AutoblogGreen

1. Where's the plug? How far will it go on electric alone? Am I still addicted to Oil?

Posted at 9:17AM on Nov 20th 2006 by Tim

2. "A diesel hybrid system has the potential to provide the best of both worlds."

I'm wondering what is taking so long. The folks building the Aptera figured this out a while back, but they haven't delivered their 300+ mpg car yet.

Diesel can be very efficient at constant load and RPM, which is the main reason that OTR trucks use diesel. EV has good torque and efficiency over a wide range of RPM and load, but both torque and efficiency drop off at high RPM, and storage of enough electrical energy to give adequate range is a problem. The two technologies are about as close to the perfect complement as is available in the real world.

BTW, most locomotives in the US are diesel/electric, and have been for a long time, for that reason. As I have pointed out in prior posts on this forum, rail is the most efficient way we have to transport any heavy object over land.

Posted at 9:41AM on Nov 20th 2006 by Howard Lee Harkness

3. Howard - Straight veggie bio-diesel is too efficient, and a diesel-electric PHEV is even more so. The original diesel engines built over 100 years ago were designed to run specifically on veggie oil, not petroleum. It is taking so long simply because it would break our addiction to petroleum. There’s still some of that left in the ground. Big Oil needs the help of Big Auto to keep addicted just a little bit longer until they can change drugs with the help of Big Gov’t and get us addicted to Big Hydrogen so they can “save the planet” while maintaining their customer base and maximizing future profits. That’s the Big Picture. Want proof? http://internalcombustionbook.com We’re singing off the same sheet of music, let’s flip through the rest of the songbook.

Posted at 10:10AM on Nov 20th 2006 by Tim

4. Regarding:
"There’s still some of that left in the ground"

In fact, there is quite a lot of it still in the ground. I doubt that in our life time we'll see something besides petroleum providing most of the fuel for our vehicles. There's just too much out there. It's too cheap to extract. And there will be more and more discoveries as we get better and better at exploring and extracting deep sea deposits.

Posted at 10:43AM on Nov 21st 2006 by CR

5. Actually, Toyota has been selling diesel hybrid small van in Japan since 2004 and this was the first production diesel hybrid...

Posted at 11:26AM on Nov 21st 2006 by sp

6. Toyota needs to get with Nissan and implement this new capacitor technology:

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0CYH/is_2_7/ai_97757261

Posted at 3:01AM on Nov 27th 2006 by RJR

7. I think that this is a better plan for a Toyota rather than concentrate more on electric hybrids. But why does we need to wait three more years knowing that the automaker has all the capacity to build such cars in just a short span of time.

Posted at 3:57PM on Dec 12th 2006 by Talk About Cars

8. Sounds good. Only wish GM and FORD were singing the same song.

Posted at 7:30PM on May 11th 2007 by mikeinBuilding7

9. How many Toyota Tacoma Diesel Hybrid Pick-ups could Toyota sell in the U.S.? Well, I'd get one (maybe two). Plus about fifty million more to anyone with an automotive brain in their head. Nevermind the hybrid bit - I'll take a new Tacoma Diesel, built like a Hi-Lux, or even built like a Tacoma. Let's do it, Toyota - I'm too lazy to build it myself.

Posted at 3:56PM on Oct 12th 2007 by J J Aron