Prius rant

[jgertsch]

...

Back on topic now, one thing those hybrids have is some fantastic torque in a relatively light package. They can get up and go pretty quick, mind you it's pretty hard on the battery charge life. LOL

I would like to test drive a Hybrid Escape and see how it compares to the regular V6 versions my dad has owned.

That is the one advantage of hybrids: Electric motors achive 100% of their torque at 0 RPM, so they're great for accelerating off the line, so once the motor starts to spin up and lose torque, the engine can be spun up into it's torque band. A few years back there was an Formula One team that was planning on having electric motors on the front wheels. The regulating body said that it would give the team an unfair advantage, and banned it before it ever saw a race. I'm not sure about the light package, though. They weigh about what a solid chunk of copper the same size would weigh.

 

[Roadkill]

That voltage only goes to the charger, it then regulates how much goes to the battery. NiMH batteries are complex to charge and monitor for various reasons. The battery can be overcharged quite easily, all it takes is an individual component in the charger to fail.

Yes, short of having a failure the battery should never go above about 80% max capacity. That would be considered a full charge in most environments. The issue is, if, and when there is a failure of either the charger or in a cell. The Hydrogen gas generated has to vent or else the cell/battery will explode. On an airplane that could be catastrophic for sure. The chances of a failure? Well, in electronic/mechanical systems subjected to great temperature swings, vibration, and swings in humidity can cause a failure really at any time.

 

[jgertsch]

That voltage only goes to the charger, it then regulates how much goes to the battery. NiMH batteries are complex to charge and monitor for various reasons. The battery can be overcharged quite easily, all it takes is an individual component in the charger to fail.

Yes, short of having a failure the battery should never go above about 80% max capacity. That would be considered a full charge in most environments. The issue is, if, and when there is a failure of either the charger or in a cell. The Hydrogen gas generated has to vent or else the cell/battery will explode. On an airplane that could be catastrophic for sure. The chances of a failure? Well, in electronic/mechanical systems subjected to great temperature swings, vibration, and swings in humidity can cause a failure really at any time.

The battery I'm refering to is a sealed lead acid battery, not nickel metal hydride. It has been qualified to DO-160C 4(F2), 5(B), 6(B), 7, 8(C), 16(Z), 17(A),20(R), 21(Z), 22(A3B3), so they've passed quite a bit of reliability testing.

 

[Jason]

So.....who got all worked up? Throwing direct insults at me. Laughable.

 

[jgertsch]

So.....who got all worked up? Throwing direct insults at me. Laughable.

Can't we all just get along?

 

[Roadkill]

The battery I'm refering to is a sealed lead acid battery, not nickel metal hydride. It has been qualified to DO-160C 4(F2), 5(B), 6(B), 7, 8(C), 16(Z), 17(A),20(R), 21(Z), 22(A3B3), so they've passed quite a bit of reliability testing.

That MSDS reference is for lead acid as well. All that is really meant by sealed is that it won't spill, in most cases.

Just remember, anything can pass testing. It will still fail one day.

 

[jgertsch]

...
Just remember, anything can pass testing. It will still fail one day.

Duh.

 

[Roadkill]

Duh.

 

[jgertsch]

Battery

Meeting DO-160 specs is not trivial. Also, per the manufacturer, the expected life of these particular batteries is 3 to 5 years.

 

[priusucks]

edited post

might be a spammer. i'm taking the text out of the post for now.

-Ryan

 

[metalmacguyver]

Thanks for staying on top of it Ryan!

 

[philzilla]

On another note, my brother owns a bike shop in Buffalo (bicycles), and he said that business is through the roof.

yea i work in one, people are coming in to buy commuter bikes all the time. I would rather ride a bike than drive a prius anyday, those smug bastards.
4th of july right after the fireworks there is a line of traffic to get onto the freeway, this chick in a prius drives in the lane next to the line and cuts right in front of my when the light turns green. F@^king BIOTCH

 

[AllanD]

Also, shoeboy... there are plenty of V4s. Honda VF series motorcycles. Some honda motoGP biles are v4. Yamaha V-Max.... Aren't most large outboard boat engines two-stroke v4? Saab has some v4s. The euro ford taurus had a v4 available I think. And, they used to make diesel generators and pumps and such with v4 configuration. And for that matter, how different is a (common) flat four from a V four? It's still two banks, two heads, etc...

Saab HAD a V4 but they weren't responsible for it.

Because they bought the engine from (drumroll please...) Ford.

And FWIW they stopped selling that engine (and the car it was in)
in 1980. it had largely been superceeded (for export) by the much more modern Saab 99 model which was powered with an inline 4cyl jointly developed by Saab and Triumph (TR7)
though Saab developed the engine further eventually redesigning it three times, turbocharging it and in it's last incarnation fitting a DOHC cylinder head to it

And the V4 Ford engine was a replacement for the 750cc and 850cc TWO-STROKE engine originally used in the earlier Saabs.

V-4's have a fatal flaw, they vibrate in all THREE axis
Even with a balance shaft they vibrate.

a flat four isn't so bad, they vibrate torsionally and side to side.

an inline four vibrates torsionally and vertically (parallel to it's cylinder bore axis)


while a Prius might not suck, their drivers probably do.

I have yet to see a Prius in motion anywhere that wasn't
obstructing the flow of traffic with it's driver oblivious to the turmoil and rage they were creating.

You ain't seen it yet but pretty soon there will be a new
term: "Prius Rage"

Hey, saabs aren't bad to drive. Just terrible to own. I had a friend with a 9-3. It was fun but one day he came into starbucks and showed me pieces of his engine block.

a Saab 9-3 isn't a "Saab" it's really a rebadged Opel.

MY 1985 Saab 900 is a REAL Saab. (though I'm sure someone
with a "stroker" engine (refering to a 2-stroke 750cc 3cyl) would argue that.



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