Why Hybrid Cars Will Fail

[///BHRpowered]

Look, I mother flipping fucking hate hybrid cars, and I hate the owners even more. First off, its heavy ass shit, and in the event of an accident, its not like everything i all nice and protected behind a firewall, battery acid in the face would suck. Those god damn lights coming on, like your some how special. there slow, yes the power is going up, but because of the extra weight and the way it gets that power, its still piss slow, I will pay 12 u.s dollars PER GALLON before I even consider it, and then I still won't buy 1.

 

people don't do there research, the extra cost you pay outweighs any fuel savings, plus your getting an "economy car" yet paying maintance bills of an 80k car, and unlike a millenia, all but certain dealer techs more or less refuse to work on them because they know they can't fix shit. Plus, your already paying more for the car, but now because dealers know people are stupid, there jacking the prices up like mad, and they don't even have to work to sell them, meanwhile trucks and suv's that get 17-22mpg are way down in price, much nicer, much safer, and in the long run, your still saving a ton of a money vs the hybrid shit

 

Trout made an interesting comment which bought all this on, noting because of the hybrid drive system the cars are very quiet, which will be there downfall, atleast in the U.S. yes, cruising down the highway near pure silence can be nice, to some, personally I like to hear just that slight MC whine, and like all americans, when I push the gas I want to go faster, and I want to hear the engine working, its mentally engrained. with a hybrid none of that happens, you press the gas and it sounds like you turned a microwave on to defrost something, thats not what I want, I want to know I'm in a car that isn't made of paper and when I push the gas something is going to happen.

[Troutman]

I am a big fan of minimalism - in Australia LPG is a popular second fuel for 'duel fuel' vehicles, but my other car is going to use straight LPG. I refuse to have 2 seperate fuel systems in the one car.

 

Hybrids are a slightly different story, as we are talking about electricity and internal combustion. It sucks having the weight and complexity, and the resale/running cost concerns easily outweigh the fuel savings. Also, the enthusiast will appreciate the predictable and simple nature of a hon-hybrid. But that is not the whole story. I can see 2 big advantages to these cars:

 

1) Battery and electric motor technology is being developed rapidly just like it should have 100 years ago. In turn, hybrid vehicles are pushing the boundaries in areas such as automotive LED lighting which will have a 'flow-on' effect to benefit cheaper cars. The thinking man will notice that the mass-produced high-efficiency lighting, batteries and other improving technology will team up nicely with solar panels in the home to help make zero-energy homes commonplace for future generations.

 

2) This will offend everyone but too bad. Hybrid-electric vehicles expose the simple fact that the internal combustion engine is a joke. The only thing it is good for is convenient refuelling. The brainwashing that this so-called technology reflects what the human race is capable of is convenient for the oil companies. Let's look at the facts...

* The internal combustion engine is a wacky means of burning something in order to create movement

* I forget the exact figure, but over 80% of the internal combustion's energy is pure heat!

* To further detract from its efficiency, heavy bolt-ons such as a water pump, a radiator, hoses steal power in order to control the heat - each of which has a very limited lifespan

* Even this is not enough, so there need to be fans as well, and the design of the car has to be compromised to try and control under-bonnet temps

* Valves, pistons, oil, oil pumps, starter motors, distributors, transmissions, diffs, crankshafts and a million billion other unreliable, complex moving parts with limited lifespans make for a laughable contrast to, say, electric suburban trains. These go for probably millions of kms without a hickup.

* The internal combustion engine even wastes energy when it is idle!

* It is a noisy bastard and more weight, complexity, mufflers etc try and contain that

* It is responsible for unspoken deaths in crowded cities, particularly for vulnerable asthma sufferers etc, and nothing short of hydrogen fuel will ever truly address that

* Every attempt at improving the internal combustion engine involves adding complexity to what is already ridiculous to start with. Be it turbos, Miller Cycle, variable valve timing or hybrid-electric technology. The bottom line is it's trying to bash around a design that, as I said, is a joke.

 

So in short, hybrids will come and go as far superior technologies to the internal combustion engine take over, but they will certainly be a memorable point in automotive history, not a failure. This technology developing means only good things for mankind. The oil companies can go to hell.

[Duncan]

I would add something here, but Trout makes good points. I yield to his militant stance and implore him to fight on in my stead.

 

That said, I will miss the old Otto IC when it finally goes away, but he's right: it is a truly archaic device that has only continued its dominance due to copious (and, let's face it, occasionally rather brilliant) over-engineering.

[Synesthesia]

you make good points, but sometimes its not about that, its about the experiance. If what you say were valid points from the point of sales figures and trends, people would all buy the same color car, or use that crpa in london where you have an account, swipe a card with 1 standing around, use it for whenever, then leave it again for someone eles.

 

Schumacher said it best, people see a car as an extension of themselfs, they want it to do exactly what there thinking when there thinking it, they want it to be an extension of there personality and tastes. Why do some of us have dark myterious cars while others go buy th brightest ugliest thing on the road.

 

People don't want to be boring, once in awhile blend in, but never boring. Currently the extra cost which people don't see is a joke. The other thing is if you have say an suv thats paid off, why would you want to spend say 20-30k to save a few bucks a month on gas when you could spend an extra 10 dollars a month...instead of 400 a month. It just doesn't make sense, and the higher the gas goes, the more the companies will charge for these cars since they know they can get it.