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To: Maurice Winn who wrote (64010)	5/20/2005 4:52:54 PM
From: energyplay	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 74559

Besides stoping the engine, the other big improvement comes from run it at optimum speed - that's when you get around 50%. Idling is really bad, and optimum efficency is probably around the RPM of the torque peak, but with a much lower than peak torque load. Hybrids have gasoline engines which run at a constant speed, except for maximum acceleration. After all the conversion to electricty and and back, they still get 50+ mpg highway. The new Ford Five Hundred has a continously varible transmission standard, the other option is a 6 speed auto. Actual Slagel is taking the no improvment since the 1930s, I'm saying moderate improvement (about 2:1 in 70 years), I suspect our actual positions aren't very different. The improvment rate is about 1% per year....;-)

To: Maurice Winn who wrote (64010)	5/20/2005 5:28:16 PM
From: Snowshoe	Respond to of 74559

>>Regenerative braking adds surprisingly little, but is cool to do. I doubt that it's economic at present, but people like it<< I think that most of the true energy savings with hybrids results from simply shutting off the engine when the car is stopped at red lights and traffic jams. But the hybrid electric vehicle opens the door to external battery charging, which could be from an alternate energy source like solar, wind, or nuclear power.

To: Maurice Winn who wrote (64010)	5/20/2005 10:08:51 PM
From: Slagle	Respond to of 74559

Maurice, Re: "engine talk" That really is right up your alley, isn't it? Mine too, I come at it from an engineer/gearhead/tinkerer point of view. I like stark, simple, elegant designs, the sort you don't see anymore. In past times it was mostly the American car companies that screwed J6P out of his paycheck. Now that the US car companies are all going broke apparently it is now up to the homebuilding outfits and their confederates who must take up the slack and keep J6P perpetually in the poorhouse. Slagle