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To: Sid Turtlman who wrote (1431)	12/16/1997 5:28:00 PM
From: Kayaker	Respond to of 5827

Hi Sid: <<...in theory you never have to recharge the batteries in a hybrid...>> You've got me on that one. My mistake. What about my other points?? Bob

To: Sid Turtlman who wrote (1431)	12/16/1997 10:34:00 PM
From: Bill Jackson	Respond to of 5827

Sid; In effect the battery is an electrochemical flywheel, and if the hysteresis losses in charging and discharging are minimised the engine never has to operate outside its peak efficiency range. If you go to max speed and the battery drains you will finally hit the peak speed the system will sustain with gas alone. Depending on how they set it will affect overall efficiencies and emissions. If they restrict it so it can never operate at too high a power(low efficiency/high emissions etc) then the car will have a lower long run top speed after battery depletion. If they allow the engine to run faster and less efficiently and more emmisions and more powerfully to allow a higher peak long trip speed they will satisfy more peoples need for power and speed and lower mileage and efficiencies and increase emissions. So a balance will get struck at some level, or they might just put an emissiometer on the dash to show what you are wasting to allow self curbing to operate. Bill

To: Sid Turtlman who wrote (1431)	12/22/1997 7:09:00 AM
From: Bill Jackson	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 5827

Sid, The hybrid is just a way to always run the gas engine at a performance/emission/efficiency compromise. Depending on the performance you put in to the equation you get a miles per gallon accordingly. Low MPG= high performance, and vice versa. The idea has considerable merit and is sure to grab 50% of more of the market. The true hydrogen based fuel cell is the best for the vehicle but hydrogen has both money costs, environmental costs, and infrastructure costs that will stop it for 20-50 years. The alcohol based fuel cell will do best in large vehicles like busses, and the hybrids will win autos(unless gasoline/alcohol burning legislated out of existence) Advances in insulation tech nology and higher efficiency furnaces will stop a lot of wasted fuel in the future. Already you can make a house for Canada that is so well insulated that it needs only light, cooking and body heat to stay comfortable. Super insulated walls and input/output heat exchangers with perfectly sealed houses do the trick. This will come with cars too, as the heating.cooling load is a major problem for minimalist cars. And when this is done you want a 20 year life on the car, so rustless tech(here now, but costly) will come with it for free. Bill