Hybrid

Nat wants to go test drive a Toyota hybrid this weekend. I like the idea behind hybrids. I've read that the technology doesn't save enough money when you factor in initial cost, lifetime maintenance, and repairs.That will change. Nat heard somewhere that they drive a bit differently. She wants to find out for herself. Sounds like fun.

Hybrids get better gas mileage in the city over the open road because most of them run on batteries up to about 40 mph. The gas engine is not doing much until then. Between the zero shift technology, hybrid technology, lighter, tougher frames, and telecommuting, you would think things would be getting better. No, They are steadily getting worse. Higher carbon emissions, More cars on the road. Ah, I remember the good old days when the U. S. and Europe were the only places polluting the planet. Now every one has gotten in on the act.

Several "normal" cars beat the hybrid cars in mileage. They are just efficient. I really wonder where the small diesel engines are. They make a huge difference in SUV and small trucks. It would be awesome to get a 4x4 pickup that got 30 mpg. You think? I suppose nothing will happen until gas hits some magic number that the American consumer finally balks. I've blogged about this before. Nothing new yet.

An automatic transmission basically turns your engine in to a hydraulic pump. That is how energy is transmitted to the rear wheels and that is why so much energy is lost along the way. A hybrid does pretty much the same thing, except it uses electricity. The efficiency comes in when the engine is running and not much load is on it because, say, you are sitting at the light idling, the engine either turns off or charges the batteries. If you find a way to eliminate or recover the waisted energy of the engine in other ways, you do not need hybrid technology at all.

I heard on NPR that the government can't even tell us who the biggest polluters are. They only keep numbers for the country as a whole. Which makes me wonder how much they are missing. That sounds like the kind of thing you do when you have numbers to hide. I wonder what the real numbers are. It looks bad at any rate.