Quote:
Originally Posted by JanGeo
That is one heavy vehicle and the engine is only 133hp plus the 70Kwh - 94hp from the motor man that is a lot of electric power - could power a car on the electric motor alone and for the battery to put out that much power it has to be pretty well designed also. The gas engine alone at 133hp vs Scion xB @106hp with approximate weights of 3500 lbs vs 2500 lbs seems to make it pretty slow! Looks like it has about the same or less interior space too and only for about $10,000 more in price. Length is 14.6feet Scion xB about 13 feet and a much shorter hood so the interior must be a lot smaller. Interesting that Toyota makes the hybrid drive ala Prius!
From wikipedia: Sanyo Electric Co., which first produced hybrid car batteries in a joint venture with Honda, built the 50 kg (110 lb),330V 5.5 Ah (would make it 1.8kWh storage) , 250-cell nickel metal hydride (NiMH) battery pack for the 2005 Escape Hybrid. Electric only range max 1.5-1.9 miles.
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Scions had dirty little engines. They've improved.
car (w/ 5spd in non hybrid)............. EPA/Carb score
Escape hybrid .................................8/9.5
Escape ..........................................6/7
2008 xB .........................................6/7
2006 xB .........................................2/2
Emissions is more important to some over absolute fuel economy.
Ford developed their own hybrid system. There was some possible infringement on Toyota patents, something like 10% of the total patents on the HSD. So both sides reached an agreement to avoid court costs. Neither side has come forward with the exact specifics, but Toyota got diesel and emission tech from form Ford.