NEWS: The 100-Mile Per Gallon Car Is Here. Sort Of.

POLITICS: The 100-Mile Per Gallon Car Is Here. Sort Of.

The Toyota Prius seems to be the only effective hybrid car on the market. All the other hybrids have received less than stellar reports and are disappointing their owners with lower than promised gas mileage. But some owners still thought the Prius was not good enough and took matters into their own hands.

A small group of Californians have altered their hybrid Toyotas and created a super-Prius monster. By adding lead-acid batteries and “innovative software” to trick the car into using more energy from the batteries, they have created a Prius that gets 100 mpg. The cost of the alterations is $5,000 and it voids some of the car’s warranty.

The owners plug the mutant hybrids into an electrical socket at night and charge up the batteries. The plug-in Prius uses half the amount of gasoline of a normal Prius. If an owner forgets to plug in the car at night, it will run like a regular hybrid until the batteries are recharged.

The creators of these mutant, freak hybrids have formed the California Cars Initiative, hoping to persuade car companies to start building plug in hybrids. But car companies say they won’t start manufacturing plug-in hybrids until better batteries are developed. A few small companies have begun converting cars for fleets and government agencies but everyday Joe still has to do it himself.

Other hybrids disappointing?
Nonsense.
I <3 my Honda Insight.

(Prii are cool, too. Rock on with your modified Prii.)

Electric cars are still the future of the automobile, and the only truly environmentally friendly car. They are inexpensive to take care of, just as reliable and fast as other cars, and the energy is 100% renewable. Fuck GM.

As long as it doesn't look like that hideous Smartcar, I'm okay with it.

I was passed on the freeway this morning by an electric RAV4. The licensce plate read "Pass Gas"

So the magical power socket is pure, clean, emission free energy?

zzzziiiiitt ....... No.

Take into account the power station, the delivery method (all those big power lines and towers) and the numbers come back some what.

What about the pollution to recycle the car when finished. I think you have to return it to Toyota because of the chemicals. Lithium, cadmium and lead acid batteries are toxic.

100 mpg modified - that is "61% less gas than before" - hardly stellar mileage. Turbo Diesel VW Golfs (sorry Rabbits) can get 60 MPG.

A lot of this "so called" clean technology is mistakenly "so clean" because we clearly discount the energy in the initial production and the on going production.

Hey, great idea - but let's have all the facts to make a genuine comparison.

They told me not too.

My parents bought a Prius when they returned from Germany. They are very happy with it as it came from the dealer. (As well they should be. It has all sorts of nifty technogadgetry in addition to being fuel efficient, etc.)

I suppose they might look into this once they've recovered a little from buying their new house, though.

GM recently unveiled a new electric concept car - whether that means they're going to try again or if it's just a publicity stunt, only time will tell.

It's not perfect, but it's a step in the right direction. I've saved about 8 tonnes of gasoline over the 7 years I've had my hybrid, compared with average vehicle mileage. Sure, I'll have a battery to dispose of one of these days, but I'm betting it has less enviromental impact than 8 tonnes of gas.

Electricity also doesn't usually come from pure sources, but it opens the possibility. You can buy offsets for your electric consumption to have a like amount of clean (wind, hydroelectric, etc) electricity injectected into the system equal to what you use. If you don't do this, your power might be sourced from a dirty old coal-burning plant.

Hey, great idea. Let's see the facts that support your claims.

That's the rub, isn't it? IIRC, coal-fired plants account for almost three-fifths of US greenhouse gas emissions, but only 36% of our electricity.

California, where these cars were modified, has quite a significant portion of it's energy needs coming from alternative energy sources like wind and solar power, in addition to nuclear power sites which put out very little in the way of waste. And if that wasn't enough, the existing coal burning power stations that do produce a significant amount of pollution don't come close to the amount of pollution produced by the tailpipes of all the cars in the area.

I don't have much experience with lithium or cadmium batteries, but I know that lead acid batteries of that size can be refurbished quite easily by the manufacturer for re-use. I'd assume that the same is possible of lithium and cadmium batteries.

And I'd say that an increase of 40 MPG is pretty stellar...

also, from tfa:

that looks like a genuine comparison to me. less energy, less cost, less pollution. electricity isn't 100% green yet, but it costs less, it polutes less, and these hybrids are a significant step (based on all the facts) in the right direction.

pft @ offsetting your fuel consumption. It all sounds well and good and in theory it is but it is just a way of making yourself feel less guilty. Look at the places where these 'offsetting' trees are planted, they destroy the natural habitats. Just use less fuel, walk, ride, run. Gett of your asses when you can!

Nonsense, on two counts.

One: If you read what I wrote, you'll see I was talking about greening your power bill by paying the cost difference to have wind power, etc used to supply your power bill. Through the magic of a system called capitalism, your money then goes to people who use your money to make more windfarms to supply more customers.

Second, I happen to know some people involved in setting up the kind of offset preserves you're talking about, the ones that 'destroy the natural habitat'. Just so happens my father is a realtor and was engaged in the creation of one. It took them years of batting it back and forth with the environmental agencies and various holier-than-thou EPA officials. The first obstacle was that the natural soil of the virgin wetlands they were setting aside as a preserve wasn't recognized by the state as being wetlands soil. They had to hire a college professor to come out to the site, sample the (did I mention, all natural, virgin) soil that was already there, and register it as a recognized soil composition for wetlands. After that hurdle...well, it went on for a while, thanks to a string of sanctimonious public officials. But it finally happened. One more chunk of virgin land has been set aside, to be preserved in its natural state, and this is paid for by companies who need the offsets. The money has to come from somewhere.

100% renewable? Really? Do you have any idea how little of the nation's energy is generated by "renewable" energy sources? Do you realize we're still the King of Coal? Plug-in cars are nothing new. One of the many reasons they didn't do well in the past is because whether you're burning gas in your car, or burning coal in a power plant, you're burning some sort of fossil fuel.

It's internet-chat whack-a-mole!

We've already knocked this mole down!

Yes, by default, electricity is dirty! But, once you have an electric car, you can plug it in to clean electricity, which is now available anywhere in the US. You just have to pay for it.

Taking the steps you can: Good!
Sitting on your ass and complaining that it's not perfect: Bad!

+1

I drive a Civic hybrid. I've been really happy with it since I bought it last year.

I get gas mileage right around the 50 mpg they claimed, but only when I'm driving sensibly.

If I'm driving like a lunatic - pedal to the floor as soon as the light turns green, 85 mph on the highway, jerky stops, etc. then I get substantially poorer mileage. But, that has long been a problem with gas mileage estimates. People should really consider how they're driving before they bitch about getting poor performance.

And while I really like my car, I still think the way of the future will be less private automobile ownership and more emphasis on public transportation, especially over long distances.

correct, sir.

And knocking the effort is just of way of not doing anything. It's not about correcting the problem, its finding a way around it, its finding balance. We HAVE to consume resources, everything does, so it has to be cyclical.

In LA you have to drive, fucking city was built by vomiting roads onto the landscape and you need a car, so you buy the best car you can that causes the most impact. In NYC, we are nicely packed into a much more pungent mass, and we get the glory of walking, biking, and using public transporation.

Hybrid cars are great because they are something, which is better than nothing. Hopefully the model of plug hybrids will push manufacturing in that direction, which will in turn raise the issue of electricity generation, which will lead to source material, which will lead us to start plugging in old people and extracting their natural essences for use in cold fusion reactors. It's all about the big picture.

i think you're right about the public transportation bit. in countries where public transportation is more common and more efficient, they save a lot in fossil fuels.

i think the problem in the US is that people don't live close enough together for public transportation to be as efficient.

i think the opposite will happen with regard to public transport (since people travel in groups across long distances anyways in planes/trains): people will start to use public transport more for short distances. i live in SF and i can generally go anywhere i want on a bus. if i'm lazy or in a hurry, i hop a cab.