Now that's a cool idea, no batteries required. Thanks!

guys


you sound like you know more about the engineering than i do. I am just a utopian i guess.

i agree roch that there are several mechanical bugs, but the Cal Cars guy and others have actually converted a prius and it works wonders. Dont know about a full blown SUV.

I think pluggin in at night , coupled with lighter storage batteries should solve these problems. Running on straight EV is already avail on priuses in europe and we still have the EV switch on them here.

I guess i am leapfrogging a few years into the future when we can all plug into the grid at night and do light driving during the day on the battery alone -but still be hybrid plus ICE for longer trips.

I would like to see in addition to battery upgrades, electric motor upgrades for the FEH. I'm sure that Ford worked hard playing with the balance but I think I would have liked a more powerful motor so I could get from 0-40mph at a clip that does not anger everyone behind me or prevent me from getting into the traffic light flow.

When someone comes up with a better battery, things will change dramatically. Gas engines will shrink and electrics will grow. It's all in power density. When a battery can compete in energy per kg to a tank of fuel, we;ll see a change.

Cheers,

Roch

When I buy a house, I want to get solar shingles installed.

Years ago, I read an article about a guy in Seattle who put solar shingles on his roof and generated so much electricty that the excess electricity flowed back to the electric company.

Colorado has an extremely high UV index, so solar shingles would work here. The installation costs I've seen range from $5000-$10,000. The solar shingles have to be connected to the electrical grid or something (not an electrical engineer). The shingles would pay for themselves in only a few years at most.

A plug-in would be no problem with solar shingles.

Infael

2004 Gray Prius with smart start/entry and VSC

This is a good point, and this is also why normal hybrids have fairly small battery packs-- since all the power comes from the engine, drivers on flat land get no benefit from extra capacity as they'd have no opportunity to recharge it. For someone who commutes over a long mountain pass though, the weight woudl be worth it as that extra capacity could actually be used on the climb and recharged on the descent. In the case of a plugin, the extra capacity would be filled from the wall for both the flatlander and the mountain driver. Even when depleted though, the plug-in pack could actually aid the mountain driver by providing extra regen braking capacity.

Also, the extra weight of those batteries in a plug-in hybrid could be offset by using a slightly smaller capacity fuel tank (less materials), and reccomending that people only store about 2 gallons of fuel unless actaully planning to go on a longer trip. Range would only decrease for people who never charge, or for interstate road trips with multiple fill-ups. Even two gallons would go a long way for someone with short commute who charges regularly.

Finally, not only would the electric power provide some range for short trips, strategic use of the stored power over a long period of time could actually ensure the engine only needs to run in its absolute most efficient RPM ranges for long trips, since the stored power could allow very aggressive "assist" to maintain a very even ICE load. There would only need to be a driver-controlled switch to tell the computer whether to use the stored power in "short drive" mode (sustained all-electric driving, engine-on only if peak power needed or pack runs out) or "long drive" mode (engine-on continually with highly aggressive electric assist).

A final benefit could be achieved by using an automatic sliding grill-cover that would only open as much as needed to cool the radiator. This would cut down on aerodynamic drag when little or no engine cooling is needed, which would be often on a plug-in hybrid that runs the engine sparingly.