Discuss the “Plug-In Hybrid Cars” TV story
February 13th, 2007 by Gabriela Quirós
Some hybrid owners may be satisfied with 50 mpg. But a new breed is working on 100 miles per gallon or more. CalCars, a Palo Alto-based non-profit group of entrepreneurs, environmentalists and engineers, is tinkering with and lobbying for new technology that will add batteries to a typical Toyota Prius, tweaking the electrical system, so that the car can be plugged into a normal wall socket and run longer on batteries before needing to kick in its gasoline engine. Result: 100 mpg, and a big step in curing the nation’s oil addiction, smog and global warming problems, they say. Currently, about a dozen people have already converted their Priuses, including one pioneer in Marin County. Engineering students at UC-Davis are now converting pickup trucks to plug-in hybrids. At first, Toyota and other big automakers were definitely not on board. Toyota said the conversions would void Prius warranties. But now, GM has begun its own research and says it may have a plug-in hybrid for sale by 2009. Meanwhile, the Palo Alto tinkerers have found a new use for plug-in hybrids: as power plants. Under a scheme they call V2G, or “Vehicle to Grid,” plug-in hybrids could be plugged in and their voltage could provide electricity to your home during peak usage times, or in a blackout. The mind races.
“San Francisco Bay Debris and Plug-In Hybrids” (episode #102) airs tonight on QUEST at 7:30pm on KQED 9, and KQED HD, Comcast 709. (full schedule)
To see & discuss all the photos from our voyage aboard the Raccoon, go to the Plug-In Hybrid cars - KQED QUEST Set on Flickr.
You may also view the entire Plug-in Hybrid Cars segment online.
Gabriela Quirsó is a Segment Producer for KQED-TV, and is the producer for this segment.
Tags: KQED, kqedquest, QUEST, Science
Posts
This is the next step for my Prius. I would like to see how far the
power management has been engineered to use Li Ion batteries.
The segment was really well done: thanks to Gabriella Quiros and the whole crew!
To learn more, in addition to the “Related Resources” link below the video, here are a few others:
* http://www.team-fate.net Prof. Andy Frank, the father of the modern PHEV
* http://www.eaa-phev.org Open-Source style PHEV conversion shown in segment
* http://www.sherryboschert.com The first book on plug-in hybrids
* http://www.calcars.org/howtoget.html Latest information on conversion options.
(By the way, the white car shown (the one I drive) has lithium-ion batteries with a 30-mile range when driving all-electric at low speeds, was converted by EnergyCS; the other two (silver and tan) cars use lead-acid batteries with a 10-mile low-speed all-electric range.
– Felix Kramer, Founder, CalCars.org
I love this! Felix is doing some really great, world changing stuff here. Though I don’t own a Prius, I do everything I can to get better mileage. Felix Kramer was one of the inspirations for me starting my max mpg discussion group, http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/maxmpg/ , and my web page maxmpg.org. There is also www.metrompg.com. There is an underground movement it seems of people who are rebelling against the high consumption and damn the environment attitude so many people have had for so long and Felix Kramer is leading the charge.
AW1 John David Shelton
Camp Ramadi, Iraq
This KQED piece is an excellent summary of the work being done in the Bay Area. I live in the northern VA suburbs of DC and expect PHEVs to break into the mainstream consciousness soon. With the recent drop in gas prices and the ongoing Bush war, it is difficult to maintain focus on energy issues but still great progress is being made thanks to CALCARS. I have concluded that my 2002 Prius is not worth converting to PHEV, but still hold out hope for converting my 2007 Hybrid Escape. We need some PHEVs on this side of the country.
This all looks good, but how will the Prevs be heated ,in thre Electric mode. Its 20 degrees F. here in Pa. today and I would not like driving without a heater.
Working with EnergyCS through a research project sponsored by the Cooperative Research Network, we converted my 2004 Prius to a PHEV. I drove the car from Georgia to EnergyCS’s facility in Monrovia, CA. We finished the conversion on Friday night and I left Saturday AM to drive 2,400 miles home. The car performed well. Though the advantage of the PHEV most obvious at low speeds, it was great to see over 80 mpg at 80 mph cruising the interstate after an overnight recharge at a motel. PHEVs offer flexibility, performance, and unlimited range as long as you buy gas. Great efficiency and low emissions till the battery discharges then performance and economy like a conventional Prius till you plug in again.
Our research project will continue for the next 2 years and will include conversion of other vehicles including the Escape. Vehicles will be based at electric cooperatives in different parts of the country.
As to the heating comment - we are also partnering with a Canadian utility that is currently testing a PHEV. If it works in Canada, it will work in Pennsylvania. Due to concerns over emissions, Toyota’s engine management software will start the engine to bring it up to operating temperature even if you have enough battery power to operate in all-electric mode. This also provides heat for the car. In the Prius PHEV, this is unchanged. So, on short trips, until the car warms up, the engine provides the heat while the battery and motor provide most of the motive power.
Thanks to KQED and producer Gabriela Quiros for a fine piece.
If you would like to hear more about plug-in cars and their convergence with renewable energy, and you live in the SF Bay Area, consider coming to one of two events:
- I’ll be speaking on “Plug-in Cars: How To Get One, and Why” at the San Francisco Commonwealth Club on Wed., Feb. 28 from 12 noon to 1 pm, 595 Market St., 2nd floor. Free to members, $15 non-members.
- I’ll focus more closely on vehicle-to-grid technology, through which plug-in cars will increase our access to renewablel energy, on Thursday, March 8 at 7:00 pm at Sierra Club headquarters, 85 Second St., third floor, San Francisco. The event is free and open to all.
Sherry Boschet, author
Plug-in Hybrids: The Cars that Will Recharge America
(New Society Publishers)
www.sherryboschert.com
Regarding the heating question:
The Prius stores its hot coolant in an insulated tank, in order to quickly heat the engine on the next start cycle, in order to keep its toxic emissions low. In the winter the engine will sometimes run even when we stop for a light (it stops in mild weather), to keep itself warm and predictably this reduces fuel mileage.
If one were designing a PHEV from scratch, you could add a reversing valve to the A/C system and use it as a heat pump in the winter. It would consume electric power, but less than direct resistance heat would. I believe the GM EV-1 all-electric car used this method of heating. This might even be cheaper than a heating system using the hot engine coolant, since it would eliminate the heater core and tubing. The A/C coil is already in place to do the job.
Also the power inverter is liquid cooled (it transforms DC in battery to AC for the motor) and that heat could be used for interior heating. Not sure how much heat is available from this source. The battery cooling system is another possible waste heat source. With the bigger batteries in PHEVs this could become significant.
One other option would be a gasoline burning heater which in the past was available for air-cooled cars like the old VWs. It could be made more efficient than running the engine for heat, but may not we worth the trouble of adding another system and possibly getting combustion products in the car if the heat exchanger failed.
But for all the Prius PHEV conversions, the engine will run until the car is warm without any further tinkering, but would reduce MPG somewhat. There is a Prius PHEV conversion running in Danbury, CT by battery-maker Electro-Energy Inc. I suspect they could answer the question of the difference in summer and winter MPG in some detail, since the car is heavliy instrumented. You can contact them at electroenergyinc.com
Congratulations to Calcars, not only for the engineering required, but being able to get this information into the media. It is good to see the positive side of electric vehicles being promoted vs the fuel cells. One is do-able now, while the other is years away if at all. Now if GM would bring back the EV-1?
very cool car and very well done segment too. I was thinking about having a hybrid as my next car and this is even cooler. Are these plug-in cars in the market already?? keep me informed of your future segments…I like your style and the content of your stories…what´s the next one on? gemma
In the PBS segment, the dashboard display shown indicated both front and a rear electric motor. Was a second electric motor added somehow? This sounds unlikely; but why was it so shown?
We’re getting quite a few more waves on the roads since the airing of this show!
In answer to Mark’s question, the Prius has only one motor. We added batteries and electronics, made no changes to front end of car or main hybrid computer.
The Prius is a “parallel hybrid,” where both a gasoline engine and a single electric motor provide power to the wheels. The GM Volt prototype is a “series hybrid,” where an electric motor powers the wheels, and a gasoline engine recharges the batteries. The Lexus 400h and the four-wheel-drive Toyota Highlander SUV hybrids both have additional motors for the second axle.
By the way, ways to promote the adoption of PHEVs include signing the letter or adding a “soft fleet order” at http://www.pluginpartners.org or getting involved with/financially supporting CalCars!
How about we telecommute? Technology makes it easy for use to see each other where ever you are. And people will be able to see their families more.
Perhaps better insulation in the vehicle would be wise? as well as better defrosting glass. Heated seats and steering wheel as well.
QUEST’s segment about plug-in hybrids will be rebroadcast tonight, Tuesday April 10, on KQED Channel 9 at 7:30 p.m. and this Friday April 13 at 10:30 p.m.
It will also be rebroadcast this week on San Jose’s KTEH, on Sunday April 15 at 4:30 p.m.
Enjoy! And please tell your friends.
Gabriela Quiros
QUEST Segment Producer
It will be great if all hybrid car manufacturers will design and produce various-branded cars - ford hybrid, toyota hybrid car, honda hybrid, lexus, mercury etc. - that can boast such mileage. I believe in Green non-Smog future!
Today’s San Francisco Chronicle has a story about how Toyota is about to start testing a plug-in hybrid vehicle in California. Their web site is at sfgate.com
Best,
Gabriela