Posted 2005-10-24 7:41 PM (#484 - in reply to #483) Subject: RE: Chevy Hybrid Truck
Cosmopolitan (shaken..not stirred)
Posts: 10442
Location: south of Cowtown, TEXAS
Hey neighbor!
I saw something on the Today show maybe a year ago. But I don't remember much. Just the part where it has (110) power sockets in the bed for tailgaters! And the gianormous battery under the back bench seat.
They have made some for the US gov, not sure how many are available to the public. From what I heard the Fuel saving is only about 10% and better in city than on hwy (like any hybrid). I think the built in generator and "green thinking" benefits of the truck will be it's selling point - as any actual savings from fuel savings would not be on a short pay back.
Posted 2005-10-25 10:08 AM (#486 - in reply to #483) Subject: RE: Chevy Hybrid Truck
Posts: 127
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
I am a little curious about how well it would tow. I would think to get enough power it would almost have to switch entirely to gas and save the other for in-town, less strenuous driving.
Posted 2005-10-25 4:53 PM (#487 - in reply to #483) Subject: RE: Chevy Hybrid Truck
Posts: 269
Location: Lucas, TX
My husband got a Toyota Prius about two months ago. He loves it, but I'm getting tied of his attempts to drive all the way home from town on battery.:-) He's getting 50mpg in mixed driving to & from work. We've had a long disscussions on how a useful a hybrid would be in a truck. He claims that you still need the torque going down the road to pull a gooseneck, so you would run on gas most of the time going down the road. I suggested it would still be worth it because gas milage goes right down the tube when your idling. Electric motors are good at providing torque, so I would think that the truck would still use the electric motor even while towing and certainly moving from a stand still up to speed. I've decided not to buy another truck until there is a 3500 dually hybrid that gets 40mpg while towing. I'm convinced it could be done, the buying public just needs to insist on it.
Posted 2005-10-25 5:44 PM (#488 - in reply to #483) Subject: RE: Chevy Hybrid Truck
Posts: 2621
I browsed the glossies at the dealership a couple of weeks ago. If I was pulling ONLY the 2 horse b/p I think I might get one, I might get one anyway.
Like most other things, VOLUME would help bring down the price and they're not going to get the volume until they offer them at "volume" price... catch 22.
I think technologies are up to a 3500 DRW and WAyyyyy beyond.
Think ocean liners and diesel electric locomotives. I know, weight is less of an issue, but relatively light motor/generators in n-horsepower sizes are probably available NOW.
Posted 2005-11-05 3:59 PM (#489 - in reply to #483) Subject: RE: Chevy Hybrid Truck
Posts: 21
Location: Illinois
From the Chevy web site it sounds like for 2006 the hybrid is
available throughout the country. I didn't notice anything about
the power outlets on there--that sounds neat.
Posted 2005-11-10 12:11 PM (#490 - in reply to #483) Subject: RE: Chevy Hybrid Truck
Posts: 50
Location: Colorado
quote:
I've decided not to buy another truck until there is a 3500 dually hybrid that gets 40mpg while towing. I'm convinced it could be done, the buying public just needs to insist on it.
-Betty
end quote (where is the quote button anyway??)
Betty, I'm sorry to say I think you may be waiting quite a while before this becomes a reality. I am an engineer who works for a company who makes Fuel Cells, and I keep track of what technologies are out there and what effeciencies they can achieve. Diesel engines like those used in most 3500 duallies today are actually much more effecient than gasoline engines and for an applications like towing horses, it is very hard to use "hybrids" to your advantage. A big truck especially one towing horses just simply requires a whole lot more energy to move than a small car. Electric motors can indeed generate plenty of torque to push a large truck, but those big electric motors need lots of electricity and that has to come from somewhere. My guess is after you husband drives all the way home on battery, he eventually ends up running the gas engine for a long enough time to recharge those batteries. Even in a hybrid ALL of the energy is coming from gasoline. You may get 100mpg on the way home, but then you get 30mpg on the way to work.
Hybrids get most of their energy savings from being aerodynamic and from regenerative braking. By nature, horse trailers can't be too aerodynamic and for most towing applications you are pulling down the freeway without a whole lots of stops. Granted, improvements can and will be made to trucks, but don't expect real-world 40mpg while towing horses in the next 10-15 years. ~30 mpg may be possible with a diesel-hybrid and improved aerodynamics and low rolling resistance tires etc... but not 40mpg.
Fuel Cells are extremely effecient compared to gas and diesel engines, but getting the fuel to run them is not. A Fuel Cell truck would be something like this:
It gets 60 miles per gallon of Hydrogen! but............Hydrogen costs $18/ gallon
Here are a couple of articles that illistrate what I am saying about diesels already being pretty effecient in the "real world". In both cases, the diesel vehicle BEATS the hybrid in real world gas mileage. Note that the Lexus SUV, which uses the same technology as the Prius but is larger, only gets 33mpg without pulling a tailer!
Posted 2005-11-11 6:26 AM (#492 - in reply to #483) Subject: RE: Chevy Hybrid Truck
Posts: 7
Location: NH
I don't want to hijack the thread, but I'm always interested when I find an engineer in the auto biz..
From your aforementioned article-
The results showed that while the ML 320 CDI (165 kW/224 hp) returned an average fuel consumption of 31.04 miles per gallon, the hybrid SUV (155 kW/211 hp) averaged 27.69 mpg.
The difference of 3.35 mpg (10.8 per cent) underscores the superiority of state-of-the-art diesel engines compared to hybrid drives
a gallon of low-sulfur diesel fuel requires 25 percent more oil than a gallon of low-sulfur reformulated gasoline, putting more diesel vehicles on the road without also raising fuel economy standards could actually increase U.S. oil dependence.
When evaluating a diesel vehicle’s impact on oil dependence, consumers should adjust the listed fuel economy downward about 20 percent before comparing it with a gasoline vehicle.
If I apply the UCS article to 10.8% difference between the test vehicles, I find the hybrid to be 10.33% more "oil friendly" than the diesel.
Chevy Hybrid Truck
