Japan Certifies Toyota Plug-in Hybrid for Public-road Tests

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(darelldd @ Jul 25 2007, 12:35 AM) [snapback]484520[/snapback]</div>

I thought it is no longer possible today to produce BEV with a large format NiMH because the company that owns the patent is sitting on it. That company is not Toyota.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(usbseawolf2000 @ Jul 25 2007, 11:09 AM) [snapback]484796[/snapback]</div>

You are correct. Chevron owns the patent. Yet this doesn't mean that the technology is not ready!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Cheap! @ Jul 25 2007, 11:25 AM) [snapback]484806[/snapback]</div>

Indeed. It is amazing that so many of us have attached garages, and we pump that cold-start pollution right into our homes.

Great info in this big combined thread! Thanks to whoever first posted the video too!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Elephanthead @ Jul 25 2007, 01:05 PM) [snapback]484743[/snapback]</div>

You are right. This is a piece from the official announcement:

"Based on the current-generation Prius, the PHEV prototypes will be powered by oversized packs of nickel-metal hydride batteries that effectively simulate the level of performance Toyota expects to achieve when it eventually develops its own more advanced, compact and powerful battery systems."

 

Nobody mentioned about the increase performance for the regenerative braking. PHEV Prius will be able to capture twice more energy at twice the rate (hard braking).

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(usbseawolf2000 @ Jul 25 2007, 12:40 PM) [snapback]484880[/snapback]</div>

Let me get that for you...

A PHEV should offer increased regnerative braking performance. More capture at a higher rate.

Yes, this is one of the many unfortunate limits of the current Prius.

 

Wayne outdid himself with the nomogram graphic

This is all wonderful news. I know it is a couple of years away, but like others, I find myself wondering if I will buy the 1st generation. I have to admit that being locked into NMH tech, when Li-X isnt' too far away makes we mull some more. We'll see. The 100 kph EV limit and 44 kWatt power is just fantastic.

In the meantime, would someone explain to me if the current PSD already allows 100 kph EV operation, why is the current gen Prius limited to 68 kph ??

 

Is there yet another thread that hasn't been combined here?

 

Toyota's announcement is like the "one lap to go" flag at a race. The crowd is on its feet, cheering on the lead racers! Got to love it! B)

Lee

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Jul 25 2007, 09:58 AM) [snapback]484629[/snapback]</div>

The Pic is nice evan but video is worth a jillion words ... like "I neet a cigarette ... AND I'VE NEVER even SMOKED ... even once in my life".

http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/tech/envi...iving_300k.asx

GO Toyota! :lol:

Edit:
If that link won't work, try here, but you GOTTA see it go!
http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/tech/environmen...ence/index.html

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(GeoDosch @ Jul 25 2007, 08:07 AM) [snapback]484600[/snapback]</div>

There is one way of looking at PHEV and Electric Cars, namely that the infrastructure and technology is not ready to replace conventional cars yet. That viewpoint can attract a lot of discussion and is often used to justify the lack of electric vehicles. But it is a myoptic viewpoint, even though some points are valid.

The other way of looking at PHEVs and EVs is to figure out why there is nothing on the market for those that would pay many $$$$ for an EXISTING capability. This is the question that deserves an answer, not the above view. My commute is 16 miles, so a 8 mile PHEV would cut my gas costs in half! To me that is a great bargin, but a full EV capable of 40 miles would be greater than a great bargin to me. Why nothing from a major car manufacturer? Darelldd makes the point I discovered, there is no reason to be waiting for a production EV of some sort.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(FL_Prius_Driver @ Jul 25 2007, 06:25 PM) [snapback]485032[/snapback]</div>

If you reread my original post, I stated that the infrastructure was currently in place (which was the primary point I was making.) I was responding to a post that stated in order to have pure electrics, there would need to be a charging station every place someone might park for more than a few minutes. My rebuttal was that electrics would only be practical if the expectation was overnight charging, and not a concept of running from charging station to charging station. That's currently possible for shorter trips, but not for long-range driving. There is also a difference that even though many cars only have ranges of 250-300 miles on a tank of gas, they can stop at a gas station and refill in a matter of minutes. In order to make a 500 mile trip in an electric, it must be able to do so on a single charge. However, (and this is what my reference to future technology was for) I think it will be possible to have pure electrics that are capable of long distance travel, and in the not-too-far future.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(FL_Prius_Driver @ Jul 25 2007, 06:25 PM) [snapback]485032[/snapback]</div>

My statements were in no way trying to justify the lack of electrics. Quite the contrary, they did exist, and I would buy an EV1 in a heartbeat if it was possible. Again, I'm only trying to say that soon we should be able to have only electric cars, with the current power grid, and without putting a charging station on every corner.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(FL_Prius_Driver @ Jul 25 2007, 06:25 PM) [snapback]485032[/snapback]</div>

Actually there were several back in the 1990's, primarily the GM EV1. The lack of them on the market has nothing to do with the technology, but more a matter of what THEY want us to have. I've previously mentioned the movie "Who Killed the Electric Car", which explains much of this. A related movie is "Tucker: The Man and His Dream". It has nothing to do with electrics, but it does show what happens when an upstart company tries to come out with something that the Big Boys don't want us to have.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(GeoDosch @ Jul 25 2007, 04:30 PM) [snapback]485068[/snapback]</div>

I just wanted to point out that a 500-mile EV trip does not "need" to be done on a single charge - even if you want to do it in less than 24 hours. Fast charging has been around for years (as long as the production EVs, in fact), and is used every day at airports for ground support vehicles. A charge that would offer the equivalent to about 300 miles of range was added to an Altair Nano Li pack recently in front of many observers. The demonstration took less than ten minutes. Fast chargers would be cheaper and easier to install than gas stations (though we already have the gas stations) can be completely un-attended, and would be orders of magnitude cheaper than hydrogen stations, of course!

We really do have all the technology that we need to replace gasoline cars. What we don't have is the will, or even the desire to change. Paying for this technology would keep money here, as we begin to spend less of it out of the country. But it is different... and scary.

 

Actually I was paying attention and agree, it's just too good of a thread to just let go of yet. Sorry for the aggravation. (Where it that troll when you need one?).

What is itching at my awareness is that the Prius is SO close to being a great electric vehicle. The full hybrid (Prius) is the first step. The PHEV is the next step. A full electric Prius is the critical step...... The AC being electric. The steering being electric. The "close to full capability" motor. The right display capability. Low Cd. Fly by wire pedals and driver controls. What's left? batteries that are not there?

I find the "Toyota PHEV" frustrating since it implies that this PHEV stage must be "worked out" before moving on to the next EV step and this is just not the case. ARGHHHH!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(FL_Prius_Driver @ Jul 25 2007, 05:13 PM) [snapback]485108[/snapback]</div>

Right! But it is the hand we're dealt and we can't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

 

*I* have a detached garage.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Jul 25 2007, 06:53 PM) [snapback]485173[/snapback]</div>

Don't let that bother you too much.

1. These are of course prototypes.
2. Those are left-over Yazaki connectors from the Rav4EV program.

The usual assumption is that PHEVs will require nothing special to charge. Just a normal 110V outlet (here in the US) and normal plug. For these protoypes, they are basically charging them the same way we charge the NiMH batteries in the Rav - at least they way the Rav was originally designed.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Jul 25 2007, 06:58 PM) [snapback]485175[/snapback]</div>

Excellent! You and your family will likely die a bit slower than the attached garage folks.