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If recent sneak peeks at hybrid technology development are any indication, then one of the most important improvements we should see will be in the batteries. Although NiMH batteries are dominating the market right now, they seem to be on their way out. We should begin to see many manufacturers start to use Lithium battery technology in the future.
The next ten to twenty years are going to be a time of earthshaking innovations coming right after each other. Hybrid development will probably happen as rapidly as we’ve seen computer technology evolve. It’s likely that every few months will bring about some revolutionary technology which will far surpass anything that came previously. The hybrids of tomorrow will feature batteries which are many times more efficient than the ones we have today. They’ll also decrease in cost and weight. A much lighter weight battery will definitely have an even further effect on the efficiency of these batteries too.
Full hybrids will become common. As they do, the battery technology will become increasingly important. Once a major manufacturer makes the switch to Lithium, it should set off a huge trend which will result in lithium batteries becoming the standard. If a car like the Prius is released with a Lithium battery, then the imitators are sure to follow.
Going into the next few years, diesel hybrids are going to make an even better showing. In nations beyond the United States where fuel costs are even higher, people are yearning for improved fuel economy. Gasoline is just getting too unaffordable and consumers are getting pinched very severely in some nations. Ford’s Reflex Diesel Hybrid is one model which has shown promise, and there’s a number small manufacturer models which look to have potential as well. Some of these designs may be bought up by the auto giants and hopefully they will put them to good use in mass production. Now that the ethanol bubble seems to have bust, diesel may be the “in” thing for a while. Flex-fuel vehicles may enjoy a good run too though, if alternative fuels reach a point of better accessibility and affordability.
What about plug in hybrids? Well they have a few obstacles to surmount in the minds of consumers right now. Most people just don’t understand them very well and they tend to shy away from something they have to plug in. Hopefully as the facts get out this will change. Electricity appears to be a cleaner alternative, even considering some of the dirty technologies required to generate it, and it’s also lower cost. If home power generation becomes more common and people begin to install home solar and wind power generators in their homes, then this will be a great help. Convincing them that the initial infrastructure cost is worth it in the long term may be a challenge though. We’ll have to see how smart the manufacturers are in the way they pitch some of these concepts to the consumer.
Hydrogen has some potential, and Ford and Toyota have luckily begun to pick up on it. They’ve already started developing some hydrogen hybrids and they’ve got a number of them on the road in a few areas. An improvement in hydrogen hybrid technology could serve as a transition into hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. If fuel companies get interested in building a network of hydrogen fueling stations then it might be a real possibility.
A hybrid electric vehicle is a hybrid vehicle that combines a rechargeable energy storage system with a conventional propulsion system to achieve better fuel economy than a standard internal combustion engine alone. Hybrid Vehicles have a secondary propulsion system, in addition to the electric motor (or motors, depending on the vehicle), means that it does not require visits to a charging unit.
There are several types of hybrid vehicles, first we have the series hybrid. Diesel-electric locomotives and ships started using this technology late in the 20th century. In a series hybrid car, a large electric motor propels the vehicle. A series hybrid is only an electric vehicle in the sense that the electric motor drives the wheels, the electricity is produced by an internal combustion engine working as a generator for the batteries to power the electric motor. The series hybrid still uses fuel and produces emissions. This version of the hybrid is not currently available to the public.
Parallel hybrids are much simpler and less expensive for current production and use. With the parallel hybrid, the engine and electric motor work together to power the vehicle. The internal combustion engine propels the vehicle and the electric motor is there to propel the vehicle once it it at a steady speed, but only for fairly short distances. It can also be used for a small amount of extra power. The batteries are powered by regenerative braking.
Third are the Series-Parallel hybrids, they are a combination of both of the above mentioned hybrid vehicles. Both the internal combustion engine and the electric motor are fed into the transmission through separate connections, making either or both available at any time. The internal combustion engine can either drive the vehicle or charge the batteries as the electric motor propels the vehicle. These vehicles are equipped with a sophisticated computer system that monitors conditions and determines which drive motor is the most efficient at any given time. As of current research, the series-parallel hybrids offer the most miles per gallon as well as higher speeds and longer runs with only the electric motor.
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