Vinnie.
Ram Guru
I came across this YouTube video and haven't seen it mentioned on the forum yet... I could have missed it very easily tho. I would love some cleaner burning gas if it meant retaining an ICE!
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Next Gen V8? "E-Fuel"
- Thread starter Vinnie.
- Start date
SD Rebel
Spends too much time on here
That would be cool, except right now E-Fuel is about $10 per liter, which would be $38 per gallon. Almost California prices!
Of course prices will drop considerably with ramped up production. The exciting part for me would be a V8 Hybrid, plug-in V8 Hybrid even better. The best of both worlds, I would love to be able to save money cruising my RAM on misc. errands, but enjoy the V8 when I want to or when needed like towing. Then have the combined V8 electric for some serious thrust and/or towing capabilities, no range anxiety, etc.
Of course prices will drop considerably with ramped up production. The exciting part for me would be a V8 Hybrid, plug-in V8 Hybrid even better. The best of both worlds, I would love to be able to save money cruising my RAM on misc. errands, but enjoy the V8 when I want to or when needed like towing. Then have the combined V8 electric for some serious thrust and/or towing capabilities, no range anxiety, etc.
Never understood the point of a plug in hybrid. I get the point for commuting, but most I've looked at for trips, the ICE won't fully charge the battery. Can't be a primary car in my household then. I am hoping this is just a transitional arrangement, and that the ICE, even if smaller, can charge the battery as needed for full operation. Chevy Volt does, Rav4 Prime does not.
I think a PHEV could be a primary vehicle, even for road trips, just not the most practical one. You could drive a PHEV as far as gas stations will allow you, though you’d be lugging around a lot of battery weight for no gain much of the time.
Still, it’d be a more practical road trip vehicle than a pure EV. So if you mostly commute, sometimes road trip, it could be your only vehicle. But I agree: a hybrid with a smaller battery pack makes more sense. (Plus, given that battery production, electric capacity, and budgets are all finite, we could put many more hybrid vehicles on the road than PHEV and EVs. The net reduction in emissions would be higher if many people drove hybrids than a few people driving EVs.
Side rant: this partially explains why I think subsidies for EVs are ridiculous. An EV is going to be a second or third vehicle for upper middle class families who don’t need subsidies. An apartment dweller, city dweller with street parking, or rural dweller is not going to own an EV. Whether there should be any government welfare is up for debate, but there certainly shouldn’t be welfare for the moderately rich or extremely rich (e.g., Elon Musk, who is the ultimate beneficiary of EV subsidies).
I am/was really liking the performance of the Rav4 Prime, but just disgusted it can't self charge to full power. What do I do if I'm in a hotel in Florida for a week? or drive to SoCal for a couple of weeks? Or Moab/Baja? I mean, yeah, I could look for a station, but why can't the generator do this, like a Volt? The Prime charges itself to a lower "hybrid" level, and you only get the high power level plugged in. Still a top 3 consideration, for the wife's next.
SD Rebel
Spends too much time on here
It really depends on what you are looking for. But for me, being able to drive it up to 20-40 miles purely on electric before the gas engine has to kick in is a big plus. My worst mpg is the short trips I take around town. When back home, I can top it off.
When I get home I can connect the charger and quite possibly not use the gas engine most of the time. Even if I have to go on a longer trip, say to another city, I can drive the first part on EV then switch to gas, also saving a ton of gas. When not in hybrid mode, I am in just regular truck mode that I am already at 100% with my current truck.
I think some plug-in's can fully charge themselves, but even if a hypothetical RAM PHEVs don't fully charge the battery during my drive, that's is fine for me. Even if I commuted every day 60 miles, the savings would still be huge, even more so that I can connect in the office and quite possibly never need to run the gas engine during the week.
LaxDfns15
Ram Guru
Giving me 40 electric miles before the ICE kicks in covers pretty much all of my weekly driving. To and from work and/or daycare, running errands, etc. It would pretty much eliminate my need for gas outside of maybe a couple gallons a week and trips/towing.
I would choose a plug in Ram, because like you say, commuting would be electric. And I would choose the hemi for gas half for the trips, would've had that engine anyways to pull a camper, etc. I guess I'm just bitchin' that the Prime is so low a gas power, you need the full battery to enjoy the drive.
Maybe somebody hacked the generator.... off to the Rav4 forum.
Maybe somebody hacked the generator.... off to the Rav4 forum.
