I was in 1Utama shopping centre last Saturday. It was eco week and there were many eco friendly items on sale. I was looking around and stumbled upon something I cant resist looking at. It was a half cut version of the Toyota Prius Hybrid. The Prius Hybrid is currently not available for sale in Malaysia due to unknown reasons. This magnificent hybrid car uses a variety of advanced technology which I will detail here.
The Prius Hybrid (2010 model)
I was given a leaflet by the guy in charge of the Prius model. The leaflet is very informative, describing how the Prius Hybrid system could change the future by being more economical and environmental friendly
Revolutionizing What You Know About Cars !!!
Insides of the leaflet explaining the technology
You might all be wondering..."How does this hybrid technology works?"
"How can it provide excellent Fuel efficiency?"
"Why should I buy one when its finally in Malaysia?"
I will try my best to simplify things for you and answering the 3 questions above.
1. "How does this hybrid technology works?"
Take a look at the conventional car. Everyone knows that it is driven purely by the Engine. The engine is like the central core of the car (an important part), similar to what our heart is to our body. In a hybrid car however, there are 2 main core components instead of one. An electric motor and the usual engine, illustrated in the diagram below
Multi Information Display in the Prius Hybrid
This picture shows the Multi Information Display located in the center dashboard of the Prius Hybrid. It provides useful information such as current fuel consumption (99.9 miles per gallon), outside temperature, and also how is the energy currently distributed.
There needs to be a large battery in order to provide power for the electric motor, since the electric motor does not run on petrol unlike the main engine. Toyota implements a ultra large capacity NiMH (Nickel Metal Hydride) battery in the rear trunk compartment(boot) of the Prius. The reason why Toyota did not went with lighter and higher capacity Li-Ion(Lithium Ion) batteries is because they are not as stable as NiMH batteries and has a higher risk of explosion, similar to that of laptop and cellphone batteries (both running Li-Ion technology)
UPDATE : Toyota has produced a new system which uses Lithium Ion batteries. It's called the plug in hybrid system where you can charge the Li-Ion battery of the car by plugging it to your home power supply (aint it cool?). I will talk more about that in future posts.
Energy consumption and regeneration chart shown in the dashboard of the Prius
The following image shows the inverter unit of the Hybrid Synergy Drive System. This inverter is used to convert DC (direct current) from the NiMH battery into AC (alternating current) in order to power the electric motor
The Toyota Hybrid Synergy Inverter Unit
Now, the hybrid system operates differently under a variety of conditions as follows:
- Start Up/Low or mid Speed Cruise
- Normal cruising
- Sudden Acceleration
- Deceleration and Braking
During start Up/Low or mid speed cruise, the engine is not used at all. The electric motor uses power from the NiMH battery to propel the vehicle. Since the electric motor does not run on petrol, fuel consumption is zero and carbon monoxide emssions from the engine are null. This condition is frequently encountered in day to day city driving such as driving around town.
Under Normal Cruising conditions, such as during high speed drives in the expressway, both the engine and electric motor works together to provide the ultimate balance between fuel consumption and power allocation. An intelligent power split device located in the Hybrid Synergy Drive system cleverly distributes the correct amount of power to the engine and electric motor. Part of the power produced by the engine is used to run a generator to recharge the NiMH battery.
When sudden acceleration is required, such as when overtaking a slower car, part of the engine power is no longer used to charge the NiMH battery. Instead, the NiMH battery provides additional power to the electric motor enabling it to run at a higher speed and produce a greater amount of power and response.
In a conventional car, all the energy used to build up the car to a certain speed is lost when the driver brakes the car. This process is highly inefficient and could not be avoided. The Hybrid Synergy Drive system makes up for this loss by chanelling the energy wasted from the turning wheels to drive the generator and charge the NiMH battery, saving the energy for future use. Unlike a conventional car, during braking the Hybrid Synergy Drive system intelligently shuts off the engine, cutting off petrol consumption and carbon monoxide emissions
2."How can it provide excellent Fuel efficiency?"
The Hybrid Synergy Drive system provides excellent fuel efficiency using 2 main methods. By switching off the engine entirely during braking, and using the braking energy to generate kinetic energy which is converted to electrical energy stored in the NiMH battery. Since the vehicle is powered by both engine and electric motor, the size and capacity of the engine can be reduced, providing better fuel efficiency due to the lower CC engine.
3."Why should I buy one when its finally in Malaysia?"
The Prius is an excellent marvel in engineering technology. Imagine driving around town without worries of spending too much on petrol and also worrying about greenhouse effects with carbon monoxide emissions. Petrol prices are steadily rising in Malaysia and the Prius Hybrid is Toyota's answer to consumers pleading for an ultra fuel efficient vehicle.
I will definitely get my hands on one of them if ever Toyota brings it into Malaysia (provided I have enough money of course =P)
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