Reply #24: Effin' A, TommyO [View All]

[tclambert]

One of my brothers explained to me the difference between parallel hybrids, like the Prius, and serial hybrids, like the Volt. The Prius has a complicated transmission arrangement. The gasoline engine runs a generator to recharge the battery pack and sometimes drives the wheels. The Volt's gasoline engine will only run a generator. And you can plug it in to recharge the batteries. Toyota did it all wrong with the Prius. It is not economically viable. You can get better mpg from some pure gas burners. What the Prius has going for it is novelty.

I know people who are working on the hybrid designs. They are extremely busy, and the engineering design shops who work on them are hiring, even in this economy. I've got a nephew who is even working on a hybrid motorcycle design. In five years, we will have a flood of hybrids, lots of them better than the Prius.