|
Driving new technology forward |
|
|
|
Written by Kacey Green
|
|
Tuesday, 08 August 2006 |
Oconomowoc Focus reports: 8/8
I caught this nice little article this morning. It does a great job of advocating plug-in hybrids. I like the idea of a plug-in hybrid but I'm not about to risk my hybrid battery warranty until a few more people have tried the conversions. Whats good about this program is it raises the awareness of the car buying public, maybe the auto manufactures will stop saying "You don't have to plug it in" or "There is no plug" and change their tune to "You can plug it in if you want to." The article also points out how much cheaper electricity is compared to gasoline, they touched on the subject but didn't say it in the article, power plants are cleaner than individual automobiles.
It isn't easy being green, but Oconomowoc Utilities hopes to help car manufacturers along the way by joining Plug-In Partners, a national campaign urging car makers to speed development of the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV).
Public power utilities, like the city's, are leading the effort to demonstrate that a market exists for PHEV technology. And not just because PHEVs would use their services. "We are committed to promoting energy-efficiency and conservation," Oconomo-woc Utilities Electric Manager Dennis Bednarski said. "We believe the PHEV is an important emerging technology with great benefits for our environment and our economy." According to Bednarski, since 78 percent of Americans live within 20 miles of their jobs, drivers of PHEVs would need to fill up with gasoline as rarely as a few times a year, versus the current 24 to 36 times a year on average. Bednarksi said an "electric" gallon of gasoline would cost less than $1. "Compare that to current gas prices soaring to well over $2.50 per gallon in Wisconsin," he said...
A PHEV is a hybrid car that has additional batteries that can be recharged by plugging them into a standard 120-volt outlet. The extra batteries allow the hybrid car to travel a longer distance solely on battery power, while still allowing it to operate as a normal hybrid car whenever necessary. The ability to plug in to recharge the batteries adds convenience. When the PHEV drives on battery power alone, it produces zero emissions, making it environmentally friendly. The further it can go on battery power alone, the less the hybrid car needs to use its gas engine. A PHEV can travel 30 miles on battery power alone. That means, if it's driven only 20 miles, it only uses battery power and, at the end of the trip, could simply be plugged in to recharge the batteries...
It won't take long before people start asking why they have to carry that heavy useless engine around everywhere on all their trips. Then we will have hybrids with part-time engines, and then the two car family's will have one of those, plus when the electric car makes its comeback they'll have one of those too.
Trackback(0)
 |
|
Last Updated ( Sunday, 26 August 2007 )
|
Content Categories 
TrackBack URI for this entry
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Show/Hide comment form
