The Accord Hybrid outperforms the normal Accord. If the Z does the same. Why not? If it's heavier then there are always ways to counter that.

 

the sounds of a internal combustion engine will be missed but I'm sure they will have "mods" to mimic that. It just won't be the same....oh well, at least my 950Z will be able to hover and travel at warp speeds on solar power.

 

The Toyota Volta anyone?

kthxggbyebye




Quite simply, a hybrid car has the potential and already does (as far as the performance of the concepts goes) outperform straight gas cars.

And you get to help preserve this planet and the life on it at the same time.

I'd do it once the technology matured a bit more. The Prius is currently an amazing car, especially with its linear transmission, and I can't wait to see this technology in high performance vehicles.

BTW, to the person who mentioned peak hp/trq, it is almost irrelevant. You can just use a linear transmission that keeps the motors at their peak numbers and thus have maximum power available at all times.

I'm pretty sure linear is the term for it anyway. blargh it's too damned early.

 

I'm not yet convinced that a hybrid is the way to go, but I would certainly consider one.

For one thing, I dont believe that it helps preserve this planet all that much more. Modern day emissions are far greater than they were 10 years ago, so I dont feel like my 04 is as huge polluter as some would like me to believe with my big thirsty V6. Arent I correct in remembering that hybrids like the Prius use their gas engines on the highway anyway, so their benefit there is eliminated. I see their biggest benefit here being from the city commuters, not necessarily those with longer highway commutes.

Also, I havent heard anyone yet talk about where they propose putting all these hybrid batteries when they die in 5-7-10 years. Landfill? How much better is that for the environment when you start filling up landfills with dead batteries?

Cost is another factor, you can pay $5,000+ above and beyond a comparably priced car for a hybrid, possibly more. Add to that the battery replacement cost of another $5,000 and thats $10,000 right off the bat you know you are looking at over the life of the car. There is a minor tax credit and minor gas savings, but this is still too much of a gap for me. Warren Brown, who is the auto writer for the Washington Post, did a great article on this a few months back.

Anyway, I'm not necessariliy in favor of hybrid cars nor against them. As the cost comes down and the technology matures, I will certainly consider them

 

Not nearly as good as on buying huge heavy SUV for your company

 

Currently, the economics of hybrid cars falls way short of the hype. I once ran the numbers on a Ford Escape hybrid. The purchase premium was around $6000 for the hybrid drive. At $2 per gallon, you'd have to drive something like 170,000 miles just to recoup the premium.

Naturally, as gas gets more expensive and the purchase premium gets smaller (due to higher sales volume), the economics start to improve. Ideally, technological advances can overcome the negative economics. Disposing batteries, however, will be a huge problem at some point.

Straight electrics don't interest me at all, because the electricity has to be generated somewhere (i.e. coal, natural gas, nuclear power plants). One of those plants puts out more pollution and/or hazardous waste than all the cars in a typical metro city, combined.

 

Electric Motors are definatly where its at when it comes to instant torque on tap.

 

Ni-MH are most environmentally friendly than any other chemisty type for existing batteries. Not that it would be a good idea; but they could fill up landfills. They don't contain heavy metals like Pb-acid or NI-Cads batteries or toxic chemicals in Li-Poly batteries.

It would of course make more sense to come up w/ a way of recycling it's componenets once it's beyond it's useful life cycles. It's energy density still isn't as great as Li-Poly but they are considerably cheaper at this point so hybrid manufactures will probably be inclined to use them until a more economical option, that would support the disposal issues, comes along.

 

I would never buy Hybrid sports car...Hybrid sedan, maybe...but NOT
Hybrid sports car.
The hybrid car runs on electric motor at low speeds, and when you need some power, it switches to gas motor.
I can't imagine driving a silent Z, in fact ano other sports car - IT RUINS THE WHOLE EXPERIENCE!
So knowing the car turns to gas motor if you give it some gas, THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE GONNA DO.
And of course when it runs on gas, it uses gas just like on a normal car.
Only reason Prius doesn't use that much fuel on gas mode is cuz it has small *** engine with no power at all.

Just watch the review of Prius on Top Gear and Fifth Gear.
On Fifth Gear equally sized small diesel car beat the Prius on mpg test, because
Prius has to rely on gas motor on higher speed, etc.

I'm not saying the Prius isn't worth it, dont get me wrong.
In the US where it's filled with SUVS, $3+ gas prices,
and Geo Metros no longer in production(lol), Prius is the best mpg vehicle.

But my final point is, I will never get hybrid sports car:
You won't hear their awesome engine on electric mode.
Sports cars are meant to be driven fast, and when you try to
drive fast on hybrid, it's going to switch over to gas mode. It's the same thing...

When Fifth Gear did a coverage on $300K full electric sports car by Venturi,
I thought it was pretty amazing...instant torque, instant acceleration...
BUT the car felt lifeless because it did not make ANY noise. It was too quiet.
What Is there to injoy in a quiet, lifeless $300K super car? Yes you can save the planet, but...


Like Jeremy Clarkson says:

"Super cars are designed to melt ice caps, kill the poor, poison the water tables, destroy the ozone layer,
decimate the indigenous wildlife, and turn the entire 3rd world to a huge, inhabitable desert."

 

IMO hybrid tech. is a short term solution...we need/must get away from fossil fuels all together. I like look at hybrid cars as a way to start the weening process.

That said...yes I'd buy a hybrid sports car. For the most part they do give a decent increase in performace to their "normal" car counterparts. Lexus' RX400h is quicker than the gas only RX330. THe Accord hybrid is quicker than a gas only v6 Accord.

With american brand cars trailing in hybrid technology...I see them "dropping" a bomb on the industry...I'll go out on a limb(very thin) and say the next gen Camero and Firebird will have a hybrid option.

 

I would buy a hybrid Z in a heartbeat.

 

I agree that the engine or exhaust "note" would be missed on a Hybrid Z, but I am sure a hybrid sports car would be designed to produce some type of a sports car sound. The Prius is designed to be quiet and that's what consumers expect from that car - it just depends on the market its being targeted for. I am also sure there will be mods left and right to enhance the sports car sound we all love.

Mitsubishi already came up with a concept Eclipse-E sports car.
It has is a 3.8-liter V6 fortified with an E-Boost electric drive system that provides tons of torque and together the two systems produce over an amazing 470 horsepower (with 20" wheels standard ).

Now it may not make it into production, but the technology is there, and they are probably just waiting to make sure the market is there as well. I think it would be a hit especially in places like Cali where it’s full of eco-geeks with money to spend and perfect weather for sports cars!

I think a hybrid sports car is coming sooner than you think. As for me, where do I sign up

http://www.edmunds.com/news/autoshow...6/page028.html

 

The only thing stopping the hybrids from going truly mainstream is Big Oil. Technology itself has existed for way too long.

 

As long as my tires don't feather, i'm down.

 

You know the funny thing is, you CAN have sporty performance with hybrid efficiency. BMW is exploring using "booster motors" on each wheel on their AWD technology to take load off of the engine and provide extra torque and performance. They've retrofitted such a system to an experimental X5 3.0. It's an electric motor mounted to each hub/spindle using a capacitor to store up energy as you brake. It's developing some insane torque because of the 4 electric helper motors on each wheel, torque on that car was rated at 1,000 ft-lbs when the electric motors kick in, fuel efficiency was something crazy like 30 city/35 freeway for an SUV, and 0-60 performance actually increased from the base 3.0 performance.

If they ever come to market with that technology, it would be the ideal solution to the age old "hybrid efficiency vs. gasoline power" debate.

 

I already own a hybrid Z. It burns gas and rubber.

 

Someday hybrids will actually make economic sense, but now the milage isn't that great, and the disposal of the battery creates a larger environmental impact than any combustion car. Hybrids make people feel good about what they drive, thats it.

 

good point!

 

Perfect man!