Top ten green hybrid cars

Here is the list for top 10 green cars recommended for the year 2009:

The Toyota Prius: This is the world’s bestselling and first commercial hybrid car with prices starting at £18,000. It provides CO2 emissions around the 90g/km mark and so is a great family saloon. The car was first launched in 1997.

The Honda Insight Hybrid is also a family saloon having five seats and five doors and it aims to be significantly cheaper than the Prius. However, it is unable to achieve lower CO2 levels than the new Toyota Prius. The prices start at £15,490.

The Ford Ka ECOnetic is definitely worthy of making any top ten green car lists; as it gives CO2 emissions of 112g/km, which is almost as impressive as the successful Fiesta ECOnetic. The Prices for this car start at an estimated £8500.
The Toyota IQ: This car is less than 3 metres long and thus the smallest four seater and gives emissions of 99g/km and capable of 65.7 mpg. Though it cannot be called the lap of luxury but should be in the list of top ten green cars.

The Honda CR-Z is going on sale sometime in December with prices starting at £16,000; this car can be called a sexy hybrid sports coupe and is a definite among the top ten green cars.

The MINI Cooper D: With 108bhp 1.6litre diesel, this car model gives CO2 emissions of 104 g/km and is capable of 72.4mpg. The engine also comes with an auto start-stop function which switches the engine off while the vehicle is stationary or in neutral. It can then engage the clutch for restarting the engine. Prices of this car begin at £14 420.

The Volkswagen Polo 1.4 Blue Motion was the first model to be launched under VW Blue Motion badge. It is smaller than the Volkswagen Golf and includes no road tax to be paid on this car because of the carbon emissions of only 99g/km. The car is capable of achieving 0-62 mph in 12.8 seconds. Its prices start at £12 120.

The Volkswagen Golf Blue Motion TDI gives CO2 emissions of 119g/km. This one is a medium size car that requires only 4.5 litres of fuel per 100 km. Like all the other blue motion range the improvements in emissions were achieved by the use of a recalibrated engine management system. Prices are supposed to start at £15,565.

BMW 118d Saloon has similar to Volkswagen CO2 emissions of 119 g/km and is another family sized car. It was declared 2008 World Green Car so ought to be a contender for any top ten green car list. It can achieve an impressive 0- 100 km/h in just 8.9 seconds and its prices start from £18 350.

The Skoda Fabia Greenline Estate gives CO2 emissions of 109g/km and as claimed by Skoda, this family estate car has the best green credentials than any other estate car available in the price range of Fabia. Its prices start at £12 140 for the estate.

How polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells work

Fuel cells are electro-chemical energy conversion devices which are highly efficient in converting the chemical energy derived from renewable fuel into equivalent electric energy. Significant development and research activities have been focused on the process of developing proton-exchange membrane fuel cells which have a polymer electrolyte membrane, composed of an ion exchange polymer, and is disposed between a cathode (positive electrode) and an anode (negative electrode).

The role of polymer electrolyte membrane is to provide a means for the transport of ions and for separation of the cathode and the anode compartments. More particularly, the proton-exchange membrane fuel cells traditionally have a polymer electrolyte membrane lying between two gas-diffusion electrodes, a cathode and an anode, each often containing a metal catalyst and supported by an electrically conductive material. These gas diffusion electrodes are exposed to the reactant gases, the oxidant gas and the reducing gas. At each of the two junctions or three phase boundaries, an electrochemical reaction occurs, where electrolyte polymer membrane, reactant gas and one of the two electrodes interface.

The electrochemical fuel cells occurring in case of hydrogen fuel cells during its operation at both electrodes i.e. cathode and anode are as following:
Anode: H2→2H++2e−; Cathode: ½O2+2H++2e−→H2O; Overall: H2+½O2→H2O.

During the operation of fuel cell, hydrogen permeates through the anode, interacts with metal catalyst and produces electrons and protons. The electrons are then conducted via an electrically conductive material to the cathode through an external circuit, while the protons are transferred simultaneously via an ionic route to the cathode through a polymer electrolyte membrane.

Oxygen on the other hand permeates to the catalyst sites of the cathode, gains electrons and then reacts with proton forming water. Consequently, the products of the reactions of proton-exchange membrane fuel cells are water, heat and electricity. Current is also conducted simultaneously through electronic and ionic route in the proton-exchange membrane fuel cells. Efficiency of these proton-exchange membrane fuel cells is said to be largely dependent on their ability to minimize both electronic and ionic resistivity.

An important role is played by Polymer electrolyte membranes in proton-exchange membrane fuel cells. The polymer electrolyte membrane has two main functions: (1) it acts as the electrolyte providing ionic communication between the cathode and the anode; and (2) it also serves as a separator for the two reactant gases (e.g., O2 and H2).

In other words, the polymer electrolyte membrane, while being useful as a good proton transfer membrane, must also have low permeability for the reactant gases to avoid cross-over phenomena that reduce performance of the fuel cell. This is especially important in fuel cell applications in which fuel cell are operated at elevated temperatures and the reactant gases are under pressure. If electrons are able to pass through the membrane, the fuel cell is partially or fully shorted out and the produced power is either reduced or even annulled.

France to Invest Heavily on Electric Cars

France has unveiled plans to invest 1.5 billion Euros on the infrastructure for the 2 million hybrid and electric cars that it want on roads by 2020 and with this announcement, “The battle of the electric car” was launched. France is aiming to be a world leader in the energy and car industry, as reported by the Jean-Louis Borloo, the ecology minister of France, while presenting his government’s strategy to reduce CO2 emissions with the help of eco-friendly cars. He also said that no player can take the risk alone but it works if all actors take it at the same time, after being flanked by the top French car makers PSA Peugeot Citroen and Renault. The project will cover everything from industrial research, producing clean cars, making batteries and building a nation-wide network of battery-charging stations.

Earlier to this announcement, Borloo had said that France plans to invest more than 7 billion Euros i.e. around 10 billion dollars for development of freight transport by rail to reduce road traffic. These schemes are said to be part of “Green plan” for France by President Nicholas Sarkozy and it aims to reduce green house gas emissions responsible for global warming. To bring this into effect, he also announced a new carbon tax on individuals and businesses to encourage consumers to cut down on gas, oil and coal and this is supposed to come into force next year.

Currently, out of 30 million French cars on roads, only a few thousands are electric or hybrid and so major investment would be required to build two million of them. 900 million dollars out of 2.2 billion earmarked is hoped to come from a state loan due for launch next year. The money though would be mostly used for infrastructure, but buying of cars and subsidies for both buyers and makers of clean vehicles will also be funded with it. According to the plan, around a million battery-charging stations will be built by the year 2015, 90 percent of them would be in private homes but also in roadside sites and car parks. All new apartments having parking lots will have to include charging stations by 2012 so that the network grows to 4 million points by 2020, which is equivalent to two per vehicle.

Electric Auto Conversion: How do Electric Cars Work?

Not many people are aware that most of the on-road electric cars today are the “home-brew” conversion vehicles i.e. people, interested in electric cars convert their existing gasoline powered cars to electric ones in their garages and backyards. It can be done easily as there are many websites that tell you about the phenomenon like where to get the parts and how to do the whole process etc.

DC motor and a DC controller are used in the typical conversion. The people involved with the conversion decides the voltage that car will be run at, which can be anything between 96 to 192 volts. The number of batteries needed and what sort of controller and motor will be used by the car is controlled by voltage decision. A normal gasoline-powered car is the donor vehicle which acts as the platform for conversion and usual involves manual transmission. There are also lot of options available in case of battery technology. The person doing the conversion can choose from Golf-cart batteries, marine deep cycle lead acid batteries, sealed high performance batteries etc. And having made the decision about controller, motor and battery,
the conversion can commence with the following steps:

1. Engine, exhaust tank, radiator, clutch and gas tank should be removed from the donor vehicle. Some controllers contain air-cooled transistors while others have water-cooled.

2. An adapter plate should be attached to the transmission and motor should be mounted which usually requires custom mounting brackets.

3. As the electric motor usually needs a reduction gear for maximum efficiency, it can be easily created by pinning the existing manual transmission in second or third gear. Once this is done, controller should be mounted.

4. Find space and build brackets to safely hold the batteries and once done, install them. Sealed batteries offer an advantage here of getting turned on their sides and fitting themselves into all sorts of crannies and nooks.

5. Now wire the controller and the batteries to the motor with #00 gauge welding cable.

6. If there is power steering in the car, an electric motor should be wired and mounted for the power steering pump; and if there is air-conditioning then an electric motor for ac compressor should be wired up and mounted too.

7. Now comes few installations: Install an electric water heater and plumb it into existing heater core or you can use ceramic electric space heater, instead. Install vacuum pump to operate brake booster, in case car has power brakes. Install a charging system and a DC-to-DC converter in order to power the accessory battery. In order to detect the state of charge in the battery pack, you can install some volt-meter which replaces the gas gauge. Similarly, install potentiometer, after hooking them to accelerator pedal, connect it to the controller.

8. Most home-brew electric cars with DC motors use reverse gears built into the manual transmission. However, AC motors having advanced controllers simply run the motor in reverse order and hence just needs a simple switch to send a reverse signal to the controller. Some sort of reverse switch and wire to the controller, hence, needs to be installed depending on the conversion.

9. A large relay, also known as contactor, carrying hundreds of amps that is able to break 96 to 300 volts without carrying an arc needs to be installed to connect and disconnect battery pack to and from the controller. This relay is what turns the car “on” when we want to drive it.

10. The ignition switch now needs to be rewired to turn on all the new equipments including the contactor.
One all this is installed and then tested, the new electric car gets ready to be driven!

Water hybrid car scam

When everyone talked of water run cars people just couldn’t believe their eyes and eyes. In these of skyrocketing fuel, petrol and oil prices it comes as a boon if it really works. But already many people are converting their cars into hybrid cars even though some people are quite skeptical about this. This is because how could so many scientists couldn’t find out this technology during all these years.

The car runs on water when H2O is combusted in water. If a person builds this system on his own, it costs him a mere $150. Many people argue that it is extremely impossible to extract any form of energy that is powerful enough to make a car run. Some people say that it may be possible but for doing so a huge amount of water is required. Many people question if any one can run a car on water why major automobile giants are wasting their time and energy in the production of hybrid cars.

Water hybrid cars are hybrid cars are the worst polluters contrary to the advertisements. The rechargeable battery label says that it can’t be disposed off. The battery contains toxic and heavy metals that pollute ground water. The battery is heavier and weighs around 600 pounds. If a hybrid car meets with accident along the riverside, it contaminates the entire water supply that can be disastrous. 20 years from now, hybrid cars become extinct and all their batteries in the garage will be continuously leaking heavy metals into the soil.
It is true that rechargeable batteries can be recycled. But hybrid cars use batteries made of nickel metal hydride. Nickel metal hydride batteries become obsolete as all the companies are replacing them with lithium ion batteries. Sure usage of water is good, but the oxygen content in it is minimum.
The usage of hydrogen results in emission of steam. Hydrogen is extremely dangerous. Cars with high hydrogen content are a concern to mankind.
So people should think twice and take into consideration all the above-mentioned facts before coming to the conclusion that water hybrid cars is an alternate energy consumption source.

Five reasons to buy Hybrid Cars

In the scenario with the sky rocketing of oil and fuel prices, increased level of pollution, the introduction of hybrid cars in the market is a boon for many people across the world. Hybrid cars also act as energy savers and this is a boon for the customers. Hybrid cars have high purchase costs and are generally hard to find due to the huge demand because of its features. The following are some of the reasons why people should buy hybrid cars.

Hybrid cars have more efficient engines and are of small size. The increased efficiency of the hybrid cars is due to the use of light materials in its production and its small size. They are equipped with regenerative braking. This means the electric motor that is driving the car also performs the role of a generator and charges the battery while the car slows down.
It is equipped with periodic engine shut off technology that automatically switches off the engine temporarily when stopped in traffic. The car starts automatically when it is on gear. The efficiency of a hybrid car is more than that of the conventional car.

Hybrid cars are eco friendly. Hybrid due to its fuel efficiency helps in making the environment pollution free. It delivers better gas mileage compared to the gas engine of the conventional car.

The utilization of advanced technology in the production offers sleek and aerodynamic models of hybrid cars. The aerodynamic design of the car helps in the reduction of drag. The low rolling resistant tyres of the car help in the reduction of friction.
The battery pack made of high capacity nickel hydride produces power the car requires and is extremely reliable. These carsuses the power train technology and the computer in the car enhances the driving performance with its latest technology. These cars give excellent performance under all terrains.

The eco freindly design of the hybrid cars made the government offer concessions and tax breaks for the people who purchase them. slowly and surely the hybrid version cars are becoming the hot favorite with the people due to its innovative features.

Electric Cars and their conversion kits

If someone told you that you can convert practically any gas-driven vehicle on the road, into an electrifying form, pun intended, you have to convert to a believer. And it’s really as easy as that- as switching faiths. But why electric cars?

At the turn of the century, the world started realizing, a world-in-a-world rather, that gasoline is not going to stick around for long. And even if it does, you can’t possibly be driving through fog-ridden continents. The pollution levels will go through the roof. So when the going got tough, the tough got going. Electric cars were introduced, and over the years, impacted heavily under the cover of a green eco-friendly system, and relieving people of all their gas. Although said to have been experimented upon and discovered somewhere in the early 1830s, the uncovering of oil reserves in Middle-eastern Asia- a big story beginning with the 20th century- concealed all that was thought of, or heard of, about electric engines. But the resurgence was faster than expected.

A very popular Electric car is the REVAi, produced in India, and distributed all over the world. And the reason is the economy (0.008 US cent/km), and that it runs for 50 miles on an 8-hr charge. Then there are electricity-run variants of some Porsches, some Volkswagens. This along with many prototypes and concept cars, what really gets you head over heels, is the fact that it can all be done at home. What you need is an electric conversion kit.

There are many kinds of kits, ranging from various categories- AC or DC, general or specific, custom or deluxe. After getting the registration done, and giving your car some legal airs, the easiest way to perform the conversion, is to get a kit for your particular car, in all its exactness. This snips out the extra hours, and fits into your system like a plug-n-play thing. All the tools you need, and how to use them, aren’t really much of a problem. They have a wonderful step-by-step method all laid out on an instruction manual, and with a little bit of common sense, you could have a charged-up demon awoken, in a matter of hours.

Toyota Camry hybrid fuel economy

Everyone wants a car, that strides like a beast, seats you like a King and eats like a humming-bird- A Fuel-efficient, Sleek-looking, luxuriously inexpensive sedan. Enter the Toyota Camry 2010, the car from the future. With its chic figure and an aerodynamic set of wheels, it appears to be the sexiest launches of late. But wait, there’s more to this brute than meets the eye. It’s a hybrid.

From what was initially launched as a Toyota Celica Camry, around the 1980’s, has traveled 7 generations, to reach us in the shape we see it now- the XV40. It is the first, Hybrid Toyota automobile, to have hit the market. And it’s making the rounds in not just review circles, but also in people’s eyes, irrespective of the former, really! And what is it that really makes a mark? Not anything that’s apparent. Or maybe that too, but what actually gets your adrenaline pumping, is the mileage.

In these hard times of recession, technology’s focus has shifted to newer innovative techniques, for making the juice worth the squeeze. And with a price range of around 26-30,000 dollars, the EPA mileage estimates have been turning heads. Though for the record, it’s been announced as 43 MPG city/ 37 MPG highway, everyone knows, what they practically mean. But even then, it wouldn’t go anywhere below a 30, in either case. And that is not disappointing for a mid-range sedan, when you’d find similar ones stooping down to a mere 20 or even worse. The ingredient inside, the one doing all of this, is a classical combination of a gas engine and an electric motor. They come together to power up into 192 hp. No compromises, which means, when it comes to zooming across with that more-than-familiar Camry sound of the engines jumping to life, you’re still going to feel it rushing through your veins. One doesn’t need to be reminded of the interiors or the exteriors much. Camry has had a legacy for sleekness. The feature that stands out starkly is its big fuel-economy gauge, giving us an idea of the mileage anytime.

The Toyota Camry 2010 is the best when it comes to averaging everything out. It isn’t much of a consumer and even less of a polluter. And if you want a hybrid, that’s rather hassle-free with all the poise, Camry is all you need to spell out.

Adelaide to allow Electric car charging stations

There are really few electric cars and thus very few charging points which is the main difficulty with charging points for electrical cars and to break this deadlock, ADLAIDE city council has an idea of taking an initiative and hence declared to offer electric car green-power recharge stations to thousands of motorists in the city. Based on this idea, the council backed Michael Harbison’s (Lord Mayor) move of installation of charging points in U-parks owned by council. These stations will be installed only where requested and will be offered to those who will own reserved spaces. As you can have the same car in the leased car space, the wall next to such a space is ideal and obvious place to begin having charging points on.

Currently in South Australia, there are just seven electric cars registered and it’s understood by Adelaide now that two of them are garaged at Goolwa. Mr. Harbison also added that they don’t expect to be swamped with the application anytime soon but it will surely be there. The price of installation of the units is estimated at $4000 by the council, however, according to Mr. Harbison only as little as seven hundred dollars can be spent for its sourcing. These stations are reported to be installed at the cost of the drivers and the electricity consumed by them would be added to rent of the space. The power will be purchased for accredited green energy suppliers. It was suggested by the councillor Ralph Clarke that the council should expand the program so that recharge point for casual parkers is also included.

Stephen Yarwood who is Deputy Lord Mayor said to promote the greater use of electric vehicle across the city, he would call for detailed reporting option as he finds it the most first logical thing to do. He also said that it is starting to roll and people are going to put in their minds to that and exclaimed that he feels great to feel that he can do it. General Motors who is car giant in US and Premier Mike Rann are currently in talks for the production of first commercial electric car in Australia at the Elizabeth Holden plant.

Nissan Launches New Electric Car

The Leaf is the name of new electronic and environmental friendly car launched by Nissan motor company recently. The company has opened new headquarters at Yokohama, Japan and it was during this opening ceremony that first public viewing of The Leaf took place. This zero emission vehicle is set to go on sale in US, Europe and Japan next year. Designer Shiro Nakamura has given a sporty design to the blue hatchback which has a recharging opening in its front to avoid stereotypical designs of future. He said that the car is neither niche nor unusual looking. It’s just a real car.
The leaf will soon go into mass-production in 2012 as a global model and will be priced about same as a gas engine car such as Tiida whose value is 1.5 million Yen (15,000 USD) but sells abroad as Versa, starting at $10,000, as promised by Nissan. While Carlos Ghosn who is Nissan’s chief executive drove out the car on stage, Junichiro Koizumi- former prime minister was sitting next to him and Yokohama mayor and governor were seated in the rear seats. The new office building in Yokohama and the new car have marked two fresh starts for Nissan. The car is a real breakthrough and is expected to take a lead in zero emission vehicles.
Renault SA of France has an alliance with Nissan, which has reportedly fallen behind Honda Motor co and Toyota Motor Corp (both are Japanese rivals) in increasingly popular gas-electric hybrids. The company is selling its old Tokyo headquarters to cut costs as it is losing money amid global downturn. However, the new headquarters which has 22 storeys is sufficiently designed to be energy efficient in order to quality as one of the most ecological buildings of Japan. After all, they key to Japan’s economic growth is its environmentally friendly auto technology.
The first car drive was so quiet and smooth that Koizumi has high hopes of its getting popular on its official launch.

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