11 Reasons Why Hybrid Cars Are Better Than You Think

isam · December 10, 2013

Seriously? You think quieter cars are better?
From all I know we all petrol-heads love to hear a good engine note.

Amen to that! As a former owner of a screaming Alfa 3.0 V6 i can vouch for the boner you get at high revs..

Expecting silence from a car is like... only expecting punctuality from a girlfriend... Good engine note is music to almost all of us in AL!

Komisiripala · December 10, 2013

Expecting silence from a car is like... only expecting punctuality from a girlfriend... Good engine note is music to almost all of us in AL!

Or only missionary from sunny leone, no?

isam · December 10, 2013

Or only missionary from sunny leone, no?

Exactly! I guess there is not better way to put things into perspective than that!

isam · December 10, 2013

I go to wilpattu for two days and this happens?? Where's that chams fellow??

Hey Komi were you at Wilpaththu during the weekend?

Komisiripala · December 10, 2013

Yup. Here's the link to the album:

https://imageshack.com/a/Qelb/1

Supra_Natural · January 24, 2014

Finally, someone has made a Pri-ass interesting!

http://ls1tech.com/articles/auto-fab-racing-swap-ls1-toyota-prius/

The sheer level of AWESOME is overpowering!

I guess this will be where they all end up after the electrics finally crap out lol..

Hoonigan · January 24, 2014

Finally, someone has made a Pri-ass interesting!

http://ls1tech.com/articles/auto-fab-racing-swap-ls1-toyota-prius/

The sheer level of AWESOME is overpowering!

I guess this will be where they all end up after the electrics finally crap out lol..

Didn't need to read a word of it as soon as the banner loaded.

That thing now as a carbon footprint the size of it's flat ugly rear end

Must be awesome to drive

MasterDon · January 24, 2014

Finally, someone has made a Pri-ass interesting!

http://ls1tech.com/articles/auto-fab-racing-swap-ls1-toyota-prius/

The sheer level of AWESOME is overpowering!

I guess this will be where they all end up after the electrics finally crap out lol..

Now that is taking trolling to an epic new level...That guy is my idol now.

CJ5 · January 25, 2014

Guys,

I know in SL there is a big clamour and fever to jump in the hybrid bandwagon,just wondering how it is in other parts of the world?????? Here in NZ hybrids aren't as popular as in SL. How is it in other countries??????

Sylvi · January 26, 2014

Members I received under by Email.

Electric cars could travel farther on a single charge and more renewable energy could be saved for a rainy day if lithium-sulfur batteries can last longer. Scientists have now developed a novel anode that could quadruple the lifespan of these promising batteries.

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory researchers have developed a hybrid anode made of graphite and lithium that could quadruple the lifespan of lithium-sulfur batteries.

Sylvi Wijesinghe.

iRage · January 26, 2014

Guys,
I know in SL there is a big clamour and fever to jump in the hybrid bandwagon,just wondering how it is in other parts of the world?????? Here in NZ hybrids aren't as popular as in SL. How is it in other countries??????

Japan:

Well the Japanese still for the most part buy cars for the purpose that they need a car for (if not they have a pretty good public transportation system and buying a car would be pointless). However after the closure of the nuclear plants fuel costs have sky rocketed and now people are somewhat concerned (Abenomics still hasn't trickled down to the masses on a stable basis, inflation is up and there is a 3% sales tax hike on the horizon) so the whole weekend drives etc have gone down a bit and they just opt to use public transportation more.

For the last few years the Government offered huge tax breaks for Hybrid cars and the manufacturers offered some pretty good deals so apparently they did push out a lot of Hybrids. Hybrids which are more expensive than the gasoline variants ended up costing less after registration due to these tax breaks. Going by general observations and not looking at any stats all.

1. The car of choice so far for city driving are the Kei cars with the small engines.

2. The last couple of years the small/compact sized car owners seem to have replaced their Corollas and Civics, etc... with Prius,Insight and especially by the Fit Hybrid (this did kill the Civic after all) and now the Aqua. However you still saw a lot of Corollas and Allions as there were no Hybrid sedans in the market. I haven't been to Japan after the new wave of Hybrids came in to the market last few months so I reckon now the Hybrid Corolla is gaining more ground than the gasoline variant (pure speculation here..no idea what the sales figures actually are). With the introduction with the Fit Shuttle and Prius Alpha there were still more new Fielders, Streams and Odysseys (especially the limited packaged ones) out and about.

3. In regard to large car owners, even with the Camry Hybrid around for some time you see a lot more of the Mark Xs around. With the Crown the gasoline version (especially the Athlete) was far more common than the Hybrid (in this case the Hybrid cost a lot more than the gasoline even after the tax breaks). Same with the Fuga.

4.In Nagasaki (in-laws' home town), which is surrounded by and lay mostly on mountains and public transport is somewhat thin outside of the main city, there where a lot more gasoline cars than Hybrids and if there were hybrids the preference was for Honda's IMA. Apparently, according to some friends who have Hybrids and a couple of times Toyota agents themselves (maybe they were more eager to push over a gasoline car on to me) claimed that the Hybrids don't give that much better gas mileage than something like a Corolla or a Fit because of the hilly roads.

So basically it seems like the trend of fit-for-purpose buying of the Japanese people have continued; where, if there is a Hybrid of the car and the type of car they want which meets the purpose they would go for the Hybrid, if not they will go for the gasoline version, "if not they will just stick to public transport ? after all you are guarenteed of getting from A to B at the exact time indicated with anything more than 15 seconds is considered a huge delay ". However, now with more variety in the Hybrid market that can meet these needs I am sure there will be much more of them on the road pretty soon.

Tanzania:

Well you can bring in a car that is of ANY age in to the country (you just have to pay a 20% tax/fine off the CIF value) you get a whole lot of really really old cars coming in. So far..I have seen a grand total of 3 Hybrids.Two Priusses and one camry. Apparently the Camry and one Prius was bought down by them.The latter as a test model used by the big wig at the office and the former for an embassy. They have no idea about the other Prius or even if it is still a Hybrid.

Indonesia:

Used to make monthly trips but haven't been there for the last 1 year or so.At that time the place was crowded mostly with Indonesian models of the usual brands probably because of the low purchase cost and ease of maintenance. So you could see a lot more gasoline vehicles on the road but towards the latter part of my jaunts there was an influx of Hybrids, especially in Jakarta. People didn't seem to have the Hybrid craze to save gas-money yet as at that stage they were happy to actually be able to pay up for purchasing a normal car at a lower cost, and also of them needed cars that could handle more people than a Prius or an Insight. Hybrids seemed to be more like a status symbol or something where it is the more well-to-do people.

Edited January 26, 2014 by iRage

Watchman · January 26, 2014

Guys,
I know in SL there is a big clamour and fever to jump in the hybrid bandwagon,just wondering how it is in other parts of the world?????? Here in NZ hybrids aren't as popular as in SL. How is it in other countries??????

Same story in Singapore. Except for some cabs (owned by a single company) I probably see a hybrid maybe once a month at most.

But around my bike shop there's a 'hybrid service centre', where I've see a couple of prii as well as a some toyota MPV. But overall, it's not at all popular..

Hoonigan · January 26, 2014

Guys,
I know in SL there is a big clamour and fever to jump in the hybrid bandwagon,just wondering how it is in other parts of the world?????? Here in NZ hybrids aren't as popular as in SL. How is it in other countries??????

I don't think I have seen a hybrid here in ME since I got here, not a single one. The most economical cars I have seen here are Altos and Smart-for-twos.

vishkid · January 26, 2014

Well, the drive towards hybrids (low emission) is in big part regulation driven. There is a lot of climate change rhetoric being spewn by few opportunists like the IPCC and Al Gore, whose friends stood to make big money by leveraging the resulting regulations which followed global scale lies (a la 'An Inconvenient Truth'). Nearly 90% of predictions and data in that (and associated IPCC reports) have been proven to be untrue or distorted from the fact, but they still succeeded in shifting a huge amount of regulations in the US and the EU. Grant that some of these laws are based on very valid points of depleting resources and associated economic justifications, but still they were in large part manipulated by those who stood to profit by the (untimely) push towards so called sustainable power. You can bet your ass that they didn't give two hoots about ensuing econo-cultural and demographic changes that would affect the society for worse.

For example, the Hybrid vehicles are now being sold and creating issues in the markets where resource consumption and emission issues are non-existent compared to real problem markets which are shunning these vehicles at large. But the car makers (and law makers) don't care as long as they are making money 'somewhere'!

Especially in EU even the super-car makers have been 'forced' to adapt Hybrid drive-trains in to their cars to placate the regulators and ensure their survival in the future. But people are still using optimized fossil fuel based drive-trains instead of going hybrid. But regulations will soon force these down their throats. Those who fail to adapt will perish - case in point is what happened to the (very popular) RX-8 in europe; forced out of europe by the untimely regulations the car had to be taken off production much earlier than planned.

I've been in NY for the last 3 months and 99.9% of the hybrids I've seen were cabs - but at least these cabbies know well enough to drive fast without hogging the roads and get their benefits elsewhere.

Sylvi · January 26, 2014

Guys,
I know in SL there is a big clamour and fever to jump in the hybrid bandwagon,just wondering how it is in other parts of the world?????? Here in NZ hybrids aren't as popular as in SL. How is it in other countries??????

I knew you are in NZ when I too on A/L. I REQUESTED to post YOU ARE AT THE MOMENT in S/L or Nz. OK that is not a problem.

Please help Whatever way you can help A/L members. Because A/L have plenty of new members and lot want to Join A/L to get information.

If I am not mistaken you have met me?

Sylvi Wijesinghe.

Sylvi · January 26, 2014

Members,

This under I received by Email.

Musk says cheaper Tesla model 'about three years away'

Tesla CEO Elon Musk. NEW YORK

It's the car Tesla "has always wanted to make." But it's still about three years away.

That's per Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who spoke to CNN's Poppy Harlow Tuesday about the progress of the company's long-planned affordable offering.

At the moment, the only vehicle the electric car maker has on the market is the widely acclaimed Model S, prices for which start around $70,000. When it does hit the market, the cheaper vehicle will go for about $35,000 Musk said, with drivers of course saving by not spending on gas.

"[O]ur mass-market, affordable car is about three years away," Musk said. "That's the car we've always wanted to make."

Related: Tesla to recall overheating chargers

Musk's comments came on a day when the automaker revealed it sold 6,900 Model S sedans in the fourth quarter, which is 25% higher than the previous quarter and about 20% over its most recent guidance. Tesla (TSLA) shares surged nearly 16% Tuesday, and rose another 3.6% in after-hours trading.

Up next for Tesla is the Model X SUV, which will sell for between $70,000 and $90,000. That vehicle is set to go on sale in late 2014, and Musk said high-volume deliveries will come "in about a year."

Musk said Tesla would also like to produce a pickup truck similar to the Ford (F, Fortune 500) F-150, though that project probably won't come to fruition for "something like four to five years."

This is about Fuel cell car.

Life with a Hydrogen Fuel Cell Honda

Jon and Sandy Spallino stand by their Clarity in Palos Verdes, Calif. Dan Krauss for The Wall Street Journal

Jon Spallino, 48, a retired investor from Redondo Beach, Calif., on his hydrogen-powered Honda, as told to A.J. Baime:

When Honda put out a hydrogen fuel-cell car, I was the very first retail customer, in 2005. Since then I've signed on for a newer Honda FCX Clarity, which is only available in Southern California. The fuel is hydrogen in compressed gas form, which interacts with oxygen to develop electricity. The only emissions are water.

My range is about 230 miles a tank, and there are two fueling stations near me that have hydrogen pumps, which look like regular pumps, only the nozzle attaches more securely. There is no protocol yet on how to charge for the fuel, so Honda has embedded the cost in the lease price [at $600 a month plus tax]. There's no charge at the pump.

The car has an electric feel. It has good acceleration and provides comfortable highway cruising speeds. There's very little noise.

The downside? Although hydrogen is the most prevalent element in the universe, getting it into this form is time-consuming. Like any nascent technology, the cost to produce the cars and the fuel is very high. And the infrastructure isn't there. I can't drive this car, say, to San Francisco. There are no pumps.

Will governments and fuel companies create hydrogen highways? I have no idea. But I enjoy everything about the car, especially the lack of pollution.

***************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Luxury Car Makers Bentley, Rolls-Royce Considering Electric Hybrid Models

PHOTO CAPTION: Rolls-Royce 100RX Centenary Concept. Will it be the basis for a future electric hybrid model?

Business Insider learns why Rolls-Royce and Bentley are looking at plug-in electric hybrid versions of their high-end luxury cars.

Published: 17-Jan-2014

In the world of electric cars, luxury is defined by Tesla, with new competition coming from Cadillac (the ELR) and BMW (the i8). But those cars could soon be eclipsed by top tier offerings from Bentley and Rolls-Royce.

In interviews with Business Insider, executives from both brands said they are seriously considering a plug-in hybrid car. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) combine the ability to run on electricity stored in a battery with an internal combustion engine. They usually offer an EV mode range of under 40 miles, with the capability to drive over 200 more miles on traditional gas power.

With high fuel prices and governments (especially in the U.S. and Europe) cracking down on gas-guzzling cars, automakers everywhere are working to crank up their miles per gallon numbers. There are more hybrid, pure battery electric, and diesel vehicles on the market than ever before. They're not good options for the two ultra-luxury players, however.

Sylvi Wijesinghe.

Sylvi · January 26, 2014

Members,

This under I received by Email.

Tesla's Supercharger Network Is a Game Changer

January 10, 2014

At least that's what the panelists of AOL Auto's "Technology of the Year" award said. The technology "ran away with votes for the award, clearly surpassing all of the other contenders." It would be tough to argue otherwise; the rapidly expanding network of electric-car charging stations for Tesla's (NASDAQ: TSLA ) vehicles is purposed to upend an antiquated industry. Tesla's mission is "to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport by brining compelling mass market electric cars to market as soon as possible" -- and its rapid expansion of its charging network shows just how seriously it's taking this mission.

Superior charging
Tesla's Superchargers aren't like the typical charging station. Despite the impressive EPA-rated range of 265 miles for the Model S, Superchargers will juice the vehicle to a 50% charge in just 20 minutes, or 80% in 40 minutes. They're roughly 16 times faster than the typical public charging station.

Tesla's innovation in its Supercharger network, however, goes beyond a fast charge. The company is piloting battery swapping at some of its Supercharger stations. The technology allows owners to swap out their used battery for a fully charged battery in less than 90 seconds -- all without getting out of the vehicle. Notably, Tesla may charge some owners a nominal fee for the swap, and they will eventually have to return for their original battery.

The expansion
But the network is of very little help if a station isn't located within driving range.

"There's simply no way the average consumer is going to consider putting an electric vehicle in their garage if there's no way to refuel it on the go," managing editor of Autoblog Jeremy Korzeniewski told AOL.

But acknowledging Tesla's expansion that's already under way, Korzeniewski admitted, "If Tesla is able to continue rolling out long stretches of Superchargers, EVs will finally have the level playing ground that they need in order to have a chance at succeeding."

Indeed, Tesla is rapidly rolling out its network. In fact, a cross-country drive is already nearly feasible based on this open-source map that's tracking the U.S. expansion of Tesla's charging stations.

Red circles indicate completed Superchargers; cones indicate Superchargers under construction. The circles inscribed around the Superchargers shows the 265-mile range. Source: teslawiki.net.

Just how rapidly is Tesla expanding this network? At some point in 2015, Tesla plans to have Supercharger locations serving 98% of the U.S. population. Even in 2014, Tesla plans to have 80% of the U.S. population covered.

But the expansion goes beyond the U.S. Its Norway expansion is already complete, and Tesla is expanding rapidly in Germany, where it plans to have 100% coverage by the end of 2014. Tesla also expects to have 100% coverage by the end of 2014 in Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Austria, Denmark, and Luxembourg. It expects to have 90% of the population covered in England, Wales, and Sweden in 2014, too.

Changing the industry
Though there are plenty of critics betting against Tesla's planned attempt to launch an affordable electric car that can sell hundreds of thousands of units per year, the company is building charging stations as if it is certain that it will play a major role in the auto market in the future. The charging infrastructure will be in place before 2016 or 2017, the estimated time that Tesla has planned for the launch for its affordable electric car.

Tesla's aggressiveness in its global expansion plans should comfort shareholders. Trading at about 10 times sales, the company is going to need major growth to grow into its valuation. And a rapidly growing Supercharging network is laying the foundation for that potential growth.

AOL is right; the network changes the game. AOL Auto's mulimedia director, Adam Morath, sums the technology up eloquently: "With the Supercharger, Tesla is tackling the tired arguments against the electrification of the automobile head on by addressing range, charge times, charger accessibility and clean energy production (the Supercharger is powered by solar energy, not coal) all in one stroke."

Tesla's Supercharger Network Is a Game Changer

By Daniel Sparks | More Articles | Save For Later
January 10, 2014 | Comments (11)