Environmentally Friendly Cars (Hybrid and Others)

Hi Everyone,


What do Honda Insight, Toyota Prius and Honda Civic Hybrid have in common? These are all hybrid cars! 


First launched in 1997, Toyota Prius is one of the first hybrid cars on the market. It is first available in Japan before it went worldwide 4 years later in 2001. Toyota Prius is now one of the world's best selling hybrid vehicle with 1 million units sold in the U.S and Japan. That's a total of 2 million units in both countries.¹ Honda Civic Hybrid has been around in Malaysia for a few years now. Priced around RM160,000 initially, the demand here has been slow but with a cheaper price now @ RM128,000, there is a slightly higher demand. Honda Insight was launched last year with a price tag of RM98,000 making it the cheapest hybrid car in Malaysia.² It is now in the top 10 best selling non national car in Malaysia.


Pollution is one of the causes of environment degradation. Efforts have been done to reduce pollution. Car companies started to research on reducing emissions and environmentally friendly cars in the late 1990s, from hybrid cars to BMW's hydrogen car technology and Volvo's bio-ethanol initiatives.


What are the differences between the different types of eco friendly vehicles? 


Here is information on How Hybrid Cars Work from HowStuffWorks.com.³


Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive®^4,5


Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive® (HSD) is a full hybrid system that uses an battery-powered electric motor and a petrol driven combustion engine. Either one of these can power the car alone.


HSD is a smart technology that can determine when to switch between petrol and electric and when to combine both petrol and electric for maximum efficiency with high performance and excellent fuel efficiency and thus reducing pollution.


It charges the battery when the petrol is running and when the brakes are pressed, energy that are wasted due to heat during breaking is converted into electricity for use later. The battery also receives more than sufficient energy from the petrol engine when coasting so that the car does not need to be connected to the mains at all.


The car also knows when to power off the car during breaking and powers on again after that when needed.


With both the petrol engine and electric motor running, the car will produce more power with a smaller engine. For example. the 1.8l Toyota Prius actually produces performance similar 2.4l performance car.


Honda I-VTEC and IMA^6,7,8


This is Honda's hybrid system combining both i-VTEC and IMA (Integrated Motor Assist). The i-VTEC engine serves as the main power source with the IMA providing an extra power when needed. The combined engines come with an ultra-thin brushless motor that reduces the weight by 15%. It is also thinner by 22%. It also comes with CVT and ECON mode where it increases regenerative recharging and enhances the energy saving of the air conditioner unit. 


Civic Hybrid also comes with a Power Control Unit (PCU) that carries out accurate engine management to switch the motor between motor assist, motor off, and regeneration modes depending on engine speed during acceleration, cruising, and deceleration. It achieves the highest fuel economy at all conditions. The PCU is combined with the Intelligent Power Unit (IPU) that controls the functions and regulates the power of the IMA.


The fuel consumption gives an astounding 29.5km/l reading, the highest for a 5-seater passenger car.


Future Posts:


I will have another post in which we will explore BMW's Clean Energy initiatives to research on hydrogen powered cars and Volvo's DRIVE initiatives to develop environmentally friendly cars.




¹ Toyota Prius, Wikipedia Encyclopedia, 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Prius#First_generation_.28XW10.3B_1997.E2.80.932003.29


² Honda Insight - cheapest hybrid in Malaysia at RM98k, 2nd December 2010
http://paultan.org/2010/12/02/honda-insight-cheapest-hybrid-in-malaysia-at-rm98k/


³ Nice, Karim, and Julia Layton.  "How Hybrid Cars Work"  20 July 2000.  HowStuffWorks.com. 
http://www.howstuffworks.com/hybrid-car.htm  14 October 2011.


⁴ Toyota Australia: Hybrid Synergy Drive - Hybrid Technolgy - How Hybrid Works
http://www.toyota.com.au/hybrid-synergy-drive/hybrid-technology/how-hybrid-works


⁵ Honda Insight - cheapest hybrid in Malaysia at RM98k, 2nd December 2010
http://paultan.org/2010/12/02/honda-insight-cheapest-hybrid-in-malaysia-at-rm98k/


⁶ Honda Malaysia: Honda Insight
http://www.honda.com.my/insight/about/


⁷ Honda Worldwide - CIVIC Hybrid Technology: Honda IMA system
http://world.honda.com/CIVICHYBRID/Technology/NewHondaIMASystem/PowerUnit/index_1.html


⁸ Honda Worldwide - Technology Picture Book (Automobile): IMA
http://world.honda.com/automobile-technology/IMA/detail/



Cheers,


Rogerkoo