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Action can be taken
now to increase the fuel efficiency of today’s
Internal Combustion Engines (ICE’s).
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Continuously Variable
Transmission, for example, and Displacement
On Demand (DOD). DOD increases fuel economy
by several percent without compromising performance
or the ability to carry heavy loads.
Bigger gains are possible
with gas-electric hybrid vehicles. Hybrids built
for California’s driving patterns are
beginning to enter the market. They offer fuel
efficiency gains of 10% to over 30%.
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the Honda Insight and Toyota Prius both the engine
(1) and the electric motor (3) are connected to
the wheels by the same transmission (2). The electric
motor allows the use of a smaller engine, and
a smaller fuel tank (5) can take the car further.
Intelligent power electronics (4) decide when
to use the motor and engine and when to store
electricity in advanced batteries (6) for future
use. When braking or coasting, the hybrid uses
its electric motor (3) as a generator to produce
electricity, which is then stored in its battery
pack (6).Unlike all-electric vehicles, hybrid
vehicles do not need to be plugged into an external
source of electricity. Credit:
U.S. Department of Energy |
Copyright 2004 Fututre500.org
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