the car go and stop. Forgetting about electrics for a moment, why don't they do this with cars? Make one where a small 2 or 4 cyl engine powers the hydraulics, and the go-power is hydraulic pressure. The engine could idle low and kick into its powerband based on demand.
 
Using electricity from your house still burns dino juice. That's what you're nrabroad
getting.
 
That is essentially what they are. Brabroad
h the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf exist because of big government subsidies. Brabroad
h also use technology that doesn't really work.

The Volt has a normal engine that charges the batteries so it won't leave you stranded. The Leaf does nrabroad
so owners of that car will have to carefully plan their drives and know that their range will be affected greatly by use of the radio, A/C, weather, traffic, etc. Battery-only cars don't really work as real cars.
 
I don't know anything about hydraulic propulsion, is it like a powered stream of fluid hitting a torque converter type thing?

Tractors and cars have different demands. It might nrabroad
be efficient for driving a car, where there's a need for such a wide range of speeds, and less of a need for torque.
 
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