Most of us know by now that a Hybrid Vehicle has two sources of power;an electric motor and the good ol' Internal Combustion Engine (ICE).However, most people don't know much beyond that so let's go deeper:let's cut through the jargon and have a look at how Hybrid Vehiclesactually work.
Hybrid vehicles are usually based on two main designs; a paralleldesign, or a series design.
With a parallel design, the electric motor and ICE are both connecteddirectly to the vehicle's wheels. The ICE is used for normal driving;the electric motor provides additional power during acceleration, hillclimbs and other occasions of high demand.
With a series design, the ICE is connected to a generator which is usedto charge the batteries. It is the batteries which actually power thewheels via the electric motor.
Some hybrid vehicles use the series design at low speeds, and theparallel design for highway driving and acceleration.
Regenerative braking: normally the deceleration of a vehicle is wastedenergy; not so with Hybrids. Hybrids can use regenerative braking tocapture and store the energy lost in slowing down the vehicle aselectricity. The electricity can later be used to propel the vehicle.This increases the overall efficiency of the vehicle as energy that wasotherwise wasted is being stored and used again later.
Also energy that would otherwise be wasted while idling or cruising canalso be stored for later use. While cruising the ICE uses a lot of fuelin proportion to the actual work going into driving the wheels. Thismakes it particularly inefficient at those times. To increase efficiencysome of the output from the ICE is fed to a generator to charge thebatteries when the vehicle is cruising or travelling downhill.
Another clever trick is that the electric motor normally used to drivethe wheels can be used as the generator. This is how the regenerativebraking process, and the system for charging the battery during engineidling, generate electricity. At those times the electric motor is notneeded for propulsion, therefore, the ability of an electric motor tooperate in 'generator' mode is utilised so that a separate generator isnot required.
Vehicles which use the parallel or series design are sometimes known asFull Hybrids. Other types of Hybrids such as the Assist Hybrid and MildHybrid are basically just normal vehicles with a bit of electrical powersupplied at crucial moments. They may also offer Regenerative Braking.However, this kind of vehicle only provides about a 10% increase in fueleconomy and it is open to question as to whether the extra complexity isworthwhile.
Is the future of hybrid diesel?
The future of hybrids may very well lie in the diesel motor. Dieselengines operate at higher efficiency than petrol engines so deliver moremiles to the gallon, plus they are more reliable. Their maindisadvantage has always been poor acceleration, but in a hybrid this isnot an issue as it can be offset with extra propulsion from the electricmotor.
In addition, diesel engines can run on biofuels such as vegetable oiland the like. Such fuels are relatively clean and are not the dirtystuff often associated with diesel propulsion. Biofuels can be obtainedin a sustainable way and the costs are relatively independent of oilproduction and oil prices.
The combination of reliability, fuel economy (prototypes have achievedover 110 mpg US fuel economy) and sustainable sources of fuel, makes thediesel-engine based hybrids not only likely, but inevitable. This willhopefully give us breathing space till fuel cell technology matures.
Should you Buy a Hybrid Vehicle?
Here are some resources to help you decide:
You can check out this comparison charthttp://go.ucsusa.org/hybridcenter/compare_chart.cfm which will helpyou compare some hybrids with non-hybrids and a reference list of allFederal and State incentives for prospective hybrid ownershttp://go.ucsusa.org/hybridcenter/incentives.cfm .
Some topical articles; Buyers of hybrid cars get a pleasant surprisehttp://www.rocklintoday.com/news/templates/automotive_news.asp?articleid=3110&zoneid=1and one persons experience of the Cost of Owning a Hybrid carhttp://www.hybridcars.com/blogs/sans-suv/apples-oranges.
Consumer Reports have now admitted that they made an error when theysaid owners of hybrid vehicles would pay more than buyers of comparablegasoline-only vehicles over their lifetime of ownership. Owners of theToyota Prius and Honda Civic hybridshttp://www.hybridcars.com/news/news.php?news_id=832 do save money, themagazine now says.
If you want more in-depth technical information try What is a HybridElectric Vehicle?http://www.eere.energy.gov/cleancities/hev/what_is_hev.html/ whichincludes a nice simple overview of hybrid vehicle designhttp://www.eere.energy.gov/cleancities/hev/hev_components.html and thepage Hybrid Electric Vehicleshttp://www.nrel.gov/vehiclesandfuels/hev/hevs.html has clear technicalexplanations.
Wikipedia has a well written Hybrid vehiclehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_car entry which includes bothtechnical and ecological issues.
If all that is not enough for you try the Hybrid Electric Vehicle bloghttp://hybridblog.typepad.com which has lots of good info and links.
Hybrid Vehicle Tax Credit
The high-voltage power circuit is a new technology that supports the new THS II system. By providing a newly developed high-voltage power circuit inside the power control unit, the voltage of the motor and the generator has been increased from 274V in THS to a maximum of 500V in THS II. As a result, electrical power can be supplied to the motor using a smaller current, thus contributing to an increase in efficiency.
Power, which expresses the work performed by electricity within syiven amount of time, is calculated by multiplying voltage by current. If the power necessary for driving the motor is held constant, the above formula indicates that doubling the voltage reduces the current by 1/2.
Next, by following Joule's Law (Calorie = Current2 x Resistance), the power loss in terms of calories is reduced to 1/4 (1/2 Current x 1/2 Current) if the resistance is held constant. The high-voltage power circuit in THS II increases power by increasing the voltage while keeping the current constant. Furthermore, for the same power level, increasing the voltage and reducing the current reduces energy loss, resulting in higher efficiency.
The motor has been developed based on the technologies that Toyota has nurtured while working on electric vehicles. THS II uses an AC synchronous-type motor, which is a high-efficiency DC brushless motor with AC current. Neodymium magnets (permanent magnets) and a rotor made of stacked electromagnetic steel plates form a high-performance motor. Furthermore, by arranging the permanent magnets in an optimum V-shape, the drive torque is improved and the output is increased. This, combined with a larger power supply achieved by an increase in the power supply voltage, has increased power output by approximately 1.5 times from THS, i.e., to 50 kW from 33 kW, even with a motor of the same size, producing the highest output per unit of weight and volume in the world.
For motor control, a newly developed over-modulation control system has been added to the medium-speed range, in addition to the existing low- and high-speed control methods. By improving the pulse width modification method, the output in the medium-speed range has been increased by a maximum of approximately 30%.
Like the motor, the generator is also an AC synchronous type. In order to supply sufficient power to the high-output motor, the generator is rotated at high speeds, increasing its output. Measures such as rotor strength enhancement have increased the rpm range for the maximum possible output from 6,500 (in the conventional type) to 10,000 rpm. This high rpm has significantly increased the power supply up to the medium-speed range, improving the acceleration performance in the low/medium-speed. As a result, an optimum combination of a high-output motor and an engine has been achieved.
The power control unit contains an inverter that converts the DC from the battery into an AC for driving the motor and a DC/DC converter for conversion to 12V.
In THS II, a high-voltage power circuit that can increase the voltage from the power supply to 500V, has been added. Based on the relationship of Power = Voltage x Current, increasing the voltage makes it possible to reduce the current, which in turn makes it possible to reduce the size of the inverter.
Also, because the control circuits have been integrated, the size of the power control unit itself has remained almost the same as before.
This semiconductor switching device (IGBT: Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor) boosts the voltage from the battery and converts the boosted DC power into AC power for driving the motor. Since the current that must be switched is large, minimizing heat generation is important. Therefore, Toyota has developed a unique transistor finely tuned down to the crystal level. This device is 20% smaller than the similar device used in THS and has achieved low heat generation and high efficiency.
In THS II, further enhancements have been made to the compact, high-performance nickel-metal hydride battery developed for THS. Having reduced the battery's internal resistance by improving the electrode material and by using an entirely new connection structure between (battery) cells, the new battery's input/output density is 35% better than the battery used in THS, achieving the highest output density (output per unit of weight) in the world. To maintain a constant charge, the new battery is discharged or receives charging energy from the generator and the motor, and therefore does not require external charging, as do electric vehicles.
A regenerative braking system is used which, during engine braking and braking using the foot brake, operates the electric motor as a generator, converting the vehicle's kinetic energy into electrical energy, which is used to charge the battery. The system is particularly effective in recovering energy during city driving, where driving patterns of repeated acceleration and deceleration are common. When the footbrake is being used, the system controls the coordination between the hydraulic brake of the ECB and the regenerative brake and preferentially uses the regenerative brake, thereby recovering energy even at lower vehicle speeds. Furthermore, by improving the battery input performance, more energy is recovered.
Additionally, by reducing the friction loss in the drive system, such as in the transmission, the energy that used to be lost as driving system loss during deceleration is now recovered, significantly increasing the total amount of recovered energy.
Both William Martin & Melih Oztalay are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
William Martin has sinced written about articles on various topics from Cars, Self Confidence and Dating and Romance. William F Martin offers holistic tips and advice. Check out these or this. William Martin's top article generates over 1900 views. to your Favourites.
Melih Oztalay has sinced written about articles on various topics from Modelling, Site Promotion and PPC Advertising. Melih ("may-lee") Oztalay, CEOSmartFinds Internet MarketingWeb: EMail: melih@hsfideas.comToyota Ohio state customers now have an onli. Melih Oztalay's top article generates over 90500 views. to your Favourites.
Beef Brisket And Cabbage The next time youre thinking beef brisket remember this Beef brisket is not just for barbecue!