Sadly, the stick is going away. Even the europeans are getting to be like lazy Americans. If you're driving a small engined diesel or gasoline powered car, a stick is a must. With electrics (and most likely all hybrids) a manual won't be applicable.
(Editorial aside: In the sporty end of the spectrum, double clutch electronical shift-o-matic gizmotrons are taking over. As those cars age and migrate into the hands of racers, there's a problem. For big budget racing, super-high performance automagic is hunky dory. For regular folk racing, that dog don't hunt. They'll get broken and cost way too much to fix. Slush boxes (traditional automatics) are just awful all the way around.)
I haven't looked at the Audi and VW. For someone whose use case supports a full electric, there's a tremendous advantage from the standpoint of simplicity. Hybrids are more complicated than either conventional cars or electric cars. Old Prii(?) will be a pain to maintain.
The Volt was described as an electric with a gas powered generator. But as delivered, the gas engine can participate in delivering power to the wheels. Presumably this compromise was made to allow reducing the peak power requirements of the electric drive system.
Electric-diesel hybrids are common in trains. The diesel drives a generator that powers a electric motor that drives the train. Designing an electric motor to work over a wide range of speeds is easy, so a transmission isn't required. Having an internal combustion engine that does not have to work over a wide range of speeds allows for a design that more optimized. There are many compromises in conventional engines to allow them to work well at both low and high rpm.
So plug-in hybrid cars with a internal combustion engine -> generator -> electric motor configuration could have some advantages in the efficiency of the internal combustion part of the configuration.
One more aside. I was laughed at for an idea I had back in the mid-sixties: all electric car with an optional generator-on-a-trailer for rare long-distance trips. I still think it's awesome, but only if the long-distance trips are rare.
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(Editorial aside: In the sporty end of the spectrum, double clutch electronical shift-o-matic gizmotrons are taking over. As those cars age and migrate into the hands of racers, there's a problem. For big budget racing, super-high performance automagic is hunky dory. For regular folk racing, that dog don't hunt. They'll get broken and cost way too much to fix. Slush boxes (traditional automatics) are just awful all the way around.)
I haven't looked at the Audi and VW. For someone whose use case supports a full electric, there's a tremendous advantage from the standpoint of simplicity. Hybrids are more complicated than either conventional cars or electric cars. Old Prii(?) will be a pain to maintain.
The Volt was described as an electric with a gas powered generator. But as delivered, the gas engine can participate in delivering power to the wheels. Presumably this compromise was made to allow reducing the peak power requirements of the electric drive system.
Electric-diesel hybrids are common in trains. The diesel drives a generator that powers a electric motor that drives the train. Designing an electric motor to work over a wide range of speeds is easy, so a transmission isn't required. Having an internal combustion engine that does not have to work over a wide range of speeds allows for a design that more optimized. There are many compromises in conventional engines to allow them to work well at both low and high rpm.
So plug-in hybrid cars with a internal combustion engine -> generator -> electric motor configuration could have some advantages in the efficiency of the internal combustion part of the configuration.
One more aside. I was laughed at for an idea I had back in the mid-sixties: all electric car with an optional generator-on-a-trailer for rare long-distance trips. I still think it's awesome, but only if the long-distance trips are rare.
- mark 2-15-2011 5:54 am