Fall 08 - T33 - G4

Topic
Hybrid Cars

Issue
Should you purchase a hybrid vehicle or a conventional vehicle?

Group Members
Aneet Mundae

Hsiu Min Chuang (Jack)

Lucas Cale McCarthy

Kelsie Rae Lussier

Wei-Yaw Chon (Weber)

Introduction
From being fuel efficient to having a sleek look, many dealerships that sell vehicles are now selling at least one style of a hybrid. Should a consumer purchase a hybrid or conventional vehicle? The hybrid vehicle has been around since 1920, even though many people think it’s a new technology. The combustion engine that works simultaneously with a battery allows this vehicle to be fuel efficient and therefore reduce fuel emissions. These vehicles do cost more than conventional ones, but in the long run you will be saving money from the reduced amount of fuel they require to run. With every type of vehicle you will run into disadvantages, but they are always paired with advantages. The hybrid definitely has both good and bad features, but who knows hybrids could be the vehicle of the future.

Description
A hybrid vehicle is one that employs a combustion engine system together with an electric propulsion system. Hybrid technologies expand the usable range of EVs (electron volts) beyond what an electric vehicle can achieve with batteries only. It pairs up with a gas engine but the hybrid helps to reduce fuel emissions because the hybrid engine draws on the battery and not gasoline when accelerating. These vehicles are great for the environment as they can reduce smog by 90 percent and they use far less gasoline than conventional vehicles; hybrid gasoline motors shut off when the car is stopped and run off their electricity. The hybrids battery can recharge without having to plug it into a power source, just simple driving the vehicle recharges its battery. Hybrid engines are much smaller than those on conventional vehicles. A hybrid vehicle engine is built small to accommodate the 99% of driving time when the vehicle is not going up hills or accelerating quickly. When extra acceleration power is needed, it relies on the battery to provide additional force. Hybrid vehicles are built light weight, which cause their tires to create only half the drag of a conventional vehicle. The tires are stiffer and inflated to a higher pressure as well the hybrid vehicle is often more aerodynamic, reducing wind resistance. With less wind resistance the hybrid then burns less gas per kilometre therefore puts extra cash in your pocket and puts much less pollution into the air.

History
Hybrid cars history is tied to Dr. Ferdinand Porsche, who developed the first successful hybrid car. The world's first hybrid car was Lohner-Porsche petrol-electric "Mixte", built by Ferdinand Porsche at age 27, in 1902



Porsche gave the nickname "Aunt Eulalia" to the first series of the hybrids, but the official name was Semper Vivus, meaning "always alive". The first hybrid car used a petrol engine, which rotated at a constant speed to drive a dynamo, which then charged accumulators. Then, the accumulators fed current to electric motors contained within the hubs of the front wheels. The hybrid cars quickly became a success. Thousands of hybrid cars were produced in the years between 1902 and 1920, by companies such as Krieger, Lohner-Porsche, and Auto-Mixte. However, by 1920 Ford motor company's efficient assembly line manufacturing and the introduction of the self-starting gas engine resulted in a rapid decline for hybrid car production.

Hybrid Cars History Since 1920
After the first successful hybrid cars, it took nearly a hundred years for them to become popular again. The first commercial mass-market hybrid car of the new generation, Toyota Prius, was launched in 1997, in the Japanese market.



However, the launch of the Toyota Prius was the result of some 30 years of development work, of which had already resulted in concept cars, such as the early 1977 Toyota Sports 800 Gas Turbine hybrid prototype.



Hybrid Cars History - Recent Developments
After the 1997 launch of the Toyota Prius in Japan, it was released in 2000 in the U.S., one year after the release of Honda Insight. Soon after, hybrid cars became very successful, with demand greatly outpacing supply.



The relatively huge demand was somewhat unexpected, resulting in delivery waiting lists as long as one year in 2002, 2003, and 2004, at least for the Toyota Prius. The U.S. sales of hybrid cars reached about 80,000 in 2004, with analysts expecting as many as 470,000 hybrid vehicles to be sold in 2007.

Hybrid Cars History - Hybrid Engine History
Early hybrid cars primarily used the electric motor for all power. The engine would charge batteries from which the motor drew power, running only when needed to charge them back up. More advanced hybrid cars reverse the process somewhat, using gasoline engine for primary power, but with greater efficiency that with conventional cars. The modern role of the electric motor is to operate not only when the electric motor is used exclusively, but also when the gasoline engine requires extra power. Also, in modern hybrid cars, instead of the just the engine charging the batteries, the motor acts as a generator during braking, using the momentum of the car to generate electricity.

Environment
-When switching to a hybrid vehicle you are saving the earth a couple tons of greenhouse gases. Carbon dioxide is one of the primary reasons for the increase of global warming. Hybrid vehicles release minimal carbon dioxide into the environment, which is lesser than that of conventional vehicles. The quantity of carbon dioxide released by a hybrid car is proportional to the amount of fuel consumed.

-Hybrid vehicles combine clean energy of the electrical motor with the power of the gas-powered engine, which results in lower emissions into the environment.

-There is a reduced noise emission resulting from the substantial use of the electrical motor at idling and lower speeds.

-Air pollution emission is also reduced due to the lower consumption of fuel.

-Hybrid vehicles emit lower toxic emissions compared to the conventional vehicles because less gasoline is being burnt while the vehicle is running.

-Hybrid vehicles help reduce the dependency on fossil fuels. This directly affects the fuel prices.

Economic
-The most popular economic advantage when owning a hybrid vehicle is the amount of money that can be saved on gas. This is important during times of rising gas prices. The gasoline engine is quite small, since a hybrid vehicles uses an electric motor with a long-range capacity of gasoline engine, 30 miles a galloon is saved.

-They are extremely fuel-efficient and provide a lifetime savings on the use of gasoline for an individual. When a hybrid vehicle is stopped the engine automatically shuts off, which also helps the saving of fuel.

-There are also a number of tax credits available for the owner of the hybrid vehicle. There are many financial incentives geared towards influencing the public to use hybrid vehicles.

Personal
-Hybrid vehicles are reliable and comfortable as any other conventional vehicle

-They provide better mileage

-The battery does not need to be charged by an external source because it is automatically charged with the regenerative braking.

-Special warranties are provided for the battery pack because parts such as the electric motor can be very costly.

-Hybrids also have better steering control making it easier for the driver to control the vehicle.

The Price
-Hybrid vehicles are very costly. They can range anywhere from $2,000-$5,000 more than any conventional vehicle.

-Some states in the United States charge an additional fee for the registration of the vehicle

-The maintenance of a hybrid’s parts is very expensive. Hybrid vehicles have very complicated systems, which need to be taken care of by experienced mechanics only.

The Battery
-Due to the battery pack in hybrid vehicles, the vehicle weighs much more than a conventional vehicle

-The warranty that is included by the manufacturing company only covers the battery from 80,000-100,000 miles but this varies for each vehicle. The warranty is usually for 8 years. Vehicle makers say that the battery lasts forever. However, if something happens to the battery and it not under warranty anymore, the battery costs a lot to replace.

-The battery in a hybrid vehicle also has to be charged at least every second week; therefore if one decides to go on a vacation, they will need to find someone to look after their vehicle.

-It has also been reported that there are problems with the battery in the cold weather.

Performance
-Hybrids are considered slow, which make it difficult for them to keep up with conventional vehicles on a highway.

-They have slower acceleration power and a lower top-speed than conventional vehicles.

Dangers
-In the event of an accident, there is a risk of exposure to high voltage wires. Most hybrid vehicles use metal hydride batteries and a high voltage wires, which is unsafe when the wires are exposed; therefore there is a risk that the driver make get electrocuted when involved in an accident.

-Due to the lightweight body of the hybrid, there is a serious risk of safety during an accident.

-Hybrid vehicles are very quiet, this has made it an dangerous situation for the blind pedestrians because they rely on the noise of the vehicle to help them cross the streets

-Hybrid vehicles are usually smaller than normal conventional vehicles and are usually manufactured using lightweight. Although this might increase the speed of the vehicle, it also make the hybrid more vulnerable to destruction.

Global financial crisis
Since the subprime mortgage crisis broke out in summer 2007, major banks have filed bankruptcy and millions of jobs were lost. This had a ripple effect on all sectors of the workforce. As the economy is heading toward a recession worldwide, the demand for consumer goods is shrinking. Many auto-makers had declared huge sales drop in recent months and some barely have enough cash to pay its employees. As the cash flow of auto-makers drastic decrease, many research budgets to improve hybrid vehicles had been cut down. Financial crisis created a vicious circle as the consumers is not willing to buy new car and the auto industry doesn’t have the money to improve the hybrid vehicle technology.

Gas Price
Base on the data from Toyota Official website, the Camry Hybrid’s starting price is $26,150 and the mile per gallon is 33(city)/34(highway) and the Camry’s starting price is $19,145 and the mile per gallon is 21(city)/31(highway). For Toyota Camry, the starting price of the hybrid model is $7000 more expensive than the conventional models. However, its fuel efficiency is about 150% better than conventional vehicle. As we observe from the U.S. statistic, average miles a US passenger car is driven per year is around 13, 000 miles. That means conventional engine driver will consume 13000/21 = 619 Gallon of gasoline, while hybrid vehicle driver only used 13000/33 = 393 Gallon of gasoline. Hybrid driver can save approximately (619-393) = 226 gallon of gasoline per year. We will try to compare how much money the hybrid vehicle driver save using Los Angeles average gas price on June 24, 2008. The average gas price for the day was 4.61/gallon. If this was the average gas price for the entire year, hybrid vehicle driver can save 226*4.61 = 1041 dollar per year. It would take 6.72 year to recover the premium paid on hybrid vehicle. However, if we use the average gas price on Nov 22, 2008, 2.19/gallon, the hybrid vehicle driver only save 226*2.19 = 494.94 per year. The driver needs 14.14 years to recover the premium on hybrid vehicle. As we can see, as the gasoline price drop, the hybrid vehicles are not appearing to consumer from an economic point of view.

Moreover, the conventional engine vehicles have not improved its fuel inefficiency a lot for the last ten year as the data pointed out. As the data points out, Camry 2007 has approximately the same fuel efficiency as Camry 1999. Vehicle value depreciated over the course of the years. As we can see from the depreciation calculator, on average a car lost half of its original values within five years. Average driver will not have a high motive to buy new hybrid cars if his old car still maintains in good condition without having to spend a lot on maintenances each year.

In conclusion, hybrid vehicles have become a popular chose over the years when the gasoline price was rising. However, as we are heading toward a recession, consumers become more price conscience about their choices. Also, the gas price is currently at 5 year low and consumers are more reluctant to switch to new fuel efficient hybrid vehicles. These factors represent great threats for the development and the sales of hybrid cars.

Future Outlook
With automakers introducing new ideas at every car show in North America every year, it is difficult to see exactly how close the future is. The truth is its closer then we think; currently every car that’s deemed ‘hybrid’ is easily spotted in city streets, this ostentatious stereotype of the hybrid car is closing, and automakers are coming closer to the medium between luxury, environmental, and what everyone wants, speed. The ideas of corporations and inventors have flourished in the past century in the face of the reality, that our supply is limited. Since the 1960’s people have imagined a future of gravity defying hovering cars, teleporting, and holograms. As imaginations wandered, inventors worked. So far, what we can see is Electric and Hydrogen powered supercars, biodiesel created on fungis, and cars that run on solar power.(pictured right) This concept was designed and was set to be released and fully functional by 2030. Although solar powered vehicles have been around for quite some time now, many people find the cost and practicality very far out of their patience level, and price range. They need to be charged, maintained heavily, and in most cases, have special training to drive. A prime example of this type of restrictions is the universitys that have assigned full crews to upgrade, maintain,  and compete in races which actually In turn forward the technorlogy futher into the future. Top companies are hiring more and more engineers and concept artists to create the next ‘green’ car. Nissan has released a 3 seater fully electric car called the Pivo, while Toyota has released the Volta, the 408HP hybrid with 2 electric engines, which rivals the current ‘Scorpion’ and the electric Tesla. Which all have set their price point for well over $100,000. Although the gas free lifestyle seems to only find the rich and famous, us normal people will have to wait a little longer. With the Chevy Volt being one of the most affordable electric cars being released next year, the common person will, by 2012 be able to afford greener vehicles. Even though these electric vehicles are expensive to produce, it hasn’t stopped Aston Martin, from producing a 700HP machine of innovation. They have created a car with a maintenance free engine, fully powered by electricity, which takes an acclaimed 10 minutes to charge, all while the the engine sits in the wheels, using what they call regenerative breaking which negates wheel spin, and basically recharges the battteries. So as it may seem that electricity may be the fuel of the future, there is still heavy competition in the hydrogen area, which is slowly becoming more attractive common people, which currently only really has about 2 cars in the market competing against one another. The BMW Hydrogen 7 and the Ford Escape. Although the threat has been made almost every other company with at least one concept model of hydrogen propelled car. Since 1807 the world has been working with different types of hydrogen systems, all of which progressed slightly to become what we have today, and what we are working for tomorrow. So as almost every car company has realized the demand for alternative fuels, Toyota is the company that seems to be making it happen, with 7 other car companies licensed to use their ‘winning formula’ including Porsche and Audi, our selection of anti-noxious vehicles seems to grow rapidly. Honda has promised that the world will see a total alternative to every one of its vehicles by 2010, it seems that it will be no time before gas combustion engines become a thing of the past. The question is, what do we look forward to after that?