Hybrid developers address criticism

At the Advanced Powertrain Forum, held in
Traverse City, MI, Dave Hermance with the Toyota Technical Center USA voiced his frustration with media reports
criticizing hybrid’s real-world fuel economy. As the author of this article states, the honeymoon is ending for hybrids
in this regard. Hermance mentioned that future hybrid converts will be drawn to them by performance, not just fuel
economy. We couldn’t agree with him more, in fact we’re starting to feel like a broken record with this. Manufacturers
are beginning to realize that they cannot play the ‘green’ side of hybrids for long. Regardless, other news from the
Forum indicates that battery life is better than expected in production hybrids, with taxi hybrids operating more than
150,000 miles on their original batteries. Questions still exist on how age will affect battery performance, but most
experts agree that the batteries should last the life of the car. Our only beef is with the eventual recycling headache
these batteries will represent. Who will pay for this battery disposal, the original owners, the current owners, the
manufacturers, or the government? Or will they end up in salvage yards and eventually leak into the environment?

0 Comments