Given the current scenario with Oil reaching the price tag of $135 and inflationary pressures setting in at most places across the world, many countries are taking a serious look at alternative transportation methods. So far, the electric car and its modern Hybrid had been developed with an eye on the environment but even then, the Hybrid car [petrol based] is able to cut emissions by only 30%. It is high time that we used our respective think tanks to come up with a car that is more attuned to provide us with a clean break from liquid fuels and bring alternative means to the center stage.

There are a variety of ideas with regard to alternative fuels, ranging from electric to those based on hydrogen power cells. The last one is still in development and a full sized model is yet to be created. The electric cars seem to be our best bet with regard to this and in that aspect, Hybrid cars certainly have a role to play, sort of an in-between to help us wean away from the gas-guzzlers. But the Hybrids that are in existence are not perfect, for one they do not provide as much mileage as one would like. Take the Audi A3, it provides something like 4.5 litres/100 km where as the Hybrid Toyota’s Pirus gives about 4.4. As you can see there is not much of a difference between the two.

Given that Hybrids are the way to go, the respective companies should start developing Hybrid cars as an alternative to the current models in the market, not just as a means to an end. That means fine tuning the Hybrid model to provide more mileage and the emissions cut, well, that is just a perk to using the car. With Hybrids selling at $32,000, the buyer may not be all that keen to shell out that amount if the gas-guzzlers prove to be more advantageous. Bottom line, when it comes to personal purchases, we all tend to look after only one thing, us. So if Hybrids are the cars to use, then they should prove to be advantageous when compared to any other model in the current market, otherwise, Hybrids may well turn out to be just a pipe dream.

We have all heard that electric is the way to go. Zero emissions, no waste products, totally green. Right? Well, maybe not. Yes, those electric cars do live up to the claims, but what about the big picture?

When someone drivs an electric car, they have to charge the car. Most people get their power from coal, not nuclear or other eco-friendly option power plants. Let’s say your home normally uses 200 kWh a month, caring your car will significantly increase that amount. Your power bill will increase, the demand you put on your local power station would increase as well. What if every one in your neighborhood decided to do the same thing?

If you are getting your power from nuclear, hydro or wind, that increase will have very little impact. What if you are getting your power from coal? The emissions would increase and the impact that you were trying to decrease, has once again increase.

What can be done:

1. Find out what kind of power plants are in your area
2. I f none are eco-friendly join forces with a group (or start one) that promotes cleaner power
3. In the meantime, ony charge your car when power is at the least demand

Oil prices have risen all the way to the stratosphere and are showing no signs of coming down, at least not to such an extent that driving will become a pleasure again. These are the days of ‘fuel economy’ policies and as such, we should all be taking a hard look at the electric car.

Our need for a viable alternative to the ‘gas guzzlers’ is more acute now than when Al Gore showed up with his film on the ‘Global warming’. There are those who believe that the car emissions are speeding up global warming and then there are those who think that it is all rubbish. But all the arguments and counter arguments aside, the high cost of oil is untenable to bear in the long run. With limited supplies and greater demand, it is unlikely that the price of a gallon of gas is going to come down. Maybe this is the right time for all of us to look at the electric cars or the hybrid ones at least as a more secure means of transportation.

For one, an electric car will not cost that much as there is no need for any fuel. The only requirement for an electric car to move from point a to point b is an electric battery. The initial cost may be a bit high but over a period of time, the car would more than make up for the initial cost of purchase. There are quite a few companies that have already taken on the challenge to mass-produce cheap hybrid cars for the general populace, and some of them have already done so. With OPEC not budging an inch on the issue of increasing production, this may well be the only option we may have so as to limit the rise of the gas prices. It is indeed high time that we all thought of another viable means of transportation to the ones that we already have.

We have all heard as to how good it is to use ‘green’ energy, from the electric batteries to the renewable ones. The latest one to join up with the all green bandwagon seems to be the singer Neil young. Generally when it comes to a green platform or any issue that seems to raise social consciousness, all that the celebrities do is show up, wave around and go home in their ‘gas polluters’. But Neil young decided to put his money where his mouth is, having invested about $120,000 of his own capital, all for the conversion of his 1959 model into an electric car.

This is a most welcome development and showcases the fact that ‘green energy’ is indeed the way to go forward. The singer plans to use his ‘electric’ car as a model to show the world that mass production of cheap variants of the electric car is a possibility. There are quite a few top companies that have already beat Neil to the finish line by revealing cheap hybrid cars, like the latest one to roll off the ‘Tata’ block. But Neil still plods on, having teamed up with Jonathan Goodwin a mechanic from Wichita with a decided flair for re-engineering the power sections of the big cars in order to increase their horsepower.

Neil Young’s 1959 Lincoln Continental convertible is undergoing a transformation of sorts and should become operational at the earliest. Electrical cars are great as they glide along on battery power but one of the major hiccups has been the battery issue. Since there are not that many shops that sell batteries for an electrical car, Neil may have to realize soon that in order to make the electric car universally usable, he may have to talk many of the gas stations to carrying an alternative such as the ‘electrical battery’. The best option for a green car to become viable would be the hybrid version at least for the near future. Maybe Neil will realize this in time and reconvert his electric car to a hybrid one.

Many automotive engineers got great background working for many companies producing classic internal combustion engine vehicles. There are many things related to electricity with classic vehicles like engine ignition system, powering auxiliary lights and many other electrical devices. So, these genuine issues related to car electrical systems are present way back from the first classic vehicles. Although there are great many differences in concept of complete propelling the vehicle with electric motors and helping to propel. Electro technology related to car production got great and very dynamic changes during time. Many electric devices is helping classic internal combustion vehicles to move more safely, to gather more information of what’s going on in all vehicle’s systems, to make travel more powerful and more comfortable. Complete operating of today’s “classic” vehicles is unimaginable without using great deal of electro components. They are everywhere. In the engine, near the engine, in cooling and heating systems, steering systems, braking and so on. Braking and steering systems are rapidly moving to electric control and electromagnetic power these days. So implementing electrical energy into vehicles got home ground with ages. It’s only natural to use electrical energy to completely propel the vehicle without need of internal combustion engine. It could be done with great positive impact to environment and to whole mankind. Pollutants and noise can, and will be in the past memory of future mankind.

Electric motors that nowadays are used to propel electric and hybrid vehicles got some characteristics differing from industrial electric motors. Motors used in vehicles need to satisfy many conditions. Frequent starts and stops, high ratio of acceleration and deceleration, low torque on high speed movement, high torque on low speed climbing. The electric motor propelling electric and hybrid vehicles can be sort into 2 groups:

commutator motors

commutatorless motors

Commutator motors usually represent traditional DC motors. They can provide great deal of adjustable speed, frequent starting, stopping and reversing. Principle in DC motors operation is straightforward and it consists of field system (stationary) and armature commutation system (rotating).

The performance of DC motors, practically can be expressed by the armature voltage, field flux and electromotive force.

Typically, there are four types of wound-field DC motors, depending on the mutual interconnection between the field and armature windings. They are separately excited, shunt excited, series excited, and compound excited.