Its wheels are bigger than your car...the driver has to climb a flight of stairs to get to his seat. And, if GE has their way, they might soon be painting it (at least metaphorically) green.
{digg}http://digg.com/environment/The_World_s_Largest_Hybrid{/digg}Hybrid cars are generally most exciting when they combine their energy-efficient drive trains with small, lightweight bodies. This is the only way to see Prius-like mileage of 60+ mpg. But hybrid systems also work for larger vehicles like the 2WD Chevy Tahoe hybrid that brought home this year's Green Car of the Year award by getting 50% better city fuel economy than its non-hybrid counterpart.
But GE and the U.S. Department of Energy are taking the idea of making big vehicles more efficient to the extreme. They're working on a project to hybridize haul trucks which, when fully loaded, weigh more than 200 Chevy Tahoes.
Haul trucks are basically massive dump trucks used in mining operations. They, of course, consume massive amounts of fuel, and so increasing effiency marginally can save massive amounts of fuel. Already, most new haul trucks are electrically powered, like diesel locomotives. Their diesel engines power generators that power the electric motors. This is more efficient than traditional drive trains, and provides much more torque for moving such gigantic loads.
GE is working on a system to basically run the electric engines in reverse during braking and store the generated electricity in the same battery packs they use for their hybrid locomotives. They've already got a test-system in place and operating. They're trying to figure out how long the batteries will last in the harsh conditions of mines, and are still unsure how how much fuel they can save using the technology.
In general, mines don't have much to lend themselves to being environmentally aware. Maybe this is one technology that will change that...however slightly.
You can read more about the project straight from the horse's mouth at GE's Blog, where the leader of the project, Tim Richter, talks it up.
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written by Mark, April 25, 2008
This statement alone proves to me your a tree hugging moron with no actual understanding of how or what needs to be done to help the environment. You and those like you run around in a special place were you believe electric cars though charged in your garage powered by a coal burning power plant create zero emissions. You and your associates also believe the Prius gets the estimated 60mpg in actuality the car averages 37mpg in normal driving situations. Better than a suv but hardly impressive for a car not to mention the batteries you now have to dispose of.
"GE is working on a system to basically run the electric engines in reverse during braking..."
They are electric motors not engines. Also they will not be run in reverse the motor will still turn the same way there will merely be a slightly more complicated electrical system designed to capture and store the lost energy in batteries(that will also need replaced every few years and create more waste).
I say this not merely to cut you down as an individual. I simply hate watching the blind lead the blind. Just because a vehicle uses less fossil fuel does not make its "footprint" any smaller.
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written by Andreas, April 25, 2008
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written by songboom.com, April 25, 2008
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written by marvin, April 25, 2008
Electricity can be made without coal. Even if it's energy is created with oil, an electric car is more efficient than a gasoline vehicle even with transmission losses taken into account. Petroleum power stations run far more efficiently than gasoline engines. Electric motors are far more efficient than internal combustion at driving wheels. Greater energy efficiency completely wipes out any additional environmental costs due to the hybrid system. The thousands of pounds of fuel saved over the life of an electric or hybrid electric vehicle is much more important than a somewhat higher manufacturing cost.
You must know that refining thousands of pounds less of petroleum will reduce all sorts of horrible pollutants from entering the biosphere, including heavy metals worse than those used in batteries. Only a moron wouldn't know that and leave it out of their argument.
Why don't you take your hate and ignorance somewhere else?
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written by Alex, April 25, 2008
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written by Jesse, April 25, 2008
In addition, Marvin's comment that "electricity can be made without coal" is irrelevant, since coal is *by far* the greatest source of electricity in the United States. The fact that coal plants are more efficient than gasoline engines is certainly a good point, but Mark correctly pointed out the ridiculous notion carried by so many people that fully-electric cars will somehow get rid of our dependence on fossil fuels. A nation run on electric cars is only going to marginally reduce emissions, and simultaneously greatly increase our dependence on coal or other fossil fuels for our power plants.
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written by Earl Killian, April 25, 2008
http://ge.ecomagination.com/si...hybr.html
I suspect this is larger than the truck you cite. Locomotives have been diesel electric for a long time, but this one will store the energy from braking instead of turning it into heat in massive resistors.
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written by Earl Killian, April 25, 2008
More importantly, the U.S. grid is getting cleaner over time, and it is possible to get to zero carbon electricity (it just takes deployment of existing technology). The path for zero carbon gasoline is much much worse.
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written by Earl Killian, April 25, 2008
However, the aforementioned 2002 Toyota RAV4-EV has an EPA rating of 112 MPG, which blows away the Prius. Electricity always wins in efficiency.
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written by ER, April 29, 2008
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written by isaac, April 30, 2008
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