The Technology Context – B101

Hybrid Drive

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/carreviews/grouptests/211740/lexus_ls600h_l.html

Introduction
The polar icecaps are melting, the climate is changing, as soon as 2100 the whole sea level could rise by 3 feet [1]. This report is going to illustrate what Lexus and Honda have come up with to help slow down global warming, and there hitting one of the biggest CO2 producing industries of all, Automotive.
Hybrid Drive technology is a basic concept, It involves adapting a petrol engine with an electric engine. At higher speeds such as on the motorway, the petrol engine is engaged and it runs on normal petrol. At lower speeds such as in urban cities the electric engine is engaged, at this point the car has zero emissions. The electric engine gathers its energy from the excess power of the petrol engine and also from kinetic energy that the wheels are producing [2].
They hope that if everyone buys into the Hybrid drive technology then they can help reduce the amount of CO2 that rises into our atmosphere. Their first objective was to get the product known, this means heavy advertising and a little help from celebrates to ‘showcase’ there cars. By using these criteria, they could spring the technology into the public limelight.

Another objective was not to get the people to match the car, but to get the car to match the people; they did this by releasing several models that suited the key genres of people. They categories the cars into business, practicality and performance. This means that there was a car to suit everyone.
At this point of time Lexus have just finished the later of the genres, the performance car, the ‘Lexus-LS 600H’. This is one of their most technical cars ever build. However it is also one of their most expensive cars ever built.

This Report will consist of:

• Testing the hybrid drive technology within the same company and similar models to produce results on MPG and Co2 emissions, i will then write on my findings.
• Testing the hybrid drive technology with different manufactures and different engine types, in the case hybrid and diesel, i will then write on my finding.
• Comparing what other companies have done with the technology, in the case what Honda have produced with the technology, again write upon my findings and produce an analysis .
• I will comment on the financial effects of this new technology and express my personal view.
• Looking at today’s government and there interest in hybrid drive i will write on how they see the potential and how they are helping the technology grow.
• Looking at the effects that hybrid technology has across the world in America (the biggest oil user in the world).


Sustainable Technology objective and issue
The primary sustainable objective is to lower CO2 emissions produced by automotive vehicles, both companies have tried to achieve this. On paper the idea of hybrid drive should work, but in real life circumstances, it doesn’t always work!
Here are two scenarios:

Scenario 1:
After conducting much research into the technology I came across some tests to backup my point, these tests show everyday usage of the technology. The first test involved the performance Lexus LS 600h (hybrid) compared to the Lexus LS460 (non-hybrid). The reasons for choosing these two cars are, they’re both performance cars, the engines are very similar and the powers to weight ratio is identical. Because they are both performance cars we need to assume that they will be driven on longer roads, such as motorways. After taking results from the EAP (US – Environmental Protection Agency) it showed that the hybrid car was performing worse than the non hybrid car, with less MPG (miles per gallon), this can be used to determine the CO2 emissions. The results were as follows:


[3]

This is due to two main reasons, the hybrid technology needs extra components that include a very heavy battery, all these extra components mean that the car is a lot heavier which puts more strain on the engine. The other reason is due to the fact that on motorways the hybrid drive technology is useless, this is because (as stated) at high speeds the car runs solely on the petrol engine.

Scenario2:
This scenario compares two different companies, with who very different engines. The two cars that we will be comparing are the Audi A8 TDI SE and again the Lexus LS 600h. The Audi uses a diesel engine to increase performance and hence producing less Co2 emissions.
These two cars, although being different companies, can again be compared. This is because they have the same 0-60 MPH, both have a max speed of 155MPH, both have all the extras (air bags, ABS, e.c.t). So let’s have a look at the performance difference.



[4]As you can see buy this graph the Hybrid Drive technology actually beats the diesel powered Audi. Although not by much at all when you consider there is a £16,000+ price difference. You could buy a wind turbine and place it on your house, or you could buy solar panels to heat your house with that money. This would obviously, by default, lower the total CO2 emissions given off.

What Another company has done with the technology
Okay, so maybe this technology is not for performance cars, but for practical cars, day to day running. For this test I used the Honda Civic, this car is one of the most practical cars you’ll come by, your guaranteed to go for a walk outside and see one of these driving passed. The Honda Civic 2006 edition comes with two types of engine, the conventional petrol engine called the LX and the Hybrid model the LXh. Both of these cars are identical apart from one is a hybrid and one isn’t.
For this test we will be using US units. [5]



As you can see the hybrid car out performs the normal petrol engine car by a fair amount and produces less Co2 emissions, this proves that hybrid drive technology can actually work!
But are people willing to buy these cars, when potentially it could save you money on fuel costs?
I looked into this and found these surprising figures:

• Using city millage you drive 15,000 miles each year.
• Using $2 per gallon.
• Driving the Hybrid car you save $286 each year on petrol
After 5 years (286 X 5) = $1,430 saving
After 10 years (286 X 10) = $2,860 saving
After 15 years (286 X 15) = $4,290 saving

$4,290 saving in petrol is just over the $3,500 difference in the cars initial buying price. This means that you would have to of had the car for around 15 years before you can make your money back. (nobody keeps a car for 15 years)

This price difference is a large factor. I made a questionnaire asking people how much extra they would expect to spend on hybrid drive technology and a set of other questions. Here are the results i found for the first question:





Financial Effects
As you can see this technology is not cost effective, I believe that people are more concerned about parting with their cash then the environment. To make this technology a success they need to find a way to keep production costs low so that they can sell it for the same price as a conventional petrol car. When this happens, and I believe it will, the financial side of the technology is solvedand people will start to buy practical hybrid cars. Until that day the government have tried to help with the financial side of hybrid drive technology.

Political and national Effects
The government have realised the potential of hybrid drive technology. They realise that it does produce lower CO2 emissions. To aid the progress of hybrid drive they have lowered the tax bracket on hybrid drive cars to the lowest. They also don’t charge congestion charges in large area such as London where pollution is high. Which is a step in the right direction, but I also think that they contradict themselves too much. For example the smart car which produces half the emissions (Co2) of the performance Lexus hybrid is charged around £8.00 for congestion charges,[7] the Lexus however pays nothing! Surely that money could be put into renewable energy such as wind farms or hydro power?


Global effects
America is one of the biggest contributors to global warming [6], they have very little Co2 emissions laws and are the biggest consumer of oil. This is where hybrid technology comes to its own, America is the biggest users of hybrid technology, I thought to myself, why? Is it because people are now becoming more aware about the environment than their money? Doesn’t this contradict what I said?
After talking to people in America over VoIP (internet phone) i still believe what i said earlier was true, that people are more concerned about parting with their cash than the environment. Hang on; you just said that America is the biggest user of hybrid drive technology? Exactly, in America the price of oil is becoming more and more expensive, people are complaining about the $2 a gallon but yet it is still rising. Using the third test [the Honda test] I increased the sales of petrol to $3 a gallon, from this I concluded that it would take only 8 years to make back the money you have spent on petrol, hence saving money. Another good factor for hybrid drive technology is that it’s becoming a status, if you drive a hybrid car; you’re seen to be a good person. This yet again increases sales and inevitably produces less Co2.
I believe that with the right backing of government and lowered production costs of hybrid technology, that it will cause a vast decrease in Co2 emissions.

Referance

[1] Antarctica, Collected Jannuary 14th 2008 - http://www.gma.org/surfing/antarctica/antarctica.html
[2] Luxus - collected November 27th 2008 - http://www.lexus.co.uk/
[3] EPA (US – Environmental Protection Agency)
[4] Auto Express - Group Tests, collected Nov 27th 2008 - http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/carreviews/grouptests/211743/audi_a8l_42_tdi.html
[5] Bankrate - Auto - is hybrid car right for you? , collected Jannuary 15th 2008 - http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/auto/car-guide/hybrid.asp
[6] Tamug - Global warming information, collected jannuary 15th 2008 - http://www.tamug.edu/labb/Global_Warming_Info.htm#biggest-co2-producers
[7] Transport for london - Congestion charging, collected november 27th 2008 - http://www.cclondon.com/