Transcript Document 7158593

The Pros of Hybrid
Vehicles
By Nicolas Silveira
Chelita Borbon
Vanessie Christensen
Elizabeth Goulet
The Hybrid Car
By Nicolas Silveira
Brief History of Hybrids
- A hybrid vehicle that uses two or more
distinct power sources to move a vehicle.
- Hybrid technology for the use of
automobiles has been around since the late
1800s with combination of electric and
steam power or electric and combustion
engines.
- The 1970s oil crisis brought hybrid
prototypes in response to high gas
prices. Not very commercially viable.
- In 1997 the Toyota Prius was introduced in
Japan and later introduced to the United
States in 2000. This was the first
commercially mass produced hybrid.
How Hybrids Work
- The figure in the slide depicts a
Hybrid electric vehicle (or HEV) that
uses a gasoline engine as the main
source of power, and an electronic
engine as supplemental power that
increases efficiency of the vehicle.
- The electric battery component is
usually made out of lithium ion or
nickel metal hydride.
- Include systems that recapture
energy from braking, and
converting it to electricity to be
stored in the battery. Also known as
regenerative braking.
- Emphasis on aerodynamic design
and the use of lightweight materials
for vehicle composition and
components in order to maximize
fuel efficiency.
Alternative Hybrid Engine
Uses
 Aircraft
 Ground operations of next generation Boeing
737s use hybrid electric drives that reduce fuel
consumption.
 According to the RITA Bureau of Transportation
Statistics, approximately 12,800 MILLION
gallons of jet and aviation fuel was consumed in
2009.
 Railway

Use rechargeable energy storage technology
(high capacity batteries) which captures energy
from regenerative breaking.
 Companies such as GE and Hitachi have fully
functional lines of hybrid trains that reduce
emissions and fuel consumption.
 Currently the United States, Japan, and the
United Kingdom have all implemented hybrid
train use.
The Hybrid Battery
By Chelita Borbon
Hybrid Car Batteries
The Most Commonly Used
Hybrid Car Battery
 Nickel Metal Hydride
 NiMH –in my different versions of hybrid cars, and
have different variations in the amount of energy
they produce. This is because manufactures are
testing to see what version of the NiMH battery is
most effective.
 NiMH batteries are also proven to be less toxic
than our Lead-Acid batteries commonly used in
non-hybrid cars.

Examples shown: Prius, Highlander, Fordescape

Other Examples not shown: Honda Insight, Saturn Vue
Toyota Prius Hybrid Battery
(Nickel Metal Hydride)
The Prius produces 201.6 volts of energy.
Ford Escape Hybrid Battery
. The total energy of the battery pack is 330 volts.
Toyota Highlander-NiMH
Produces 500 volts. This battery pack provides 40 percent
more power than the Prius battery, despite being 18 percent
smaller.
Progression: Lithium Ion
Batteries
 A NiMH battery carries twice as much energy per
pound over the conventional Lead-Acid battery that is
in the average car.
 The Li-ion cells hold roughly twice as much energy per
pound as do the previous generation of advanced
batteries, nickel-metal-hydride batteries which is the
standard battery in most hybrids today.
Lithium-ion vs. Nickel-Metal
Hydride
 30 percent smaller
 50 percent lighter
 Two to three times the power for the same mass,
greater acceleration and fuel efficiency
 Three to four times the energy for the same mass,
greater electric-only vehicle range and fuel efficiency
 Two to three times faster recharge
 Enhanced cycle life (battery operating life)
Environmental Impacts
 Carbon Nanotube Batteries: (Shenyang
National Laboratory for Materials Science)
 Coating the anode of a lithium ion battery with a nanotube
membrane, they could extend the storage life and
discharge capacity.
 Possibility of recharging in minutes
 Extending the life indefinitely
 Cutting the cost of Hybrids
According to the Environmental Defense:
Lead
Nickel Metal Hydride
Lithium Ion
How Are Hybrid Batteries
Recycled?
Toyota and Honda both reclaim and recycle nearly 100%
of their hybrid batteriesToyota Motor Corporation (TMC), Toyota Chemical Engineering Co., Ltd. (Toyota
Chemical Engineering), Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd. (Sumitomo Metal Mining)
and Primearth EV Energy Co., Ltd. (PEVE) launched the world’s first business to
recycle nickel in used hybrid-vehicle nickel-metal-hydride batteries for use in new
nickel-metal-hydride batteries.
How are Hybrid Batteries Recycled?
continued…
 The two companies also offer a $200 incentive for
hybrid car owners to return their batteries: On the
hybrid battery is a a phone number for hybrid car
owners to locate drop off locations as well as receive
their reward/incentive for returning the battery.
 Lithium recycling plants are already in the works!
 Umicore
Hybrids reduce pollution
By Vanessie Christensen
“Greenhouse Effect”
 Occurs naturally
 Humans have substantially increased the amount of
GHG’s in the atmosphere
 Altering the composition of the atmosphere & influencing
climate
•GHG’s come from human activities & natural
sources
•Carbon Dioxide
Burning Fossil
Fuels, &
Automobiles!
Volcanoes, Forest
Fires, & Biological
Processes
Figure 1. Source: Samaras and Meisterling 2008.
The Combustion Process
Gasoline and diesel fuels are mixtures of hydrocarbons (H, O, and
C atoms), which are burned by combining with oxygen.
Fuel
Air
Hydrocarbons
Carbon dioxide (CO2)
Nitrogen oxides
(NOx)
Water
Carbon Monoxide
(CO)
*N and S atoms are also present and
combine with O when burned to produce
gases. Hence, automotive engines emit
several types of pollutants…
Air Pollutants Released from
Combustion in Vehicles
 Carbon Monoxide(CO): a colorless, odorless,
poisonous gas
 2/3 of the carbon monoxide emissions come from transportation
sources, with the largest contribution coming from cars.
 Carbon monoxide decreases the ability of your blood to carry
oxygen.
 Nitrogen Oxides (Nox)
 Catalytic converters in car exhaust systems break down heavier
nitrogen gases, forming nitrogen dioxide (NO2)
 Can irritate airways, especially your lungs. Nitrogen oxides are
precursors for the formation of other smog components such as
ground level ozone
 Carbon dioxide (CO2): a GHG that traps the earth's
heat and contributes to climate change
 Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5): contains substances
including metals, acids, carbon, and polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons
 Can be inhaled deep into the lungs
 Aggravates respiratory or cardiovascular diseases
 Volatile organic compounds (VOCs): come from
unburned or partially-burned fuel
 VOCs vary widely in toxicity
 Some are cancer-causing agents
 Precursors to ozone
 Air Toxics: pollutants such as benzene, 1,3-butadiene, &
formaldehyde
 Contain cancer-causing agents
Air Pollutants- Why Should We Care?
OZONE!
SMOG!
Ozone: forms from reactions involving VOC and NOx from vehicles
•irritates airways and can trigger reactions in people who have
asthma
Smog: produced by a set of complex photochemical reactions
involving
VOCs, nitrogen oxides and sunlight, which form
ground-level ozone
Effects: asthma, emphysema, & other respiratory problems; eye
irritation & reduced resistance to colds and lung infections
What Makes a Hybrid Vehicle Unique?
 Idle-stop System: Shutting down the engine during traffic stops
or while coasting or idle periods
 Dual Engines/Motors: results in a smaller engine, lower weight,
and greater fuel efficiency
 Regenerative Braking: captures & converts kinetic energy into
electricity

Especially in stop-and-go traffic
 Greater Battery Storing Capacity: reuses recaptured energy
 Improved Aerodynamics
 Low Rolling Resistance: harder tires = greater gas mileage
How do Hybrids Reduce
Such Air Pollutants?
A Hybrid reduces incidence of gasoline waste and
total chemical atmospheric release
 Although the pollution associated w/the production
of fuel for Hybrids = the pollution created in the
production of fuel for conventional vehicles, their
pollution is significantly reduced because the
vehicle has a greater fuel efficiency
By switching to a hybrid, you can literally
save the Earth a couple tons of GHG’s!
Conserve Gasoline Reserves!
 By switching to a Hybrid vehicle, gasoline consumption
will be cut in half, thus saving the other 50% for
generations to come.
It’s a Start!
“Everyone on this planet has an effect on the environment, but
the largest impact any one person tends to have on the
environment, especially to greenhouse gas emissions, is
through the use of an automobile. It is because of this that
individuals have in their power the ability to make a significant
contribution to the fight against global warming. Consumers
using hybrid cars are becoming a growing force in the attempt
to limit greenhouse gas emissions.”
-Laurence O’Sullivan
 Although perhaps not long-term, it is a short-term
solution that can only lead us in the right direction.
Hybrids reduce
dependency on oil
By Elizabeth Goulet
Hybrid vehicles require less oil
Visualize it.
 We use 14 million barrels of oil a day for transportation- 70%
total oil consumption
 A barrel is 160 liters
 This picture is
equivalent to 2 barrels
 Imagine this
7 million times
 That’s our daily usage
for transportation alone
Environmental Impacts of Oil
 Finding sources of oil
 Extracting oil
 Transporting oil
Finding oil reserves
 Researchers send seismic waves into the ground- what
bounces back indicates whether oil is there based on
topography
 Seismic activity affects whales and other marine life,
leading to mass whale beaching
 In June 2008 ExxonMobile had to stop exploring around
Madagascar because 100 whales beached themselves
 Building roads on land to explore undeveloped land
disrupts pristine environments
Extracting oil
 Further disrupts ecosystems as land gets fragmented
by roads and drilling sites
 Stresses sensitive species at important life stages
 Alaska pipeline in region where caribou, moose, and
polar bears cross to give birth: vulnerable
 Fish can normally flush out PAH toxin from oil wells, but
increased stress -> cancer
Oil transport problems: spills
 Accidents are inevitable but disastrous
 1989: Exxon-Valdez spill- Prince William Sound, Alaska
 1991: Gulf War spill- Persian Gulf
 2010: Deepwater Horizon spill- Gulf of Mexico
 Constant spills in developing regions
 Nigeria: from 1982-1992, 1.6 million gallons spilled in 27
instances
 700 spills a year in Russia’s pipelines
Spills devastate the environment
 Lethal effects on plankton- primary producers
 Seabirds dive through oil layer on water’s surface.
Feathers covered in oil -> drowning, starvation, and
loss of heat
 High concentrations of PAH from oil kills organisms or
causes birth defects, impaired growth, and skewed sex
ratios
 Accumulation on shoreline and in shallow water
Lasting effects on the
environment
 Mangroves are the base of some ecosystems. Oil kills
them off and recovery can take decades
 20 years after Exxon-Valdez spill, animals high in food
chain just recovering
 Hybrids average
50mpg
 Makes one
gallon of oil go
twice as far
 Cuts demand for
oil in half
Works cited (websites)
http://www.transportation.anl.gov/pdfs/TA/378.PDF
http://www.bts.gov/publications/national_transportation_statistics/html/table_04_05.html
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1361920909001266
http://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/everyday-myths/does-hybrid-carproduction-waste-offset-hybrid-benefits1.htm
 Durning, Alan. “Plug-In Hybrids Revisited.” 2 October 2008. Web. 17 October
11. http://daily.sightline.org/2008/10/02/plug-in-hybrids-revisited
 Hunt, Tam. “Why Electric Vehicles Will Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions.” 11
January 2011. Web. 17 October 2011.
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2011/01/why-electricvehicles-will-significantly-reduce-greenhouse-gas-emissions
 “Greenhouse Gases.” Environmental Protection Agency. Web. 17 October 2011.
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/indicators/pdfs/CI-greenhouse-gases.pdf
 “Global Warming and Your Vehicle Choice.” 26, March 2006.
 “Hybrid Cars and Global Warming. Automobiles that Give Better Fuel Economy
and Lower Greenhouse Gases.” 13, April 2008.
Works Cited
 http://www.hybridcars.com/battery-toxicity.html
 http://www.greenhybrid.com/hybrid-car-articles.php
 http://epiphytic.com/what-is-a-hybrid-car/
 http://www.hybridcars.com/hybrid-car-battery
 http://www.hybridcars.com/hybrid-car-battery

http://www.carseek.com/articles/hybrid-car-batteries.html
 http://www.hybridcars.com/battery-toxicity.html
Rebuttal
Improving hybrid technology decreases oil
use
Hybrids are especially good for
specific regions to maximize
benefits
 Los Angeles
 very high amount of smog
 relatively high gas prices (currently as high as $5/gallon)
 lots of traffic: in stop and go situations, hybrids operate on
their electric batteries -> no emissions
 engines also shut off when stopped for a period of time
 Taxis in high density urban areas
It’s not that bad!
 A hybrid (ex. Prius) only has to be driven 13,000 miles for its
CO2 savings to outweigh production emissions– about the
distance you drive in a year
 Toyota is decreasing CO2 emissions during production– solar
panels at their Tsutsuni location provide half the energy needed
for daily operations
 Water discharged from the Tsutsumi location is 5x cleaner than
river water
Inco factory in Ontario
 Inco nickel factory at Sudbury in Ontario, Canada:
environmental damage there predated Prius production by 30
years
 Since then, Inco reduced sulphur dioxide emissions by 90%+
and planted 11 million trees
 It is praised by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and
environmental groups, with conservation awards and is an ecotourism center
Special new features
 New features- solar powered ventilation to circulate
cooling air within the car’s cabin and reduce the
temperature inside the car to a level approaching the
external ambient temperature
Excellent secondary cars
 A hybrid car may have less lifetime miles than other
more traditional cars, but they are often secondary cars
used for small town errands or getting around in the
city- times when you’re going to want to maximize
mileage and minimize emissions
Improving technology
 The hybrids that have the highest environmental cost
and lowest relative efficiency are the original ones- the
prototype that has been improved on with better
technology for more than 10 years now
 Just like when you get a new iPod or computer
because the technology is better, the old hybrids are
simply obsolete compared to the new ones
Rapidly evolving technology
 Repair costs may be high now but that’s because
technology is evolving so quickly. It doesn’t make
sense to pay significant money to repair it when a new
one may cost close to that
 The old materials then get recycled and the scrap metal
gets reused into products that are usable
Dust to Dust report
 CNW Marketing Research, Inc. 2007 “Dust to Dust:
The Energy Cost of New Vehicles From Concept to
Disposal”
 Hummer H3 has lower life-cycle cost than a Prius,
considering energy cost of production and use
 Critiqued by Pacific Institute for Studies in
Development, Environment, and Security
 Provide independent research and analysis
Dust to Dust report
 Little evidence that the claims made are unproven or
wrong
 “Faulty analysis, untenable assumptions, manipulation
and misuse of facts and data, numerical
mischaracterization, and inadequate review”
 No peer review, no release of actual data
Dust to Dust report
 Selective and Biased use of data
 Assume the Hummer H1 will travel 379,000 lifetime miles
over 35 years, the Prius will travel 109,000 miles over 10
years
 This reverses the conclusion
 Distribution of lifetime energy
 Majority of energy used is in use, not production
 CNW won’t reveal who funded the report
Safety
- Heavy use of lightweight
materials in the production of
hybrid vehicles does not make
them less safe.
Ford Escape Hybrid (34 city/ 31 hwy)
- According to a 2009 joint study by researchers at Queen’s
University in Ontario and Xiamen University in China, “While
earlier analysis often suggests lighter, more fuel-efficient vehicles
are less safe for their occupants, the relationships between vehicle
safety ratings and fuel efficiencies seem to have been mostly
positive from 2002 to 2007.”
Production of HEVs
In a 1997 study performed by scientists from the
Argonne National laboratory for the Air and Waste
Management Association Exposition, they found that
“the total energy from the fuel cycle, vehicle operation,
and vehicle cycle, they found that the HEVs reduced
energy use and GHG emissions by around 40%
compared with the steel intensive conventional vehicle
because of their improved fuel economy”
Plug-in Hybrid Electric
Vehicles
- Is a hybrid vehicle which uses
batteries that can be recharged
to full power by connecting it to
an external power source.
- Research conducted in 2006 at
University California of Davis
found that the operating costs
of plug-ins charged at night was
equivalent to 75¢ US per US
gallon of gasoline.
- No emissions when operated
under fully electric mode.
Economics and Hybrid
Battery Life Span
 The average life span of a hybrid car battery is around 8-12 years or an
estimated 180,000 miles. The warranty on a hybrid battery is about 8-10
years, so just about as long as the life of the car.
 The average cost of a hybrid car battery is between $5,000 and $7,000 to
replace.
 Honda, Toyota and the entire auto industry are pumping millions of dollars
into research regarding lithium ion batteries for tomorrow's cars. Their
primary motivation is to reduce the cost and increase the potency of hybrid
batteries. Fortunately, supplanting lead and nickel batteries with
rechargeable lithium batteries is also promising from an environmental
perspective. Instead of clogging landfills with more toxic chemicals,
hybrids—especially future hybrids powered by lithium ion batteries—may
represent greener pastures for car batteries.