[Vwdiesel] negative aspects of burning water

[James Hansen]

A friend commutes in Vancouver area in his third Geo- he's worn out two 
already.
He's over 50 MPG easy, drives the living crap out of it.  I've worked on 
it for him when out visiting, it's simple and very old school VW-ish in 
it's design.  It's a hard car to beat really.

I wish the emissions market were a little more sensible and less trade 
restrictive on efficient diesels too.   We got the Smart for two in 
diesel, now gas, but really it is too purpose built a vehicle.  The Lupo 
is brilliant, and it never ceases to piss me off that we can't get one 
here until they are old and worn out.

Check out that Loremo link I sent earlier Erik. it's pretty neat, and 
has 2+2 seating.
-james

Erik Lane wrote:
> I love diesel as much as anyone, and I sure wish they'd bring the Lupo and
> other smart little diesels over here! But simply in the interest of fairness
> I wanted to point out that the Geo Metro Xfi (I think that was the one)
> actually got 60mpg with a little gas engine. Of course that was the special
> model with all lightweight stuff, but I think that's kinda the same class as
> the super-efficient diesels. I would still prefer a diesel most any day, but
> good little gas cars were made. I'm still surprised at all the hoopla over
> hybrid when it doesn't seem to deliver what it promises. Though I also have
> high hopes that someday when they work out all the problems maybe it will be
> able to really work.
> 
> RMI used to talk about goals of eventually getting 600mpg, but when I just
> looked they were talking about long term goals of 200mpg. They say short
> term is 90mpg. It looks like they're backpedaling on what they can deliver
> also. It would sure be nice to be able to talk seriously about getting those
> kind of numbers. Here's a
> link<http://www.rmi.org/images/PDFs/Transportation/T97-04_HypercarsFAQs.pdf>to
> their FAQ (pdf file).
> 
> Erik
> 
> On 9/22/07, The President <quantum-man at hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
>> Ron
>> Can you elucidate exactly what your diesel electric regenerator actually
>> consists of?
>> Vehicle method of attachment of generator size of battery etc... any
>> details
>> of any aspect please :oD)
>> Mark
>>
>>> From: "Ron Schroeder" <rjs at bnl.gov>
>>> To: <vwdiesel at vwfans.com>
>>> Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] negative aspects of burning water
>>> Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2007 08:59:49 -0400
>>>
>>> Hi James,
>>>
>>> While the diesel isn't as bad to start with, a diesel will still benefit
>> >from a hybrid drivetrain.  The diesel does have a wider range of outputs
>>> where the Base Specific Fuel Consumption is still high but the farther
>> away
>> >from the sweet spot, the worse the fuel consumption gets, just like in a
>>> gas
>>> engine, just not as bad.  Even if a diesel kept the same efficiency over
>>> it's entire power range, a hybrid would still benefit from the fuel
>> savings
>>> of regenerative braking in stop and go driving and if the battery was big
>>> enough it could get some of it's range from outside electric sources.
>>>
>>> My diesel/electric hybrid gained about 30% in town with regenerative
>>> braking.
>>>
>>> Kenworth has just announced a hybrid diesel electric Class 6 truck.  It's
>>> the T270.
>>>
>>> Ron Schroeder
>>> WD8CDH
>>>
>>>
>>>> Message: 4
>>>> Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2007 23:55:16 -0600
>>>> From: James Hansen <jhsg at sasktel.net>
>>>>
>>>> Ron S, in a diesel elecric hybrid, would not the returns be too small
>> to
>>>> justify the added costs?
>>>> A diesel can be VERY efficient, but wouldn't the electrical losses add
>>>> up faster than the mechanical losses in a straight mechanical drive
>>>> diesel?   I know there is a net benefit in a gasser, mostly because
>> the
>>>> gasser is inherently shitty in terms of efficiency to start with.
>>>> -james
>>>> ****
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> 
>