Comments on: Toyota Hybrid Manager Says Even His Wife Wouldn’t Plug-in Her Car

By: Keith

Keith — Tue, 26 May 2009 08:37:57 +0000

I looked at this very seriously in regards to myself and what would I do or want to do as regards to plug-in .
This is rather interesting because I would be looking at two different types of cars so I can give two different points of view .

If I were to be driving a hybrid car I would not want it to be an extended range electric type . Instead I would want it to be a high mileage hybrid that at best could only go five or six miles on battery power alone . The most important thing for me would be that it could get up to highway speed of 60 mph easily and quickly on the capacitors and small battery and once it got to highway speed a half liter to one liter four cylinder high compression four cylinder engine gen-set would keep it going as long as there is gasoline available for it . This would give me about 80 miles travel per gallon using gasoline and have a two or three speed automatic transmission .

I could use this vehicle for my everyday vehicle and only gas it up once every two or three weeks with about 5 to six gallons of fuel .
I definitely would not want this vehicle to be a plug-in .

If I were to go where I ultimately would like to go then I would want a Cruze sized all electric vehicle with batteries installed in the engine compartment and through the counsel inside of the car ( the same as the Volt mules) I would want a strong bank of Maxwell capacitors built in under the back seat for acceleration and regenerative breaking but I also would want a little gen-set to provide heat in the winter and supply power for the A/C in the summer and when I say little I mean little , like 125 to 250 cc four cylinder liquid cooled propane , CNG , or gasoline fueled .
This kind of vehicle would have a driving range of around three hundred highway miles with out the gen-set and over 500 miles using the gen-set .
I wouldn’t mind plugging it in once a week to charge the batteries .

By: Jeff M

Jeff M — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 20:52:41 +0000

In a turnabout, today Toyota announced it would have a PLUG-IN in 2010. See http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/14/business/14plug.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin

That 2010 date however is for commercial customers.

By: CharlieP

CharlieP — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 17:36:32 +0000

The beauty of the Volt is (as others here have pointed out) that it is not necessary to plug-in the car in order to drive it. If you forget, or get lazy, you just buy more gasoline, ethanol, etc. But there IS a major issue here, i.e., those people with limited self-discipline will not find the Volt to be cost effective, since they will run it on fuel, not electricity. Unfortunately, such self-discipline is in short supply in the USA, and that is a limitation on the long-term market for a car such as the Volt.

I foresee a market for plug-in reminder devices, and the car MUST have a lockout on the motor when it is plugged-in.

By: Magnakai

Magnakai — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 05:36:29 +0000

OK, for all of those lazy americans that don’t want to have to plug in their car I hate to let everyone know that wireless transfer of electricity is already an actuallity even though it is in its infancy. It has been done at MIT and their are already companies open for business that are investing and developing the technology. Just google wipower in the news section or go here http://www.designnews.com/article/CA6493325.html

By: David

David — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 16:51:22 +0000

Unless something better comes along, my next car will be a Series design like the Chevy Volt.

The parallel design embraces a car design with too many mechnical parts to be maintained and serviced.

I may even consider down sizing my second car to a commuter car like MDI’s Cat Car (www.theaircar.com). Anyone have opinions on this car?