What’s your view on the significance of the hybrid electric car? Will it form a vital part of the future of the automobile, or is it on over-hyped, unimportant irrelevance? Whatever your opinion, a new online debate on the subject today provides an opportunity to put it across, and to read the thoughts of experts on the subject.Sponsored by Lexus, this debate brings together the thoughts of a panel of experts, from global business forecasters to professors of engineering, on prickly questions like “can hybrids make a difference,” “where will the hybrid fleet get its energy,” and “does going hybrid save enough money to make sense?”You can access the debate at www.thehybriddebate.com. Once there, you’ll be able to choose between five key areas of discussion: environment, business and economy, families and lifestyle, urban planning and politics and energy. Between those five categories, the organisers of the forum hope to have covered off every area of everyday life in which the hybrid car has an impact, and in doing so, to take the debate over the importance of alternatively powered cars in new directions.The debate’s star attraction is Sir Bob Geldof. “I drive a hybrid car to avoid London’s congestion charge, “ says Bob. “Ultimately I think hybrids are really just an articulation of our anxiety about climate change.”“We need to do much more than change the car we drive to make an impact. Transportation has a part to play, but to really help the planet, we need more nuclear power.”
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Re: Have your say in the hybrid debate
What, it nearly bankrupted the biggest auto manufacturer in the world? Yeah, right chum.
My first mobile cost me £100 and would maybe just last 2 days per charge. My current one gives me a week easy, plays videos, music, surfs the net, has a camera etc. Its not even new, im due to upgrade next month. You cant tell me car battery technology couldnt improve at a similar rate. The principles are the same.
Re: Have your say in the hybrid debate
yeah they didnt want you to have it becuse it nearly bankrupted them, cost them $80k to build and were leasing them as a $30k car.
Re: Have your say in the hybrid debate
Except they wont pay a significant premium, not enough to cover the development and piece costs
If you do even a minor bit of EV1 and hybrid research you will understand this, they were a loss leading marketing campaign, and cost way more to build than anyone would buy them for, same with prius mk1, Insight and infact almost hybrids today.
True EV's wont work without a major breakthrough in batteries, even the best today only have a small percentage energy density of fossil fuels, so take up too much space/weight. a battery that can do 300miles of fossil equivalent would be over 10x weight and over double size! Plus the fact metals like lithium arent exactly as common as oil or hydrogen!!! This is why hydrogen is really the future, as it has 4x energy density of fossil fuels, and can be produced for relatively low environmental impact.
Just ask youself would you pay 25% more for a car, that only offered a £1k a year save (assuming 20k miles a year and 10mpg saved), when diesels are only about a 10% premuim for the same gain. People use this same argument every day justifying peterols of diesels, cost saved per mile travel doesnt justify it, why would it be any different for Hybrids and full EV's
Hence why micro hybrids (stop start, aero/drag improvments etc ) are all the rage, as people will pay enough to cover these. Until we actually start voting with feet, an buying cars with basic things like smaller wheels/tyres, lighter and less kit, manufacturers wont change. till then this is what were stuck with.