The road to a sustainable future - hybrid cars are leading the way
If you're a city driver, you may have noticed more and more hybrid electric vehicles - HEVs - sharing the road with you. The reason is simple. They consume less fuel and emit fewer pollutants than their gasoline powered counterparts. That makes them an excellent choice for anyone who is environmentally conscious - and who is tired of paying high prices at the gas pumps.
In the United States, hybrid sales have generally doubled every year since they were introduced in 2000. It is estimated that by 2006, sales of hybrid vehicles will account for 10 per cent of the 2 million midsize vehicles sold annually in the United States (ABI Research).
Why is this good news for Inco? Because nickel is an integral part of the batteries that make HEVs run. The main battery technology in hybrid vehicles is nickel metal hydride. The nickel metal hydride battery can be made using two types of technology; sintered electrode or pasted foam electrode. Sintered electrode technology uses sintered Inco Type 255™ powder and is used in the cylindrical batteries that power Honda's Civic and Accord HEVs and the Ford Escape HEV. The other technology, called pasted foam electrode technology uses Incofoam™ to make battery modules consisting of flat electrode plates. This design is used to power Toyota's products such as the Prius and the Lexus RX 400h SUV.
There are a number of manufacturers of hybrid car batteries that supply the major automobile manufacturers. Of the two largest manufacturers, one uses the sintered technology and the other pasted foam. Both technologies use nickel, but the sintered technology uses more of it - as much as 16 kilograms per battery pack. Inco produces both forms of nickel and although not exclusively, supplies material to both major manufacturers.
How do hybrid cars work? In addition to their nickel-containing rechargeable batteries, hybrid cars have a gas engine and an electric motor. The motor draws power from the battery pack that captures, stores and releases electrical energy as the vehicle travels. Unlike a conventional battery application, the HEV battery pack only charges and discharges in a narrow window of the battery's overall capacity, enabling the battery pack to last much longer than a conventional application. The battery provides power for the electric motor and is recharged by recapturing energy that would normally be lost when applying braking or coasting. Because of this, hybrids get better gas mileage in the city than they do on the highway and are the perfect choice for the urban driver.
In addition to their small engine and rechargeable battery, most hybrid cars are built using advanced aerodynamics to reduce drag. Efficiency is the name of the game for this car and as a result, hybrids emit far fewer tailpipe emissions than their gasoline counterparts, making them not only the more affordable choice in the long-run, but the most environmentally friendly as well As a reward for an environmentally friendly choice, some jurisdictions offer tax incentives to those who drive hybrid cars. In Canada, most of the provincial governments offer tax credits to offset some of the sales tax on HEV vehicles.
Toyota took a big risk when they introduced the first hybrid - their Prius - to the skeptical automobile market in 1997. Critics claimed that HEVs would be expensive to maintain and wouldn't stand up to the rigors of everyday driving. Luckily for Toyota, the critics were wrong and their gamble paid off. When Consumer Reports magazine asked Prius owners if they would buy another one, 94 percent of 1,640 respondents said they would. And Consumer Reports has also just voted the Honda Accord Hybrid "Best Family Sedan."
Yes, hybrids are fast becoming mainstream. Daimler Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, and Hyundai have all added hybrids to their line or have them in the works. It is estimated that by 2008, car buyers will have a choice of 35 hybrids, with that number exceeding 50 in 2012 (J.D. Power).
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