Plug-In Hybrid Cars

Plug-In Hybrid Cars

  Plug-In Hybrid Cars offer drivers the fuel-efficiency benefits of hybrid cars with the added feature of being able to literally plug in to household electricity when the car is not being used!

  This can save the thrifty householder, as well as facilitating increased fuel mileage.

  Hybrid-electric cars with plug-in facility offer extended electric-only propulsion. 

  If you wish, you can use the electric mode for short trips only. 

Then you can easily switch to the so-called 'blended' mode, in which you use a combination of gas and electric. 

  This is handy when your battery runs low, or if you require a higher engine performance.

  Plug-ins need large batteries; larger in fact than normal hybrids. This means they will be more expensive. 

  Hybrid vehicles make use of rechargeable nickel metal hydride (NiMh). 

  They are bulky, but not as expensive.

Advanced lithium ion batteries are smaller and have a higher output of energy. They are really expensive, though. 

  So it appears that the key to the success of the plug-ins lies in improvements to battery storage.

  Plug-in technology is being explored by major auto manufacturers.

Tuhin Bagi

Image of Toyota Prius Plug-In

Ethanol - The fuel of the future

Scania's recently launched city bus running on ethanol. 

It has not been long since Scania entered into the Indian market and it has already started creating a hype. Smart looks, good amount of safety features, loads of technology and value for money products, that is what has made Indian buyers and the Indian Government interested in Scania's. With its intercity buses already in action on Indian roads and orders for over 200 buses already been placed, it was not long before Scania ventured into the city bus market.

Scania recently launched India's first bus running on 95% ethanol. A major advantage on ethanol is that it is a liquid and is available in commercial volumes globally. It is produced from variety of raw materials such as sugar cane, beets or cellulose, and it is used both as a pure fuel and in low blends. Ethanol can reduce the emissions by as much as 75% .

Last year, Volvo too had showcased its Hybrid- Diesel Electric city bus, but the previous Indian government wasn't interested in testing buses running on alternative fuels. The present government, giving more priority to alternative fuels, has already started pilot runs of Scania's green bus in Nagpur. If these runs are successful, city buses running on ethanol will soon be started all over India, helping in reducing the pollution.

Volvo I-Shift

Volvo's I-Shift gearbox

Volvo has introduced a wonderful new transmission for its range of buses and trucks. Currently, the I shift transmission is optional for the 9400 XL range but is standard on the 9400 PX range. The cost of this new transmission is a bit more as compared to the normal 6 speed transmission, but it is very fuel efficient and the maintenance costs are also less.

Having the right ratio for the right speed at the right time is what the I-Shift transmission is all about. It is a 12-speed manual gearbox with an automated gear changing. By continuously monitoring the road gradient, vehicle speed, acceleration, torque demanded by the particular road, weight, rolling and air resistance, the I-Shift can instantly predict and select the most appropriate ratio for efficient utilization of the engine. In short, it knows when and where a shift would be beneficial.

The gear stick

Volvo I-Shift is available with a choice of several different gear-shifting programs, including a function that allows a choice  between fully-automatic gear changes and manual gear selection featuring a performance program with kickdown function that utilizes the engine's capacity to the maximum. No clutch pedal is needed as the gear changing software senses the need for gear change in order to remain optimum performance.

The gearbox is compact and lightweight. Long oil-change intervals mean low operating costs and less environmental imprint impact. If special oil is used, oil and filter changes can take place as far apart as once every 400,000 km or every three years. 

Nissan Direct Adaptive Steering

Autonomous cars have many hurdles to clear before reaching consumers, but they're coming. Nissan, Volvo and Mercedes Benz have pledged to bring self-driving cars to showrooms by 2020. This year, Nissan's Infiniti Q50 luxury sedan debuted one of the biggest steps yet towards that goal: the first consumer steer-by-wire system. 

Another major function of the Direct Adaptive Steering is the newly developed straight-line stability system. If the vehicle’s line of travel deviates from a straight path, the Direct Adaptive Steering enhances the car’s handling characteristics by producing fractional sensations of resistance as feedback from the steering, helping the driver keep a straight line of travel and reducing the need for course corrections in a smooth and natural way. The feedback is so subtle that a driver may not notice it.

Direct adaptive steering bypasses the mechanical connection between the steering wheel and the wheels that meet the road. Sensors measure how a driver turns the wheel and send that data through an electronic controller to actuators, which, in turn, pivot the steering rack. (For safety, two backup controllers provide redundancy.) Because there’s no physical link between the road and the steering wheel, drivers don’t feel jarring bumps or vibrations, but the system does electrically simulate natural steering resistance. Computers vary steering ratio and power assist for easier low-speed maneuvers and high-speed stability.

Trends in Automotive Fuels

Robotic Vehicles

Recently, I had an opportunity to participate in the Techfest of Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati. There I witnessed an event "Robocalypse". In this event, 2 robots had to compete with each other. These robots were made such that they don't consume any fossil fuel. They worked on compressed air, storage batteries and one even worked on battery charged by Solar Cell. The one in the picture worked on compressed air. These sources are completely pollution free.

Though the use of alternate power sources is common in miniature toy and hobby vehicles, such technologies are also being developed by leading automobile manufacturers.

Tata, an Indian company, is working on car known as the AirPod, which runs completely on compressed air. The AirPod is powered by an air motor driven by compressed air. This compressed air is stored in a tank under high pressure. The energy from expansion of compressed air is used to run the engine that drives the AirPod. An onboard generator, which is powered by the wheels of the car is also used to run a compressor that builds up the pressure of the compressed air. This is very useful of enhancing the range of the car. It has a claimed range of almost 200 km on a single charge. Since the medium of power is air, it is not only non polluting, but also non hazardous.

Diesel Electric Bus

Volvo's diesel electric city bus.

Volvo India showcased the 7700 Diesel-Electric Hybrid city bus at the 2012 Delhi auto expo. The Volvo 7700, like all other Volvo city buses, will come with a low floor design for easy ingress and egress. Volvo 7700 hybrid bus will feature a 5 liter MD5 four cylinder, turbocharged and intercooled diesel engine which produces 210 Bhp of peak power and 800 Nm of peak torque. This engine is mated to an electric motor which will be powered by a lithium-ion battery. Volvo claims a whopping 35% reduction in fuel economy and a considerable 40% - 50% cut in exhaust emissions. 

The 7700 can be operated in 3 modes, all electric, diesel and diesel-electric. The electric motor will power the bus for speeds of up to 20 Kph, after which the diesel engine will take over. The Volvo 7700 is a parallel hybrid. It will keep on charging the electric battery through the diesel engines alternator, thus not constantly replenishing the battery. The Volvo 7700 also comes with Start-Stop system and  Regenerative Braking technologies. The engine shuts off at traffic signals or whenever the bus is stationary for more than a few seconds and the electric motor will kick in. This will help in conserving the battery stack and increasing the fuel efficiency. Volvo will offer a 105 seater version of the 7700 hybrid bus in India. It will also soon be running on the streets of Gothenburg. 

Nissan Leaf

Nissan Leaf

Nissan Leaf

The Nissan Leaf is a five door electric hatchback which was introduced in 2010. 

Leaf stands for ‘Leading Environmentally Friendly, Affordable Family car’. 

The Leaf won the European and World Car of the Year Award in 2011 for its design, practicality and for its eco-friendliness. 

It has become an electric car icon much like the Toyota Prius, which an icon for the hybrids. 

2013 Leaf

The 2013 Leaf is even better than its predecessors.

The Leaf uses an 80 kW synchronous electric motor which develops 280 nm of torque. 

The motor is powered by a 24 killowatt-hours lithium ion battery. 

The Leaf has a top speed of 93 mph (150 kph) and can go from 0-60 mph in about 9.9 seconds. 

It has a low drag co-efficient of 0.28 cd which helps it to improve its fuel economy. 

On a full charge, the Leaf has a range of 75 miles (121 km). 

The low operating costs and the fact that it doesn’t harm the environment makes it one of the best electric cars in the market.

Charging of Battery

On the downside, the Leaf’s battery takes 20 hours to charge with a 110 volt charging chord. 

Most Leaf’s also come with a special feature called ‘quick charge’ which charges 80% of the battery in 30 minutes. 

The Leaf provides one of the most satisfying, stress-free ownership experiences in modern motoring