PHEV

[skinnyflyer 0]

Why can't we buy phevs(plug in hybrid electric vehicles)

phevs are by far the best cars for fuel efficiency and could make a big difference if widely adopted. too bad none of the large car companies is making them.

here's why;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plug-in_hybrid_electric_vehicle#Stranglehold_on_battery_technology.3F

"The oil company Chevron controls key battery technologies and battery manufacturing facilities, through its subsidiary, Cobasys. According to the website ev1.org, during the development of the battery-electric vehicle (BEV) EV1, General Motors made a controlling investment in Ovonics's battery development and manufacturing, with particular interest in the patents and trade secrets controlling the manufacturing of large nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) batteries. This interest was subsequently sold to the oil company Texaco, which was acquired in its entirety by another oil company, Chevron. The "large format" NiMH batteries are no longer available to U.S. electric vehicle converters or lightweight BEV manufactures. The manufacturing unit, Cobasys, is currently declining to manufacture and market these batteries for battery electric automotive use in the US and has shut down (through patent control) Panasonic's large format battery importation to the US. The Cobasys web page concerning transportation applications addresses only large multi-passenger hybrid vehicles. In order to use NiMH batteries without violating Chevron's patents, hybrid automobile manufacturers are required to design vehicles which are at least 50% powered by gasoline; otherwise, they are limited to the use of "D" cell-sized NiMH ("small format") batteries."

after looking in to this i felt like vomitting.

see also the film 'who killed the electric car'.


toyota actually had to discontinue its rav4 ev (completely electric) because of the patent on the
batteries.

another great alternative is the diesel. which can get something like 40% better fuel efficiency. the massive fuel savings more than make up for the added polution. the vw jetta diesel is a great example. however it has been discontined in north america(hopefully temperarily) in 2007 due to new emission regulations (bush's clean air). good call, punish one of the most fuel efficient cars on the market.

theres still hope; some independant companies; calcars-http://www.calcars.org/ , hybridsplus- http://hybrids-plus.com/ht/phevs.html are now offering modefications to hybrids such as the toyota prius to make it a phev using lithium batteries. as their prices continue to come down, now 3000-5000$ they will hopefully force the larger companies to offer the same.

yes i know.. a large portion of the electricity still comes from burning fossil fuels. it is still a massive increase in efficiency.

then again i guess a lot of north americans wouldn't be able to fit into a compact fuel efficient car anyway.

"Death is more universal than life; everyone dies but not everyone lives."
A. Sachs