[LINK] 'Smart' cars as fuel-efficient as hybrids
Tom Worthington
Tom.Worthington at tomw.net.au
Mon May 14 10:39:17 AEST 2007
At 04:31 PM 13/05/2007, Richard Chirgwin wrote:
>David Boxall wrote:
>><http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/2007/1918364.htm>
>>
>>... 'intelligent' cars are conventional vehicles fitted with
>>sensors and receivers called telematics, which work in a network,
>>swapping information about the traffic ahead....
>And therefore, I suppose, since a hybrid uses petrol as well, it
>could be made more efficient by the same techniques...
No. Most of the fuel saving in a hybrid car is from the electric
system smoothing out the effects of stop-go city driving. If the
traffic flows smoothly, the hybrid car is less efficient than a
conventional one of comparable size (because the hybrid has a heavy
battery to carry around).
Much of the hybrid car efficiency comes from turning off the engine
when stopped in traffic. Other efficiency comes from driving slowly
under electric power and from regenerative brakes. If the car does
not stop as often and does not have to speed up and slow down, then
there is little for the electric motor to do.
Some Australian roads already use electronic speed signs to adjust
the speed of the traffic to suit conditions. This achieves much of
the advantage of the "intelligent" car, without the need to install
any electronics.
If networked GPS systems become common, then in-dash speed signs
could be useful
<http://www.tomw.net.au/blog/2006/11/in-dash-car-navigation-systems.html>.
Tom Worthington FACS HLM tom.worthington at tomw.net.au Ph: 0419 496150
Director, Tomw Communications Pty Ltd ABN: 17 088 714 309
PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617 http://www.tomw.net.au/
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