hybrid - How do they work?

[coffeeman]

Does the gas engine power the car or does the battery? Does the gas engine charge battery and the battery runs car? Wondering?

coffeeman

 

[MossRoad]

I think it depends on the hybrid. The only one I was in was a Prius. That one ran on battery at starts, with gas assist if needed. The gas engine charges the batteries, along with other things, like regenerative braking. Its kind of weird to come to a stop sign and the gas engine shuts off. The thing got about 48MPG for the guy that had it. Someone is offering a plug in kit for them. Then you can plug in the car to charge the batteries and it will run on battery alone for about 30-40 miles before the gas engine kicks in. But it is really expensive.

 

[MossRoad]

Going back and re-reading your question, I should say that the electric motor drives the drive wheels from battery power. The gas engine charges the batteries.

 

[Dmace]

Basically when you are driving slow and are given it less then 50%+/- throttle then it runs on the electric motors alone powered by some large expensive batteries. When you give it more then 50% (or something like that) throttle, the gas engine starts up and powers the wheels while charging the batteries.

HowStuffWorks "How Hybrid Cars Work"

I would get into why a Hybrid is a complete waste of money and barely gets any better mileage then the gas comparable vehicle while using a non-recyclable battery that cost $5000+ and requires more fossil fuels to produce then it "saves" but that is just another 40 page thread we don't need here.

 

[coffeeman]

Basically when you are driving slow and are given it less then 50%+/- throttle then it runs on the electric motors alone powered by some large expensive batteries. When you give it more then 50% (or something like that) throttle, the gas engine starts up and powers the wheels while charging the batteries.

HowStuffWorks "How Hybrid Cars Work"

I would get into why a Hybrid is a complete waste of money and barely gets any better mileage then the gas comparable vehicle while using a non-recyclable battery that cost $5000+ and requires more fossil fuels to produce then it "saves" but that is just another 40 page thread we don't need here.

How stuff works is just what the doctor ordered.

Thanks....Coffeeman

 

[txdon]

My wife has a Prius. All Toyota Priuses are hybrids. When you accelerate both the electric and gas engine power the car when you brake or go downhill or let off the gas the batteries charge. anything in-between is both or one or the other or neither (stealth mode). We get about 48 MPG and love it. There is a display on the dash that tells you every second where the power is coming from and/or going to.

 

[Travelover]

To complicate things there are full and mild hybrids. A full hybrid has the ability to drive under electric power (Prius, Escape / Fusion, etc). Mild hybrids cannot power the car in motion. They save gas by shutting off the engine at stops. (Early GM hybrids / new Honda Insight, etc.)

The full hybrids cost more but give better mileage.

 

[dmccarty]

A few months ago I surfed into some web pages talking about the replacement cost of the hybrid batteries. I have NO idea why I did this but I guess I was curious. The website(s) was for owners of the cars. It seemed like most people where paying $3,000 for replacement batteries. Some might have dropped a bit less but others mentioned up to $6,000! That is the price of a new engine!

My big heavy old F350 4x4 Crew Cab and eight foot bed is getting 21.2 mpg hand calculated. I think I'll just keep the truck as long as I can! 21.2 seems to be the max mpg on my driving route. I have hit this over the last few fillups. Normally I don't this mpg until the end of the summer. I did put 0x40 oil in the truck last oil change so maybe that is why I'm getting roughly .5ish better mpg for this time of year.

Later,
Dan

 

[czechsonofagun]

This guy at a gas station asked me for a boost. He had Prius and coming home from a trip he decided to eat icecream in the car while listening to a radio. Guess what? This quite normal thing drained the battery and he had to run around whith cables looking for somebody who would help him.

He even showed me manual, where it stated that listening to a radio without the engine running can drain the battery.

 

[Dmace]

This guy at a gas station asked me for a boost. He had Prius and coming home from a trip he decided to eat icecream in the car while listening to a radio. Guess what? This quite normal thing drained the battery and he had to run around whith cables looking for somebody who would help him.

He even showed me manual, where it stated that listening to a radio without the engine running can drain the battery.

That reminds me of a Prius I had to jump start last year on the side of a road I travel. The guy had no idea how to jump start it because the battery is in the trunk and the truck is opened electronically so dead battery means no trunk opening, not even a pull chord inside. I grabbed his manual and there is a positive lead under the hood that you can hook to and then you need to ground to the door latch. It didn't take long to start but that huge battery made my lights dim when he pushed the button.

 

[dmccarty]

I wonder why the engineers made it impossible to open the hood if the car looses power? They must not want someone to just try to jump the car by attaching to something electrical in the engine compartment. Kinda slick they way the car had to be jumped. I wish my Ford had that connection. All of those warnings about batteries blowing up being jump started scare me. Can't imagine the boom from a hybrid battery!

I really dont like messing with cat batteries. I had to charge our car battery the other day as well as the DR Mower battery. Figured I would just charge them instead of jumping them. Even charging them makes me nervous.

Later,
Dan

 

[Dmace]

I wonder why the engineers made it impossible to open the hood if the car looses power?

It's the trunk that doesn't open with a dead battery not the hood, but the battery is in the trunk and not under the hood.

 

[GaryM]

I have an '04 with 185000 miles and only $600 spent on repairs.

The Prius has two batteries. The Traction battery is made up of cell sets and would seldom need to be replaced as a unit. Sets of cells can be replaced at a reasonable cost, but I'm a member of two Prius discussion boards and replacing cells seems to be uncommon as it's rarely mentioned.

The second battery is a 12 V unit and furnishes power to jump start the electronics and also supplies power to the accessories requiring 12 volts.

The electric motor is also a generator and is teamed with the power train in such a way that the gas engine and motor generator can split the work between them. Depending on requirements the gas engine may be powering the forward motion and supplying power to charge the traction battery at the same time. The 12 volt battery is recharged from the traction battery.

 

[Travelover]

Interesting article on Escape taxi cabs - some with 300,000 miles.

Taxis Show Hybrid Battery Durability | Hybrid Cars

YMMV

 

[dmccarty]

Gary's and Travelover link and experience is interesting. The article was sounding good to me until I read that the warranties on the batteries are 100K miles and 10 years.

One would think that a Taxi service would be extreme service on the batteries. But maybe not?

I don't know which web sites I surfed into but there were lots of owners talking about having to get new batteries. Do the problems represent 1% or 99% of the cars? Only the car maker knows. But most people don't go to car web sites to talk how good their car/truck is working but to solve problems.

Later,
Dan

 

[PILOON]

It's the trunk that doesn't open with a dead battery not the hood, but the battery is in the trunk and not under the hood.

My '02 Jimmy is the same.
Could not even open the door, had to crawl thru tailgate, over the seats to access the hood release b4 I could even hook up booster cables!

"New and improved", better mouse traps?

 

[RonMar]

I hear tell that those crazy nuts at MIT took a Prius, and replaced the gas engine with a small diesel and pushed the MPG up over 70...

Seems a little silly when you consider that the newer Jetta TDI's get nearly that on a straight diesel/mechanical drivetrain.

 

[GaryM]

Just wanted to add that I ordered my 2010 Prius from the dealer this afternoon. My '04 has enough miles on it. I plan to retire in just under two years and figure the new one will be good for 7-8 years at least.

They have a red one in stock, but the '04 is red and I want a different color.

 

[Dmace]

Just wanted to add that I ordered my 2010 Prius from the dealer this afternoon.

Typical Prius owner, they think their saving the world and want everyone to know that they drive one. Look at me, I'm driving a HYBRID!

The toxic non-recyclable waste left by all these over-priced hybrid batteries will never be offset by the slight margin of better fuel mileage. Your not saving anything but in fact adding to the problem with a new one...

 

[Ken_CT]

Typical Prius owner, they think their saving the world and want everyone to know that they drive one. Look at me, I'm driving a HYBRID!

South Park did an episode on that, seems the hybrid owners were ruining the planet with smug.