Robert Q. Riley Enterprises: Product Design & Development
blk-bg.gif (36 bytes)
red-line.gif (51 bytes)

slide-br.gif (2008 bytes)

Hybrid-Electric Vehicles

Hybrid-Electric Vehicles
Slide 7 of 18
Click image to enlarge.
For top quality images and fast viewing,

download the native PowerPoint file from the contents page.

red-line.gif (51 bytes)

Hybrid vehicles normally use some sort of combustion engine to run an auxiliary power unit. Today, fuel cell vehicles fall under the hybrid category because they need an energy storage system for peak power demands. But over the long term, fuel cell vehicles will probably emerge as their own category of power system.

The large photo in this slide shows an early charge-depleting hybrid developed in 1980 at my former design firm, Quincy-Lynn Enterprises. A charge-depleting hybrid is essentially a battery-electric car with an on-board generator for extending the range. This car would run about 65 miles on battery power alone, or a little more than 100 miles with the APU turned on. But charge-depleting hybrids are considered pretty much outmoded today.

Today’s combustion hybrids are like the Toyota Prius and the Honda Insight. They are charge-sustaining hybrids. That means that the batteries never run down, and range is the same as that of any conventional car. You drive until the liquid fuel runs out, then pull into a service station for more fuel. But the charge-sustaining hybrid sacrifices fuel economy for its range benefits. The charge-depleting hybrid in the photo achieved about 100 mpg, and the Prius and Insight both get about 60 mpg. But combustion hybrids are envisioned today as transition vehicles that will ultimately give way to fuel cell vehicles.

 

red-line.gif (51 bytes)


Design Services | Plans | Forum | Downloads | Vendors/Affiliates | Press Room | Links | Contacts

Robert Q. Riley Enterprises: Product Design & Development
© Copyright 1999 - 2011 Robert Q. Riley Enterprises, LLC.
P.O. Box 14465, Phoenix, AZ 85063
All rights reserved.