On Sat, 24 Mar 2001, M R wrote:
> ...
> Toyota and Honda are selling hybrid cars
> (gasolene/electric) which can run on both the fuels...
Madan,
All the energy for the Honda Insight comes from gasoline.
No electrical energy is brought into the Insight from external sources.
A three-phase electric motor-generator (MG) is on the same shaft
with a one-liter three-cylinder gasoline engine. The MG acts as a motor,
drawing energy from a nickel-metal-hybrid battery, to *assist* the engine
during acceleration and climbing hills. The MG acts as a generator,
feeding energy to the battery, during deceleration by regenerative braking
only, and during mechanical braking which includes stronger regenerative
braking.
Going up the mountains on the Turnpike in western Pennsylvania
in June of 2000, I was able to pass cars and trucks with ease in my
Insight at speeds ranging from 30 m/s to 35 m/s, with assisted power
from the MG. None of the mountains on the PA Turnpike were high enough
to entirely deplete the battery charge. I suppose climbing the Rocky
or Alpine mountains would be a different story; an Insight would have
to depend entirely on the small one-liter engine near the summits.
Gene.
