Prius a Carbon Guzzler?

Bah.

Using the incredibly refined energy of electricity to provide kinetic energy is hugely wasteful compared to the simple explosive power of hydrocarbon combustion.

No rationalization about recycling batteries, or "alternative energy" will ever change that.

There is an efficiency loss in converting any source of energy into electricity, storing and transporting electricity, and then converting that pure energy to a more crude form.

This is why it is more efficient to burn stuff to make heat rather than pipe that nice clean electricity into our homes and run it through a coil to "waste" as heat energy.

The same applies to converting electricity to kinetic energy. The final transfer is very efficient, but converting other forms to electricity is very inefficient.

Taking that point of view, one realizes that burning wood or oil is the best way to make heat. And making controlled chemical explosions is the best way to provide locomotion.

Electricity should be reserved for powering lights, electronics, and such things.

 

Electrolysis would be the easiest way now. The thing is it takes electricity to run the process. To much. People discovered the power needed to run the so called electrolysis plants would produce as much pollution large scale as we do now. Electrolysis is how companies are making it now, but there is not very many. I think there are only a few pure hydrogen refueling stations across the country.

 

Electricity is wasted a lot, primarily when it's sent over long distances in power lines.

That said, the Prius is completely different (and I'm talking about modern one). It has a battery that requires no external charging method. It is charged entirely by the motion of the car. And that electric charge is used to offset the use of gas. Basically, the car recycles some of the lost energy used in braking, and based on the 50+mpg I get I'd say it's extremely efficient.

 

The batteries are awful for the environment. Imagine taking all combustion vehicles off the road and replacing them with these batteries in hybrids or pure electric. Junkyards would turn into hazardous waste dumps. It would take a haz-mat suit to clean up accident scenes. That may be a stretch but the batteries are still not the long term answer. Unless companies get behind new bio batteries I will not be a fan.

 

Hydrogen is already been catching on. Many companies have these vehicles sitting around waiting for someone to build the fueling stations. Either private enterprise or the government will have to get on the ball and get it rolling. BMW has already has a model built ready to ship. Chevy is working with hydrogen vehicles as well. http://www.autobloggreen.com/2006/09/12/bmw-officially-announces-the-bmw-hydrogen-7/ A flex fuel gas/hydrogen vehicle two years old. It is still a guzzler if you look at the specs on it. They are trying.

 

Uhhh... like I said, the batteries can be recycled. The batteries wouldn't end up in junkyards.

Plus, the batteries used in plug-in vehicles will need to be more durable than the ones in laptops. But companies that make large scale batteries already know that. Hell, I invested in a company that sells large lithium ion batteries that power submarines and predator drones You better believe the US military put serious durability tests on their equipment.

 

That's exactly my point. No one is going to build enough of the fueling stations...

 

Here is the new chevy volt. Pretty cool. It will be a Hydrogen hybrid. I'd drive it.http://gizmodo.com/341731/first-shots-under-the-hood-of-the-chevy-volt-hydrogen

 

The infrastructure is being built. The processes for making hydrogen are coming along. It is a matter of time. For now a hybrid is better than nothing. It is just not the long term answer. The pure electric car will have a place in the future. Still unless the the power to charge this vehicle is coming from a clean source it is good intentions in vain. The batteries would still be a problem. There are solutions for that if you look into it. More efficient smaller and environmentally friendly batteries are being researched. I will feel better when they make it in to some of these vehicles. It will be a chunk of time before that happens. I would like to see people take it into their own hands. You could turn your own home into the refueling station for your hybrid or pure electric vehicle. Install a few solar panels. Put up a couple wind turbines, wire into your home and charge your car. Then you don't put the stress on the grid. I like the cool vertical models very efficient. http://www.nwcurrent.com/renewable/wind/7692832.html There are many other types.

 

You are correct. I hope it will work. Don't get me wrong. I am a fan of the hybrid. I just see other ways that we could make it work. I think in the next couple decades we will see not one answer emerge, but many. Hybrids will share the road with hydrogen, gas, diesel and some ethanol(not so much I hope).