As A Toyota driver Nissan may have the EDGE????

Bushranger... I work in the industry and I'd go one step further by hi-jacking your comment.

"Your just moving the emissions out of the city." They're just moving the emmisions from the service life of the vehicle back into the production and disposal of the vehicle.

These "green" cars are the worse offends by kgs of green house gases and land fill during and after production and highly NOT worthy of their "green" status.

Many of the vital components are manufactured in places like India where Environmental management guidelines are less stringent.

I know for fact that components such as wiring looms are sent off shore to be incinerated to reclaim the copper (not to be recycle savy, more to make a few $$$). Australian laws will not allow the commercial incineration of PVC for the purpose of stripping it from looms.

Unfortunetly, the good done by Western society is not enough to balance out the bad that is occuring in thrid world countries.

Fab.

Yep!
100% agree with you Jack. Thats exactly what I was saying in my earlier reply. You can't beat the new diesels for efficiency. Wait till the Hybrid owners find out the cost of replacing the batteries in 10 years.

I have similar views regarding fully electic vehicles too which is what this original topic started out as.

Stuart

Actually the high cost of battery replacement applies to the electric car owners as well. Also lets not forget the energy used to manufacture a new set of batteries & recycle the old ones as well.
Looks like all the green sales pitch with these cars is out the window I reckon.

I think they are making hybrid diesels now, or plan to. Batteries that last 10 years? I'd like to see that. The trouble with electric is it changes with age. The car might go 200 kms at new but going on my laptop experience would be flat out doing 100 kms after 3-4 years. I might be wrong. Mike

Well there you go the batteries do not even last 10 years. That time frame came from my neighbour who owns the Hybrid car.

The sales guy probably told him that!

Sorry mate I was talking about the full electric and you about the hybrid, my mistake. I suppose none of us really know yet how long the either batteries will last. I was just going on how long and how useful my laptop batteries are.

Same with mobile phone batteries. In fact all the rechargable things in our house seen to have reduced run times as the batteries deteriorate from the day you start using them, so your point about reduced range of the electric cars as time goes on is a very valid point.

Just noticed that there may be a little confusion here.

A hybrid car recharges itself while you drive it. An electric car reguires a remote power source. This subject actually started out pointing out the virtues of an electric car. I just threw a hybrid into the mix.

I actually agree 100% with your comments. I just did not want people to be confused between the 2 types of vehicles because you referred to a hybrid needing to be charged.

Cheers

Stuart

Hi Stuart

Sorry for the confusion.

Cheers

Stephen

Electric cars use Kinetic energy which is generated through deceleration and converts it into stored electrical energy...sort of like reversing polarity on an electric motor to run it as a generator. Fine in stop start driving...useless on the open roads.

Hybrid has a small displacement petrol/diesel engine that essentially just acts as a generator (same as your Yammy in the caravan) to recharge the batteries. On a long haul, the petrol/diesel engine would be running a lot to try and keep pace. Another varriation of this is when the same engine actually over rides and runs the drivetrain.

FYI... on a recent 7000km trip through central Aust, across to QLD and back to SA, with 5 of us and a 99.9% luggage load we averaged for the whole trip 7.8litre/hundred in our AWD Captiva. Some of this was done in sand (Simpson), mud(Birdsville Track) and crawling speeds (Birdsville Track), all with the A/C running and not pussy footing either.

On the highway legs, sitting at a touch under 120kmph we were getting 830kms out of our "shot glass" 65 litre tank. I can't complain about that.

Fab.

DIESEL Captiva...I forgot to mention.