[EN] Hybrid car, another way to sell internal combustion engines
Warning: If you are still believing in fairy tales, clean diesel or that an electrical vehicle will let you stranded in the middle of the road because is electrical and cannot be trusted, with great sadness I need to inform you that this article is not for you and it will be better if you do not read the following lines. If you decide to disregard my warning and read this article, please note that you do this on your own risk and I should not be responsible for any damage that may come to your brain, personality or buying habits. Image source: WikipediaFor many years we have known that the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) has a short life and sooner or later we will have to choose to switch to another means of propulsion or we will have serious problems living on this planet. This is a fact known by the automakers,by the oil companies and by almost all the people on this planet except a few, including a president of a very powerful country. In 1980's companies like Shell and Exxon knew that in 2020 the average global temperature will raise between 1°C to 1.2°C (Source 1, Source 2)- above preindustrial temperatures. And this is just one prediction, I'm 100% sure that most if not all companies in this area had/have similar predictions.Today, according to NASA the global temperature in 2018 raised to 0.8°C and in 2016 was 0.98°C above preindustrial temperatures. If you think the average temperature is going down or human activity is not one of the causes, please read my warning again and stop reading this article.Being able to accurately predict the future putted some companies in the position to do something about this problem and try to fix it, right? Unfortunately, the answer is a big NO. Instead of investing time and resources in an attempt to avoid what can be avoided, automakers find other ways to sell internal combustion engines to people, and not for a few years, for almost 40 years. In Europe they invented the EURO (joke) pollution standard, in other parts of the world similar things happened, but today I will talk about another way to sell ICE known as “Hybrid car”.Human kind has already changed his primary means of transportation two time (from horse and carriage to steam and from steam to ICE with a small transition to EVs) without any type of hybrids. We had no horse carriage with a steam engine, this is not making any sense. Question is why a car with an ICE and a negligible battery sold as an “electrical car” makes sense. In my opinion it doesn't, but makes a lot of sense for an automaker that has invested millions in an internal combustion engine factory and as time passes this investment will become more and more a loss than a profit. Some sources say that most of automakers are actually in so much dept – after investing in engine factory’s and car assembly plants - that they cannot afford the investment in converting those factories to produce electric cars. I do not know this for a fact, so I will not speculate on this matter.For some parties a “Hybrid car” makes a lot of sense because it solves a lot of problems like:• Auto makers can sell thermal engines that cannot be sold otherwise and have a profit on the plants that are already build. Some sort of “clean diesel” but instead of “clean” in this case is “electrical”.• “Hybrid cars” can be assembled in the same factories as ICE cars with little to no investment from the auto makers• Auto dealers are happy because they can service another generation of engines and not the bloody electric cars that require almost no service• Big oil companies are very happy because they can sell more oil and make more profit• Auto makers are usually selling the “hybrid cars” as an innovation and are getting more money basically for an ICE car with a laptop battery• Companies that produce parts are happy and they can produce the parts required for the “Hybrid cars” without major investments• Authorities are partially happy because they can collect more taxes for the gas; Partially, because they are also responsible for cleaning the mess and pay from our money for the health costsWhat about the people that buy this non-sense, are they happy? Well, not so much but let see what they are actually buying:• A car that was/is a fossil. Some of the auto makers are actually using the same platform with little to no modifications and just adding the (laptop) battery and electrical motor over the traditional fossil and are selling the “thing” at a higher price because “is electric”. Really? In a couple of years all fossils will have laptop batteries and a plug (sometimes useless) and we save the planet if we pollute only after we are outside the city (after the force field).• Negligible range on pure electric mode and this in case you can actually select to drive pure electric. There are also cases when the ICE is an extension of electrical drive train, but for most of the “Hybrid cars” is the other way around.• Charging times of hours to drive a few kilometers pure electric this if you have not bought the one that is “self-charging” and it “frees” you from the plug. Most of the “Hybrids” have only AC charging plug with an onboard charger (OBC) of 3.6 kWh or even smaller and to charge the (laptop) battery it will take ages, more then for the most electric cars. There are also “Hybrids” that have DC fast charging capabilities, but this is the exception, not the rule.• Acquisition and operational costs comparable with ICE. It costs almost as a full electric car, drive more like an ICE car. With limited electric range you will end up at the gas station paying a lot of money for the fuel after you paid a lot for “the car”.• Maintenance and service costs for an ICE car and some costs for electric part. I will not enter in details here because is vendor dependent and can vary a lot.• Taxes for using an ICE car inside a populated area, hopefully in the near future. The principle here is simple “the polluter pays”. So, if you have an ICE, sooner or later in some areas you will need to pay or in some cases your access can be restricted completely.It is worth this “necessary intermediate step” how the “Hybrid car” is called by some people? I think not, or not on my money, our common health and the future of generations to come.Let’s see a few of the issues that a “Hybrid car” is creating:• Occupies a charging station for hours to get a few kilometers of electric range. There is nothing more hideous then a “Hybrid car” leaving a charging station purely on ICE and unfortunately, I have seen this way too many times. Some of the drivers just leave their cars at public charging station for half a day or more. It is there right to charge; they are driving pure electric … I think I have heard all the excuses for this behavior, but nothing can justify this.• “Hybrid cars” are still polluting. Not like a pure ICE car, but still polluting. Is like an owner of a 3000cmc diesel is switching to a 1900cmc. Is less pollution, but is still polluting never the less.• Is an escape solution for some people. Today not all drivers can drive pure electric, is not for everyone for so many reasons, but instead of trying to do this absolutely necessary step some people are considering that they are becoming “ecologically friendly” if they buy “a hybrid”. So instead of waiting a year or two and buy a fully electric car or buy a second-hand electric car with good range, they buy “a hybrid” and pollute for another 5 or more years.• Makes it convenient to pollute and is not educating the driver to plan before leave. Some people justify the “hybrid car” as a necessity in case the battery runout. So, you just drive, without any responsibility and in case the battery runout just switches to ICE and drive on. In the EV world this is not the case because you normally need to do some planning before you leave on a trip.The fact is that most of “hybrid” drivers really believe that they are driving an electric car. They believe this nonsense so much that when the discussion about taxing the pollution starts, they consider that there is their right not to pay, because they are “electric” regardless the fact that when you buy a “hybrid car” you manifest your intention to pollute. What about our right to life, our right to health, our right to an environment that is not polluted? If you have the time please have a look at what World Health Organization has to say about pollution and the effects on our lives and our planet. Just a quick look: Image source: World Health OrganizationPlease share this material if you liked, leave a comment bellow and please be careful with the choices you make because this is a very powerful way to exercise change.Published by Marius Șerban at 17:08 on 02.09.2019 [EEST]