Hybrid Battery Car

"Hybrid Battery Car Drives Highway of Success...."

Things are looking good for the hybrid battery car.  Even the government sees plug-in hybrid electric cars in your future.

..........It all started with a speech given by President Bush when he was describing an energy policy designed to  replace over three-quarters of Mideast oil imports by the year 2025.  

The plan is significant for those who feel the hybrid vehicles time has come. 

Guess where the President gave that speech?  At the plant where lithium-ion batteries are  researched and manufactured.  Johnson Controls of Milwaukee is the corporation. 

They are  an auto parts company that is making lithium-ion battery cells for the next generation of the hybrid battery car. 

 The cost of hybrid vehicle battery replacement has always been a factor in popularizing hybrid cars and...

Hybrid technologies continue to be a major concern of the U.S. Energy Department.

They are striving for the development of hydrogen fuel cells to replace gasoline engines in  cars.   Those hydrogen fuel cells will be widely used in hybrid vehicles of all kinds by  the year 2024, if the Energy Department has its way.  

Why the big push for the development of hybrid technologies?  That's easy.  The number one reason is the uncertainty of our Midwest sources of fossil fuels. 

Any interruption in that supply could create a financial crises in the U.S. Even as the supply continues the  price per barrel of oil continues to climb.  Some are predicting that the cost of oil  could reach as much as $100 per barrel in the future.  As the cost of oil increases the race for information on hybrid cars becomes even more important. 

Hybrid Battery Car

Hydrogen fuel seems to be an attractive source of hybrid fuel.  The down side is that hydrogen fuel is very expensive to transport.  Because of that it is predicted that the hybrid battery and ethanol technologies will precede any hybrid fuel based on hydrogen.

The government likes the idea of environmental friendly electricity as a power source and that support means that plug-in hybrid cars are on the horizon.  These hybrid vehicles would get a battery charge from an ordinary electric outlet. 

The development of lithium-ion batteries will make this possible.  These batteries will be large versions of the lithium-ion battery you use in your cell phone. There might be plug-in hybrid car in your garage by the year 2010.

The energy density of lithium-ion is twice that of the standard nickel-cadmium battery.  There is even a growing potential for higher energy resources with the lithium-ion  battery. Research continues in that direction, which is more good news for   hybrid technologies.

One of the benefits of lithium-ion is the fact it's a low maintenance battery, an  advantage not found in most other battery types. Self-discharge is less than half compared  to nickel-cadmium.  Lithium-ion well suited for modern fuel gauge applications. They pose  no threat to the environment, because lithium-ion cells cause little harm when discarded.

Just as with most hybrid technologies, this one has its draw backs.  Chief among them the  drawback is that lithium-ion batteries are fragile and require a protection circuit to  maintain safe operation. All short comings are expected to be overcome in time, as research and development continue.

To be successful hybrid fuel technologies must be able to almost entirely replace the use  of petroleum in vehicle. Right now ethanol would lessen the need for oil if mixed with  gasoline.  Here in the U.S we already make about 4 billion gallons of ethanol from corn.   The irony is that a great deal of energy is needed to manufacture ethanol and that energy often comes from fossil fuel.

Ethanol is an alcohol-based fuel.  It is manufactured by fermenting and distilling starch  crops that have been converted into simple sugars. Feed stocks for this fuel include corn,  barley, and wheat.

Ethanol is more acceptable as an important hybrid fuel when it is made from "cellulosic  biomass" such as trees and grasses.  These produce a hybrid fuel called bioethanol.  Ethanol is primarily used to increase octane and improve the emissions quality of  gasoline.

Ethanol is blended with gasoline to create E85.  E85 is a blend of 85% ethanol and 15%  gasoline. Both E85 and other blends with even higher concentrations of ethanol qualify as alternative fuels under the Energy Policy Act.

Vehicles that run on E85 are called  flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) and can currently be purchased from several vehicle manufacturers.  Ford offers the Crown Victoria FFV.

Exactly which of the hybrid technologies will be the one to power most vehicles 20-years from now?  Perhaps it is yet to be developed.

More on Hybrid Electric Cars...

Hybrid battery car