Hybrid Gets 88 MPG on 85% Ethanol

[USF_Diver]

Originally Posted by the gooch

Ethanol is NOT the answer.

Got that right.

Takes more energy to make it than what you get out of it.

[mitsuguy]

now these guys hare on the right track:

Tesla Motors

just gotta get the price down...

[USF_Diver]

Originally Posted by mitsuguy

now these guys hare on the right track:

Tesla Motors

just gotta get the price down...

I saw those before, those are sweet but to rich for me.
Hopefully they get a cheaper model down the road.

[matt151617]

Too bad they don't even sell ethanol in my area. I know of one station 40 miles away that sells 100% ethanol, but that's it.

[mitsuguy]

Originally Posted by matt151617

Too bad they don't even sell ethanol in my area. I know of one station 40 miles away that sells 100% ethanol, but that's it.

You might wanna recheck the 100% thing... all cars that are advertised as "flex fuel" require a gasoline/ethanol mix of 85% ethanol / 15% gasoline, or, can run with anywhere between 0 and 85% ethanol...

ethanol burns a little cleaner, but has less specific power than gasoline does, so, it requires more to get the same horsepower... it has a higher octane rating, so, some of the power differences are made up by a car adjusting to a more aggressive ignition timing map...

[torrey]

Originally Posted by mitsuguy

That's like saying the Toyota Prius gets 60 mpg with no battery pack... It doesn't... The way the test that is they charge the battery fully with the wall charger, fill the gas tank, and drive... when the tank is "empty" and the battery discharged, then they divide mileage by fuel consumed to get fuel mileage...

Right. If a Ford SUV was capable of 88mpg on flex fuel alone, they wouldn't need a plug...it would be the most popular vehicle right out the door.

Personally, I don't think plug-in vehicles really change anything. You're now burdened with having to plug it in if you want the benefits of fuel economy. Electricity still costs money to produce. Electrical companies use gas to produce it. It's still a vicious cycle.

[cgvmer]

Driving around in a car burning one of our food sources does not help the situation. The price of food goes up, and we don't become more efficient in our transportation needs. Ethanol is NOT the way to go.

[mitsuguy]

Originally Posted by torrey

Right. If a Ford SUV was capable of 88mpg on flex fuel alone, they wouldn't need a plug...it would be the most popular vehicle right out the door.

Personally, I don't think plug-in vehicles really change anything. You're now burdened with having to plug it in if you want the benefits of fuel economy. Electricity still costs money to produce. Electrical companies use gas to produce it. It's still a vicious cycle.

I'd have to do some math, but I do believe once you do the conversions, it equates to 70 cents per equivalent "gallon", but then again, I'm not quite sure how that conversion works, and who's math is used...

For instance, Tesla claims 1 cent per mile, for electrical charges... even a good mpg car like the Prius costs $4/gallon, 60 mpg, $1 for 15 miles, or 7 cents per mile... But, you're right, it's still a vicious cycle... one of these days, someone is going to find something that just stomps everything we now even think about, and fix all of this... one of these days...

[John Yaskowich]

Originally Posted by the gooch

Ethanol is NOT the answer.

CORN Ethanol is NOT the answer. What we need is ethanol based on what is currently waste organics. If they could turn the tons of sawdust and wood waste produced by a sawmill into ethanol we would have part of the energy answer. But diverting food from the table to the gas tank is a recipe for disaster.

[CompuDude]

What we need is Mr. Fusion! LOL

Seriously, though, plug in hybrids are a great idea. The only change is they have the ability (not the requirement) of plugging into the wall to charge the batteries, rather than being 100% dependent on the on-board engine to do the charging.

Now yes, the power from the wall has to come from somewhere, too, but AC from the electrical grid comes from a variety of sources: coal is one (not great, but the economies of scale make coal usage far more environmentally friendly than your car engine burning a gallon of gas to create the same juice), and it is plentifully available, unlike oil for gasoline. Other sources include hydroelectric, wind and solar... all CLEAN sources of electricity that are FAR better, again, than using gasoline (or even mixed gas/ethanol blends) to fuel your car.

Finally, I wonder if this hybrid motor was actually developed (and owned) by Ford, or is this a simple tweak of the same hybrid tech that Ford has been licensing from Toyota for it's current lineup of hybrids?