Hybrid Cars Technology - Term Paper Example

Running head: HYBRID CARS Hybrid Cars s Hybrid Cars Low-pollution cars have been innovation with obvious implications for the urban environment. The Environment Agency is promoting the development and marketing of such vehicles, including electric cars, hybrid cars which combine electric and internal combustion engines, and gas-powered cars. These cars have not proved to be very popular, particularly given the high retail cost. Whilst the Agency plans to promote their use through production quotas, there is still doubt regarding the best means of promoting these cars. Hybrids team a small gasoline engine with an electric motor and extremely powerful computer to get the best of both worlds. The highly efficient gas engine not only provides some of the power to move the vehicle; more importantly, it generates the electricity for the electric motor and the electric battery pack, which also provide a mode of power, when needed, to supplement the power of the gasoline engine. The computer--Honda calls this integrated motor assist (IMA)-determines which of the two power sources operates and to what extent. The resulting operating range of the vehicle amounts to 300-400 miles or more, better than a typical mid-sized family sedan. The increasing consumption of primary energy worldwide is of increasing concern because of the greenhouse effect of CO2 emissions, and because conventional oil and natural gas supplies are expected to decline in the not-too distant future (IEA and OECD, 2003). This leads to greater interest in energy-efficient technologies, as technology still is the most important source for energy saving. The reshaping of existing patterns of energy consumption strongly affects the transportation sector, which accounts for 21.8% of total primary energy consumption worldwide in 2000, and will account for ca. 34% in 2050 (OECD countries: 28.1% and 40%, respectively) (IEA and OECD, 2003). Road transport is the second-largest sector of energy consumption, right after energy needed for HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning). Hybrid cars are an energy-efficient technology, however, the introduction of more efficient products is often accompanied by rebound effects, which counteract the positive effect of increased efficiency. The definition, identification and quantification of rebound effects are areas of ongoing research (Greening et al., 2000 and Grepperud and Rasmussen, 2004). The rebound effect is also called take-back effect or backfire effect. Its definition varies among researchers, but the common denominator is that if a product or service becomes more efficient (regarding energy use or the use of some other resource), it will also become cheaper, which might give rise to increased demand. Generally, three different rebound effects might be induced (Berkhout et al., 2000): increased demand for the same service as it has become cheaper (direct rebound effect), increased demand for other services as money (i.e., purchasing power) has become available (indirect rebound effect; also called secondary rebound effect), and structural effects on larger parts of the economy due to changed demand, production and distribution patterns (macro-scale rebound effect; also called economy-wide rebound effect). For example, if the energy efficiency of a car is increased by technological innovations, 100 km can be driven with less fuel and hence at a lower cost. This lower cost could have the consequence that people drive more and longer because mobility has become cheaper. Identification of occurrence, and, if present, quantification of rebound effects are generally not straightforward. Most work has been done on the effects of the introduction of energy-saving technologies, e.g., space heating (Haas and Biermayr, 2000). Unlike the clunky pure electrics built by General Motors and others, the hybrid gas-electric tandem never needs to be plugged in for hours-long recharge sessions. The Insight recharges itself. You don't have to eye the battery gauge nervously, sweating bullets as you wonder how much longer you can push it before the juice runs out, leaving you stranded. Instead, you can roll past gas stations without worry. (Yes, it can run on an empty tank for a little while.) The Insight is capable of up to 70 miles per gallon, by Honda estimates, though 50 to 60 is more like it in the real world, depending on how and where you drive. Honda has just begun selling its sporty Insight two-seater, a vehicle that uses a highly-efficient three-cylinder gasoline engine and electric motor/rechargeable battery pack in tandem. In the next few weeks, Toyota will enter the fray as well with the four-seat Prius--a vehicle similar in concept, which also uses a small, internal combustion engine/electric motor tandem power team. These cars represent the cutting edge of so-called "hybrid" vehicle technology, which uses the best aspects of each power source to minimize the liabilities of the other. Why the Internal Combustion Engine Will Reign Supreme (for now). But there are teething pains to be overcome before these futuristic technologies become any real competition to the hegemonic control of the straight-up, gasoline-burning internal combustion engine. The writing may be on the wall--but it will be years before we notice any major changes in the cars most of us drive. The internal combustion (IC) engine is one of the few 19th-century technologies that will continue to dominate our lives well into the 21st century. And it reigns supreme, air pollution concerns notwithstanding, because it is nearly perfect as an automotive power-plant. Since the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, engineers have been improving the basic design of the elemental 4-stroke (intake, compression, ignition, exhaust) piston engine. All of this work has paid off handsomely and given the IC engine a tremendous leg up on other types of propulsion. It is self-contained, and carries its easily replaceable fuel source with it. Turn the key, and the modern, fuel-injected IC engine starts right up. There are no complicated gizmos to operate, no weird dials or indicators to fret over. You can depend upon it to operate reliably, for thousands of miles, with almost no intervention. And let us not forget the most salient characteristic: With a full tank of gasoline even the greediest "gas hog" SUV or full-size sedan can run for 300 or more trouble-free miles--and refills take but a few minutes. IC engines are also relatively cheap, both to build and maintain. The basic tooling has all been amortized. Also, an entire industrial infrastructure exists to support IC engines from their development to their on-the-road operation. Add the fact that gasoline remains relatively inexpensive and ever-improving in quality (performance and environmental), and this supposedly evil gasoline-IC combination seems assured of continued dominance. These are tremendous competitive advantages. Any discussion of "future" technologies and alternative forms of propulsion must take them into account if the discussion is to be anything more than purely speculative and theoretical. As critics tirelessly point out, there are emissions issues plaguing the IC engine. But these are not nearly as bad as the general press would have you believe. Today's IC engines are incredibly clean, producing almost none of the harmful pollutants that create "smog" or ground-level ozone. Indeed, the air quality in most American cities today is actually better than it was in 1970, despite a doubling of the number of cars on the roads and the number of vehicle miles traveled per car. Emissions of carbon dioxide, on the other hand, are another matter-and provide the main theme of attack against IC dominance in the long term. This chemically inert gas contributes to "global warming." However, the science behind measures of man-and-his-machine's contribution is rather dubious--especially in terms of vehicular emissions. The planet may indeed be warming, but even if all IC engines worldwide were turned off tomorrow, the net result would be a reduction in CO2 of less than 2%. But political pressures are mounting to address global warming and carbon dioxide emissions. The way to curtail carbon dioxide emissions is, of course, to burn less carbon-based fuel. This dictum has driven the development--through tax breaks, explicit government prodding, and regulatory mandates-of electric cars, hybrids, and other unconventional vehicles more in recent years than calls for improving air quality have done, because that problem has been largely solved. Passenger cars today barely account for half of all new vehicle sales. Trucks--pick-ups, vans and SUVs--now account for the other half. The public has become enamored of the functionality these vehicles offer and will not accept a substitute that cannot tow or haul heavy loads and large numbers of people. An environmental group made a political statement recently by replacing the V-8 engine in a Ford Explorer SUV with a super-efficient four-cylinder engine pirated from a Honda--and thereby dramatically increasing the Ford's fuel efficiency and lowering its C02 output. But the two-ton Explorer would barely move with the underpowered engine and would be useless towing a boat. Effective as a PR stunt, the engine swap was not a realistic demonstration of what could be done to improve the efficiency of an SUV. Non-conventional cars must also be cost-competitive with equivalent IC cars. "Save the Planet" bumper stickers aside, few consumers will voluntarily spend thousands of dollars more than what they'd ordinarily have to spend on a car just to demonstrate their commitment to cleaner air. So, barring some extraordinary development--punitive taxes on gasoline approaching $2 to $3 or more, a major worldwide energy crisis (unlikely; proven reserves of petroleum are sufficient to last at least another 50 years)--the IC engine will be with us, in some form, for some time to come. Automakers will continue to refine the fuel/intake system of the IC engine, using such technologies as direct injection and highly efficient cylinder head designs, to improve economy and lower emissions. Your kids will very likely be driving you in an IC-powered vehicle to the old folks' home. Hybrids Will Share the Road. The IC engine will have company however; indeed, it already does. For the first time since the dawn of the age of the automobile more than 100 years ago, there are other forms of propulsion available to consumers, with more to come in the next few years. Electric vehicles, such as the GM EV1, have been on sale since the early 1990s. Sales have been disappointing, however, largely because of the high cost and poor performance attributes that continue to plague pure electric vehicles. References Berkhout et al., 2000 P.H.G. Berkhout, J.C. Muskens and J.W. Velthuijsen, Defining the rebound effect, Energy Policy 28 (2000), pp. 425-432. Greening et al., 2000 L.A. Greening, D.L. Greene and C. Difiglio, Energy efficiency and consumption-the rebound effect-a survey, Energy Policy 28 (2000), pp. 389-401. View Record in Scopus | Cited By in Scopus (62) Grepperud and Rasmussen, 2004 S. Grepperud and I. Rasmussen, A general equilibrium assessment of rebound effects, Energy Economics 26 (2004), pp. 261-282 Haas and Biermayr, 2000 R. Haas and P. Biermayr, The rebound effect for space heating: empirical evidence from Austria, Energy Policy 28 (2000), pp. 403-410. IEA and OECD, 2003 IEA and OECD, Energy to 2050: scenarios for a sustainable future, IEA Publications, Paris (2003). Read More