- Nov 11, 2009
- 23,534
- 8,079
- 50,935
Dustydog said:ProfJohnL said:I'm not sure what happened there! I thought I had pointed to an article that explored the different costs of running an IC engine vs Hybrid. I cannot find it now, so I'll try to be brief.
The first thing to point out is that the Volvo Dusty referred to is not really a mainstream vehicle, so it's not really fair to hold it up as a 'typical vehicle' but it does demonstrate one of the likely characteristics of hybrids used for towing, and that will be poorer mpg than for equivalent diesel or even turbo petrols, but most will be better than the Volvo.
Having pushed the Volvo to the side, metaphorically speaking, the issue of poorer towing mpg can't be ignored, but it should be viewed in the context of whole mileage costs. On the basis average caravanners will be only be towing for about 10% of their annual mileage, the poorer towing mpg will be offset by the greater savings the technology offers when solo.
Of course there will be some who may do more than 10% towing miles, and consequently the coatings would be different but these people will be minority, and that may affect their vehicle purchasing strategies.
Other factors that will affect the costings would be changes to electricity tariffs, if for example the economy seven (or off peak rates) were changed, but then so will changes to the cost of diesel or petrol, so cost differentials cannot be guaranteed. However looking at it from an energy efficiency perspective the greatest probability is that for the average caravanner hybrid power will be overall more efficient.
With regards battery degradation, despite dire warnings of piles (no pun intended) of discarded batteries, the evidence is they are lasting far better than anticipated. It's also the case that batteries are highly recyclable, far more easily than ic engines and ancillaries.
Prof,
Why decry and dismiss the Volvo?
For a caravanner it's a mainstream vehicle. It's Volvo's state of the art concept moving forwards to new technology and power sources. But they may have got it wrong![]()
.
I've said before a large number of caravanners have two cars in the family. One a fuel guzzler but excellent tugger. The other a real lean burn super frugal vehicle. So number of miles travelled isn' t really relevant as you say for a caravanner.
However it wouldn't surprise me if a high tech steam driven vehicle came about using a turbine with power generation and electric motors. Gas being the fuel.
Having considerable experience of steam driven turbine powered vehicles I would run a mile at the thought of any company trying to tempt me into buying one. However a gas powered gas turbine would get my vote. Nothing to leak out, no condensers that lose vacuum and instant startup with no scaling. You could even change the GT in less than 48 hours.