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8143 messages, Last post on Nov 27, 2009 at 12:10 PM
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Replying to: winter2 (Dec 15, 2008 12:45 pm) I read a description of the system and just the basics were about 6 pages long. Most of the "complication" of a hybrid is just computerization. The BlueTec system also takes a lot of hardware and a complicated computer to do it's bidness. I'm all for more BlueTecs and more hybrids on the road. Complicated cars are the present and the future. There is no going back now. "Complication" can no longer be considered a negative criticism.
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Replying to: larsb (Aug 01, 2008 12:30 pm) How about COMPLEXITY decreases longevity further perpetuating the throwaway mentality of our consumerism. The more to go wrong the higher the cost of maintenance after the warranty. The more likely a person will dump it for a new car. Maybe good for the economy, bad for the environment.
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Replying to: gagrice (Dec 16, 2008 11:11 am) Complexity is the future of cars. When all cars have it (and the REALLY GOOD ones already do) then it cannot be called a negative. It is then called "status quo." |
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Replying to: winter2 (Nov 30, 2008 9:53 am) .. ... I really hope these new systems by Bosch, Delphi and Green Diesel Corp and ???, will eliminate the need for particulate traps, that I am close to calling a failure.
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Replying to: larsb (Aug 01, 2008 12:30 pm) Blue Tec does take extra hardware and some extra software. Six pages for the basics is not so bad. I wonder how many pages cover the basics for a hybrid like the Prius or others like it. The computer used to control Blue Tec is not as messy as you make it out to be.
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Replying to: roland3 (Dec 17, 2008 7:22 am) A big issue is fuel quality, or lack of fuel quality. Domestically, the cetane is too low and there are too many aromatic compounds in domestic fuel that contribute to particulate formation. A higher cetane would help reduce particulate as fuel would ignite more readily and burn more cleanly. Removing aromatic compounds would reduce the energy content of the fuel a little, but would help reduce PM formation and some of the other nasties that are formed when aromatic compounds are burned. DPF requires little or no maintenance as I understand it. A drive at highway speed for several minutes usually does the job of clearing them.
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Replying to: winter2 (Dec 17, 2008 12:25 pm) both cars are complex with complex hardware and software systems. All future cars worth a darn will also be. Saw something a few months ago about a 1400 page owner's manual for a new car - can't find it now though. The days of lamenting, "Oh Poor Me, My New Car Is SO Complex!!" are, and should be, over. Cars of the future will be complex. That is not now a negative and never will be. The car companies will have trained technicians at all times, and most of the independent shops will too.
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"ExxonMobil Refining & Supply today will invest more than $1 billion in three refineries to increase the supply of cleaner burning diesel by about six million gallons per day." http://www.greencarcongress.com/2008/12/exxonmobil-to-i.html#more I was wondering when the oil companies/refineries would get around to increasing the diesel supply. Honda will likely revisit their cancellation of the diesel engine within a year or two. They are hunkering down now given the current market so I do not expect them to do an immediate about face. We may yet see a few more diesel cars in the future, besides VW.  The EIA in their AEO 2009 is predicting 38% of the cars will be hybrids and diesel sales will be 2 million by 2030. Time will tell..... http://www.greencarcongress.com/2008/12/new-us-eia-ener.html#more
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Replying to: avalon02wh (Dec 17, 2008 4:34 pm)  35 mpg/ 12k-15k year average =343 - 429 gals per year/365 days per year D2 PER CAR= .94 gal to 1.17 gals per day/6M gal= 6.383 M to 5.13 M diesel cars. LOADS of extra D2 fuel.
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Replying to: larsb (Dec 17, 2008 12:43 pm) ALL is a big word to describe future cars. My main interest in an EV would be the simplicity of a car with a battery, motor and charger. Direct drive NO transmission or $11,000 PSD device. Maybe an electric heat exchanger that cools in the summer and heats in the winter. I could live in So CA without either. The biggest plus would be getting rid of dozens of worthless sensors. Many that are part of the EPA emissions requirement on all fossil fuel engines. They are the problem with all new cars IMO. Many people get tired of taking their cars in for the dealer to reset some POC computer that turns on a light on the dash saying your tires are flat when it was just the Toyota dealer being too lazy to fill the spare with the same pressure as the other four tires. So I have a slight optimism that we will get back to keeping it simple sometime in the future. It will keep cars on the road longer and be environmentally better all around. In the mean time I want a DIESEL SUV that will get me close to 30 MPG on the highway. With a sense of having enough steel around me as protection from a crazed eco weinie in a hybrid that has lost control and crashes into me. 
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