Viajero2

I posted recommending renting a hybrid if on a European road trip type vacation? It was pulled out. I've posting in this forum since March 1993 and this one is a new one for me. ????

Viajero2

Never mind...fount it. The search function is working kind of squarely...

littilesthobo

why did you recommend this as a cost saving tip? cost saving compared to what? what do you usually drive back home? a 1960 chevy impala?


Facts on regenerative braking:

Another interesting observation has to do with the energy required to accelerate and run a car down the road. Much has been made of the ability to do regenerative braking with electric cars; that is, as you slow down the kinetic energy of the car is used to charge the batteries. For cars that run on the freeway, though, this is almost insignificant. The kinetic energy stored in the car moving at 60 mi/hr is about 500 kJ. That is the same energy it takes to go about a quarter of a mile (mostly overcoming air drag). Given the difficulty of doing regenerative braking for negligible increased range, you can see that regenerative braking is mostly a marketing ploy.

The problem with regenerative braking is that you have to charge the batteries at a very high rate (much higher than the normal discharge rate) which makes them hot and have shorter lives. Also, the motor in the car, acting as a generator during regenerative braking, has to be big enough to handle the power. Our hypothetical car may only require a 10 kW motor to accelerate and drive around, but would require a 180 kW generator to decelerate at 1 G. Since the size, weight, and price of electric motors/generators runs as a linear function of capacity, you can see that regenerative braking costs a lot, but doesn't buy you much in range.

( home.earthlink.net/~jimlux/energies.htm#regen )

Viajero2

You can't argue with the FACTS, sorry. WE DROVE THE CAR; WE PAID LESS, period. We drove extensively in Sweden and Norway and did not come nowhere near the fuel costs that we have experienced during similar road trips in Europe. I am putting together a trip report and I'll post specifics. Like I said, you can say/copy/rationalize whatever you want and the bottom line is that WE EXPERIENCED LESS FUEL COSTS.

On my other post on the subject, you end your post by referencing something about egos (?!).....kinda of telling.

Gretchen

Can't comment on the car but if you want to find any of your posts just click on your name at the top of the page and all the threads you have posted to--or begun--will come up.

Viajero2

Gretchen-- I did that a couple of times and, originally, the post did not come up, all others did. I also searched by "hybrid". Nothing either. A 1/2 hr later, went back to it and VOILA! Thanks for the reply.

rex

Because of "caching" or something like it, on their (server's) end, you may frequently find rthe need to click on your own name more than once, or refresh, or both.

Best wishes,

Rex