Ryan Hoffman
Advisor:  Dr. Brad Baldwin
SLU Festival of Science 2001  Poster Presentation
  Hybrid Cars
  My poster is going to be on Hybrid Cars.  My poster will explain way the technology is needed.  It will also give a comparison of a Combustion engine to a electric\hydrogen powered car.  The poster will have pictures of hybrids on the market.  The poster will describe different kinds of hybrid technology that is out.
 
This technology will be needed in the next few years because Energy Secretary Bill Richardson made a deadline.  The deadline said that Ford, General Motors and Daimler have to meet 2004 deadline for a new generation of fuel-efficient, low-emission vehicles.  Richardson also said that a way of getting people to buy the more fuel-efficient cars is to maybe give thema tax break.
 
The technology should be used because the cars cut down on emissions almost 90%.  The emissions that come from a car are greenhouse gases.  These gases will cuse global heating and they will also cause smog in the cities.  This smog could eventually cause cancer and other breathing problems.  The cars also get around 50mpg-90mpg this will save money in the long run.  The main reason for the use of hybrid cars is the fact that the oil reserves are decreasing and we will need to find an alternative fuel or we won't be using cars in the future.  The increase in automobiles on the road has increased 30%.  So what that means is that if there is more cars on the road more of the gases will be let off.
 
When it comes to price the Combustion engine pales in comparison to a hybrid.  For example the normal car these days runs anywhere from $15,000-$20,000 and that is for a new car.  The hybrids that are out now run from $20,000-$25,000 and tha tis for a new one.  The issues that should catch peoples eyes are the gas price for a hudrogen hybrid the price for natural gas that gets changed into hydrogen is $1.20 and regular gas prices rnage from $1.35-$1.65 in some places.  This may not seem like that big of a difference only about 20 cents per gallon but if you thinkabout it the car gets better gas mileage.  The hybrid car can get up to 90 mpg so even though your paying more for the car it will even out in the end when your filling your car up once every two weeks comparable to once a week or even twice a week for some SUV's.
 
Right now Honda has a hybrid car out named the ingisht.  This car is a gas/electric car.  What that means is it has a battery in i tthat keeps the car at a constant speed.  When the car accelerates it uses the gas engine and when the car is coasting or breaking the bettery is recharging.  When the vehicle is stopped the car is running on the electric engine so that means if the engine isnot running fuel is not getting used.  The car gets 600 miles per tank and the tank is a smaller tank then the normal combustion engine fuel tan.
 
BMS has a hybrid on the market right now also it has a combustion engine in the trunk it has an elecric engine.  The way the car works is when the car needs acceleration the car takes energy from the electric engine.  So it is the opposite of the Honda car.