Featured Hybrids to combat pollution and global warming

Oil lobby

 

The administration that wants to repeal the light bulb and water restrictions?

 

The government did have incentives for hybrids, and start/stop systems get a boost to CAFE figures greater than their impact on the EPA test.

Taxing oil would do more to get people into more efficient cars than picking an individual technology.

 

oil, gas, lack of sustainable grid during heavy use times.
status quo is the easy way to regulate, until the population starts dwindling from lack of appropriate measures. All of us World Wide. Perhaps even the illegal aliens amongst us.

 

I bet the same Government is #1 in unnecessary idling stats.

I also question the very science behind the "5 M vehicles" claim. Seems very much like "90 (or whatever) % of scientists" that agree on global warming.

 

@smyles It all depends are how the numbers are being run. How many start / stop vehicles are they talking about? The ones currently on the road. currently built, some imaginary number? It could be any number of calculations used to reach that estimate. Computers and AI are nice at making predictions, keeping track of which ones are accurate is not so nice when it hurts the bottom line,

 

Lowest common denominator.
The average consumer is an idiot. Doesn't care about the actual personal economics of owning a vehicle, let alone fuel costs, the environment, etc.
Case in point:
Growing demand for SUVs was the second largest contributor to the increase in global CO2 emissions from 2010 to 2018, an analysis has found.
Growing preference for SUVs challenges emissions reductions in passenger car market – Analysis - IEA

All of the environmental "gains" that have been achieved by EVs/PHEV/Hybrids - they've been offset by the SUV craze. Bigger, costlier, thirstier vehicles.

 

That's not what that study said, and if it is....it's a VERY FLAWED study.

 

This one is easy to fix with a tiny bit of technology that already exists. Most days I could charge my car any time between 5pm-7am and have it ready to go the next morning. If the utility company wanted to, I'd let them pick a time. As it is, I set a charge timer to finish by 7am.

They already have a "Saver's Switch" device that can temporarily turn off a central AC compressor during peak times. The same hardware could work for a hardwired EVSE. For a plug-in EVSE, the device could be as simple as a $20 Wemo plug that they control. For the rare days when I want to charge in the evening, I could choose to override the device and miss out on a portion of the incentive for that month.

My electric water heater and dehumidifier are other big power users (each uses about as much as the car) where it doesn't matter precisely when they run, as long as they run for a sufficient amount of time reasonably close to when they are needed.

I pay for "100% wind" power, but obviously it all comes from the same place. If I use more power during peak times or when the wind isn't blowing, it's going to cause more unsustainable generation. In theory that gets made up later, but since the amount of wind production is inherently limited, that just means slightly less used by everyone else. I still think it's worthwhile, because it incentivizes more wind turbines being built, and because it shows that I'm willing to pay a small premium ($0.01/kwh or about 9%) to support clean energy.

Anyway, if they could control some of my power usage in a way that doesn't significantly impact me, I could help more effectively use the renewable capacity that exists.

 

Not sure they're more idiots - if at all,- as the folks that rely on such 'studies'.

 

The government has fleet CAFE / MPG requirements. Even P43 pushed the targets upward several notches. Stop/start and other hybrid features all help manufacturers meet the requirements, so are already rewarded.

Well, unless this Administration's efforts to roll back those CAFE requirements succeed.

 

Not all hybrids are as good as Prius for stopping the engine idling. Our Pathfinder Hybrid can't stop the engine if I have A/C or heat on. On the other hand, our Honda hybrid was good at stopping the engine, but it also shut off the HVAC when the car is stopping at an intersection.

 

I've been using weather underground for a few years, A lot of their content was and is presented with at least a soft warning bell.
Global CO2 Emissions Hit an All-Time High in 2018; is a Hothouse Earth in our Future? | Weather Underground
Losing Marine Stratocumulus Clouds Could Create a Mega-Hothouse Climate | Weather Underground
I waited a while to post these in the hope it would get into a relevant space here.

 

Hybrids are not favored in America, that simple.
In part Toyota has lead so why would we give advantage Japan technology?
Japan likes hybrids more than we do, and is better position to solve their problems with it.
We like to villify fossil fuels and Prii are guilty as charged 100% gaso fuel.
So our focus is plug-ins/BEV for politcal favor here.

PS- You could talk to hybrid lobby...oh wait, that's just me, and I am busy

 

nothing will help them

 

What is the price difference on the current Subaru Forester?

 

Not all hybrids have an electric A/C compressor like the Prius (since generation 2 in I believe 2004). For conventional cars that just add engine stop, that will also stop the A/C, which uses a compressor powered by the gasoline engine with a belt. In the Prius, nothing other than moving the car is done by the gasoline engine; the A/C, coolant pump, power steering, and power brakes are all electric.Those "light" hybrids don't necessarily do that.

 

With car companies that sell a lot of less efficient vehicles, it could mean great sales to move their hybrids for CAFE.