High end plug-in hybrid auto

Tonington

Tonington

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 27, 2006
15,441
150
63

(right-click, view image for high res ;) )


For $80,000 you can get this 4-door plug-in hybrid sports sedan from Fisker automotive, called Quantum Drive. Seems they've found a way to sex up the hybrids. But this car boasts more than impressive exterior styling, the performance is equally impressive.

As one of the first out of the gate, the distance per charge is still a bit low, but well within the mean mileage of todays suburbanites at 80 km. Now for those who don't live within that window, or can't charge the vehicle at work, the vehicle comes with your choice of a gasoline or diesel engine, which extends the range as high as 1000km. That's very respectable. Not only that, Fisker Automotive claims they can get up to 100 mpg with this hybrid.

More specs should be available when it is officially unveiled in Detroit on January 13 2008.

For those who may not be familiar, the plug-in hybrid is a vehicle that can be driven as a regular hybrid, utilizing both combustion and electric motors, or it can be driven as a purely electric vehicle.
 
#juan

#juan

Hall of Fame Member
Aug 30, 2005
18,326
119
63
From the picture, it looks like a beautiful car. The mileage(100 mpg) and range(1000km on a tank) figures are suspect. Right now the Toyota Prias, which is arguably the best hybrid out there, has trouble beating 50mpg. We have had other claims of High mileage and range as well as high performance from companies who's cars were little more than engineering prototypes. Best to just wait and see.
 
Tonington

Tonington

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 27, 2006
15,441
150
63
#juan said:
From the picture, it looks like a beautiful car. The mileage(100 mpg) and range(1000km on a tank) figures are suspect. Right now the Toyota Prias, which is arguably the best hybrid out there, has trouble beating 50mpg. We have had other claims of High mileage and range as well as high performance from companies who's cars were little more than engineering prototypes. Best to just wait and see.
Click to expand...

That's what I'm waiting on as well. Hybrids are funny. Small cars can be made just as efficient without the hybrid drive. The electric motors add enough mass to make the gains nominal.
 
#juan

#juan

Hall of Fame Member
Aug 30, 2005
18,326
119
63
Tonington said:
That's what I'm waiting on as well. Hybrids are funny. Small cars can be made just as efficient without the hybrid drive. The electric motors add enough mass to make the gains nominal.
Click to expand...

One of the problems I have with "plug-in" hybrids is that you bring the car home and plug it in to charge the battery, and that will certainly help gas mileage but somehow that energy has to be counted as well. These cars may well get great gas mileage but that electrical power is not free. I know this is kind of shouting the obvious but most of the car's mileage is from that overnight charge.
 
Tonington

Tonington

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 27, 2006
15,441
150
63
#juan said:
One of the problems I have with "plug-in" hybrids is that you bring the car home and plug it in to charge the battery, and that will certainly help gas mileage but somehow that energy has to be counted as well. These cars may well get great gas mileage but that electrical power is not free. I know this is kind of shouting the obvious but most of the car's mileage is from that overnight charge.
Click to expand...

Very true. Now if that home is taking advantage of solar panels, or small wind generators or any of the renewable options, that's a different story.

I wonder what the difference would work out to, if you broke down the cost per kilowatt compared to the costs for petro? I'm thinking there is a savings in the electricity still.
 
karrie

karrie

OogedyBoogedy
Jan 6, 2007
27,780
285
83
bliss
you may consider it shouting the obvious juan, but I'd never thought before to factor the electricity burden in with the gas mileage. naive I guess, or just never sat down and thought about it much.
 
#juan

#juan

Hall of Fame Member
Aug 30, 2005
18,326
119
63
Tonington said:
That's what I'm waiting on as well. Hybrids are funny. Small cars can be made just as efficient without the hybrid drive. The electric motors add enough mass to make the gains nominal.
Click to expand...

Yes, the Smart car is a great example. It gets 48 mpg in town and 67mpg on the hwy. Now put in 800 pounds of electric motor and battery and turn what was once a peppy little car into an overweight slug.
 
#juan

#juan

Hall of Fame Member
Aug 30, 2005
18,326
119
63
karrie said:
you may consider it shouting the obvious juan, but I'd never thought before to factor the electricity burden in with the gas mileage. naive I guess, or just never sat down and thought about it much.
Click to expand...

As it turns out Karrie, I was barking at the moon again. The cost of the overnight re-charge is much less than most people thought. The paragraph of data below refers to research done with the Toyota Prius hybrid.
Operating costs

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Postal_Service
In a 2006 research estimate in California, the cost to plug in at night was equivalent to US$0.75 per U.S. gallon (3.8 L) of gasoline,[1] whereas gasoline sells for over US$3 per gallon. The cost of electricity for a Prius PHEV is about US$0.03 per mile (US$0.019 per km), based on 0.26 kW·h/mi (129 mpg) and a cost of electricity of US$0.10 per kilowatt hour.[51][52] During 2007, many government and industry researchers will focus on determining what level of all-electric range is economically optimum for the design.[53]
Click to expand...
 
  • Like
Reactions: karrie
S

Sal

Hall of Fame Member
Sep 29, 2007
17,135
33
48
She does indeed look sexy and damned expensive but then sexy is usually expensive.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom