What is Digg?109 Comments
- gtluke, on 10/10/2007, -0/+22SUV? wtf? the c30 is the euro ford focus
its a tiny car, who called it an SUV? - drcreek, on 10/10/2007, -0/+18Depends what car the moose is driving.
- rebopper, on 10/10/2007, -0/+17Those are the electric motors.
- rebopper, on 10/10/2007, -2/+15When will a diesel hybrid be out? Modern diesel engines have the potential to be more efficient than gasoline.
- BigFloppy, on 10/10/2007, -2/+14This is good because, by not directly connecting the petrol engine to the wheels it can run at it's must efficient rev level constantly. I like this idea, despite hating all the existing hybrids from Toyota and Lexus that are nothing more than marketing gimmicks; this one could actually do some good. Well done Volvo.
- fishbert, on 10/10/2007, -3/+14Diesel is still a four-letter-word in the U.S.
I wish we were better spellers. - JasonQG, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9Volvo says they plan to release it in 2015. I was hoping for flying cars by then.
- johnhummel, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7Actually, I think the trade off is just fine. 60 miles means I can easily get to work and *almost* back again on one charge - and if I have to go out of my way a bit, then the gas kicks in. The batteries add a lot of weight (and let's face it - lithium has proven some "combustable" problems lately).
This actually sounds like a good car to me - I'd give it a look when it hits the states. - maxim2112, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6Make it! NOW!!
- skyshock1, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5The locomotive manufacturers have already figured this out. Damn near every freight train runs diesel/electric hybrid engines now.
- samcrut, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5Modern diesel engines are far cleaner burning than the engines that gave diesel such a bad rap. The soot and smoke you see coming out of an old semi are a result of inefficient fuel consumption. Today's dino-diesel has far less sulfur than the diesel of yesteryear which makes the fuel way cleaner than it used to be. Diesel engines today have added technology to cut hydrocarbon emissions by like 80% and cut CO2 emissions by about 90% from the diesel engines of a decade or so ago.
This car with a clean diesel generator on board would be a knock out, but probably pretty damn pricey. - SerifTheRobot, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5...except this car is much cooler than either the Volt or the Prius. And I am not sure, but I don' think either of them have 4 wheel drive.
- davidrools, on 10/10/2007, -2/+7and replace them with some spinna's, *****.
- smithjls, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5What are you basing that on? Opinions are pretty useless without facts to support them.
- JasonQG, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5You think that most people live more than 30 miles from work? I doubt that.
- rlh1, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5Same concept as the Chevy Volt that is due out in 2 years or so.
Volt will have a 600 mile range with it's ICE generator. This concept, if it plays out like it is supposed to, will knock out the present hybrids. Look to buy former gas stations over the next 10 years. - AntBing, on 10/10/2007, -2/+6They didn't need to be that color though. Silver or black would have made a huge difference.
- rgiskard01, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4"Modern diesel engines have the potential to be more efficient than gasoline."
not just potential, it is a plain reality....check out any diesel vs gasoline vehicle...the diesel gets on average 30% better mpg
The ideal diesel hybrid that won't be sold in the states??
http://dieselblog.net/2007/08/peugeot-new-diesel-hybrid-at-frankfurt-autoshow-on-the-market-in-2010/
but others are coming... - rgiskard01, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Or, just buy a new clean diesel next year....
http://www.caranddriver.com/previews/12424/first-drive-2008-volkswagen-jetta-tdi.html - bromac, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Particulate emissions are far less than gas when you consider that it burns less fuel over time and the fact that Ultra Low Sulphur fuel is now mandated. Of course, that image of a black-smoke spewing unmaintained diesel is burned into every American's brain.
An unmaintained gasser that's down a cylinder is just as dirty! Plus there's the fact diesel engines last longer, you get to factor in not having to replace the block until after 300k miles. And that's not even considering emission drops from Biodiesel and Straight Vegetable Oil. But hey, don't let the facts get in the way of your preconceived ideas. - rderveloy, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3"Diesel is worse for the environment and our lungs that straight gas. It's dirty and produces most of the smog in big cities....like LA. It's a major risk factor for asthma in large cities. The solution isn't diesel, the solution lies in finding a renewable energy enough to power our cities and towns, then piggy-back plug-in cars and we're all set. "
Apparently, you've been living under a rock for the past few years!
Check out Honda's upcoming diesel car:
"Besides the stellar fuel economy rating, these new diesels wear the "clean" tag proudly. The catalytic converter on these Honda diesels is helping it meet the strict US (especially in California) emissions standards, running as cleanly as gas engines. They do it by converting nitrogen into ammonia, which is then used to further diminish the remaining NOx gases."
http://www.autoblog.com/2007/06/06/new-accord-diesel-to-hit-60-mpg/
"he diesel in question will be an ultra clean 2.2 - 2.4L four-cylinder able to meet the toughest emissions standards in the world, i.e. California's Tier II / Bin 5 standard. Nunn reports that the Accord Hybrid will be "quietly retired" upon the arrival of the four-cylinder Accord Diesel, which should be able to handily trounce the outgoing hot-rod V6 hybrid in fuel mileage at the same time delivering decent get up and go. For those wanting more power, Honda is also planning a diesel V6 that will first be used in the Ridgeline before being disseminated across the lineup in its vans and SUVs."
http://www.autoblog.com/2007/01/05/accord-diesel-in-accord-hybrid-out/
Clean, ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel and engines aren't a permanent answer, but they provide a very nice stop-gap. The new stuff puts diesel cars in the US on par with Europe. Not to mention that Europeans mostly drive diesel cars.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra-low_sulfur_diesel
http://www.clean-diesel.org/ - 4degrees, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3paint a rotor on them... heh.
- bromac, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Smith: smog's always being blamed on diesel exhaust. But diesel's now produce less particulate matter than gas with ultra low sulphur. Plus less fuel burned = less particles. Pretty simple really.
Funny how America is the only nation that the masses haven't accepted diesel. It's myths like this that help to perpetuate the ignorance. - moofer, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3My next car will be a PHEV. I've got a 6 kW solar install just waiting to charge a vehicle.
- samcrut, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Once the batteries are depleted, the generator has to be able to generate enough electricity to run the electric motors unassisted by stored electricity.
But like the article mentions, you'll have access to a hella-powerful power generator in the event of a blackout if you tweak the thing to put in an electrical outlet for an emergency house power tie-in. That's pretty damn cool. - GeneralFault, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Wong, wrong and right.
1) A coal fired generator becomes less efficient the further away from the source of coal that it moves. This is one reason that California has very few coal plants. And even if it was moved, the pollution released by burning coal does not just go away. Wind and weather will carry it over great distances. Pollution falls from the sky and ends up in drinking water. Even if that were not the case, population is growing fast enough that it is nearly impossible to find a place close enough to be economical, but far enough to stay unpopulated for the near future.
2) Large power plants are more efficient economically, but not ecologically than small ICE's. For one, a large power plant buys it's fuel in large quantities and has the advantage of economics of scale. For another, large power plants are usually old... very old, by ICE standards and the companies that own them have spent billions to fight any legislation that requires them to upgrade their plants in any meaningful way. The NIMBY's (admittedly including myself) have fought against the creation of new power plants that would be required to have lower emissions. The result is that coal and oil plants put out a huge amount of pollution.
3) You are correct sir. The sun puts out more than enough energy in just a few hundred square miles than the entire population of earth would require. A solar collection system large enough would not require "sectioning off a state" or anything radical like that. If we were to all put solar cells on our homes and business, we would likely never have energy problems again. And thats without even considering other eco-friendly sources of energy like treadwheel hamsters. - davidrools, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3you've got a longass commute
- apeweek, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2he grid is fine. Reference:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/12/061211221149.htm
Mileage From Megawatts: Study Finds Enough Electric Capacity To 'Fill Up' Plug-in Vehicles
Science Daily — If all the cars and light trucks in the nation switched from oil to electrons, idle capacity in the existing electric power system could generate most of the electricity consumed by plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. A new study for the Department of Energy finds that "off-peak" electricity production and transmission capacity could fuel 84 percent of the country's 220 million vehicles if they were plug-in hybrid electrics. - SilverBlade2k, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2it is FAR easier to control the emissions coming from ONE source (the power plant), then 50 million sources (the cars). It isn't the perfect answer, but its a better answer then what we are currently doing.
- moofer, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2They're drawing attention to a feature in a show car. Get over it. It won't be that way when/if the car hits showroom floors.
- BigFloppy, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3*its
- goochie, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3Tiny? Smart ForTwo is tiny. Peugeot 107 is tiny. But C30 is definitely not tiny. It is a mid-size hatchback. Actually it's roughly the size as Golf/Rabbit from VW. I can never understand why some people need a big car, like SUV, unless you really have serious off-road needs which i doubt that many of us really do. One of the most obvious reasons would be that you are trying to compensate for something...
- apeweek, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2It doesn't matter how much coal gets burned; electric vehicles, by virtue of efficiency, cause just a fraction of the pollutants that an ICE does. here is a reference:
http://www.electric-cars-are-for-girls.com/electric-powered-cars.html
"...in a study conducted by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, EVs were significantly cleaner over the course of 100,000 miles than ICE cars. The electricity generation process produces less than 100 pounds of pollutants for EVs compared to 3000 pounds for ICE vehicles." - Ub3rg33k, on 10/10/2007, -4/+6I'm ready to buy if they're ready to ditch the ugly green rims.
- SilverBlade2k, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Too bad its a CONCEPT car, and we all know that concept cars don't really get into mass production
- samcrut, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I'll take that bet.
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Traffic/story?id=485098&page=1
"They report an average one-way commute time of 26 minutes (over an average distance of 16 miles)." - ABC News
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/ohim/hs05/national_household_info.htm
"Rural residents have an average work trip length of 14.0 miles while urban commutes average only 10.6 miles." -US Department of Transportation
You want my paypal account info to get me that $5? =) - sunroof, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2here is the video: http://www.automotoportal.com/article/volvo-recharge-concept-video
- Otto, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2You won't get more plants built until there is demand for them. Ramp up demand and supply will follow.
The easiest way around NIMBYs is to start having power shortages. - UrbanVoyeur, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Why such a large engine just to charge the battery? Since the car is fully electrically driven, seems a 250-500 cc could do the charging just as well.
- DeadPanDan, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Most people will plug in their cars at night when the load on the grid is low. And pulling electricity from the grid to power an electric car pollutes less than a conventional car. Improvements to our infrastructure will be necessary, but there's nothing new about that.
It doesn't need to be the answer to all our problems. It just needs to be better. - jjed824, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3Diesel isn't the answer. A diesel engine is. Maybe a diesel engine running on waste vegetable oil with this kind of battery power....oh i'd be in green heaven.
- Roppongi, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Why brag about some car maybe coming out 8 years from now is better than the present day Prius.
The Prius can already be made pluggable, not in 2015 but today. - gigamugged, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2There's no extra wear and tear, the motors are solid state (brushless). I'd imagine it's possible to make them tougher than the wheel bearings quite easily, and to top it off you get 4x redundancy with one motor in each wheel.
- ChoadNamath, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Yeah, cause there are so many moving parts in an electric motor compared to an ICE...
- lesmalan, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2People who bash Toyota and Lexus Hybrids are so obtuse it kills me. The Prius for example is pretty awesome. You can get into one for the same price as a Camry or Accord, has only slightly less interior room then either, boasts some really cool features like CVT, backup camera, smart key system etc has the absolute best resale value of any vehicle in the world, and gets around 50mpg (i've heard this from dozens of actual Prius owners, not Trolls on the internet). At the same time it has great city drivability and is smoother and quieter than just about any car I've encountered. It's the best hybrid technology on Earth, so quit trolling.
- samcrut, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Those Hi-Pa wheel motors are what I love on this design. No drive shaft. No axle grease. Nothing but wires going to the wheels to make them spin. WAY more efficient from a weight and friction standpoint. The only other cars I've seen that use this are the original Mini proof of concept that PML Flightlink built to show off their motors, and the Lightning GT which is in the $300,000 price range.
This design is brilliant and I bet you'll be seeing more and more cars going this route. - rgiskard01, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2read the articles on clean diesels and do some more research...that is all a thing of the past
ULSD, biodiesel, DPF, Bluetec, etc.
http://www.dieselforum.org/meet-clean-diesel/what-is-clean-diesel/ - rgiskard01, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2bromac: exactly!
here is a great article explaining a little about today's diesels, and how all the perceptions, which are based on what most Americans remember from GMs blunders, are wrong
http://www.automobilemag.com/features/0707_diesel_feature/
you have to give it to Detroit, they have convinced the American public that diesel technology has not advanced in 20+ years....that is an impressive propaganda campaign! .... think about it for minute, what technology doesn't advance in 20 years time?? - samcrut, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Our electrical grid has tons of excess capacity at night. There's enough extra electricity to charge up millions of electric vehicles in off-peak hours. The power plants are generating the electricity already, but it's not being used. All you have to do is put the car on a switched charger that only comes on at night, like you put on Xmas tree lights.
And it's not pollution free, but as more power is switched over to wind and solar, the pollution will be reduced more and more. Not to mention that the pollution from a gasoline car per mile is more than the pollution from an electric car powered by the coal plant per mile traveled.
If we can add technology to clean up say 100 coal power plants, that are powering tens of thousands of electric cars, then that's a much easier solution than changing all of those cars to reduce emissions.
Nuclear power has it's strengths but until we can find a way to denature the waste materials to make them safe, it's going to remain a hard sale. - Otto, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Me? Hell no, I live 5 blocks from work. That's not my point, most people don't.
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