Mother's Own Hybrid Car!

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The capability—mentioned in the original article—of using the on-board generator to charge the stationary vehicle in a short time, is another matter that deserves attention. According to Dave's gauges, his original hybrid Opel's batteries could be brought from 1/4 strength to a full charge in 15 minutes. This has proven to be a misleading reading, however. The meters were, we have found, actually indicating only a full surface charge (which wouldn't be able to power the car for long). In reality, the best way to renew the battery pack is by "trickle charging" . . . feeding the current at a rate of about 25 amps over a period of approximately 10 hours.

DOLLARS AND CENTS

The cost figures for the project, as David Arthurs itemized them, were absolutely accurate. However, the prices reflect costs as they stood more than two years ago, and inflation has since then taken its toll. What's more, the law of supply and demand—especially in the case of some of the limited-availability government surplus parts—has driven the cost of certain components (such as the 400-amp starter generator) up to triple what it was back then!

Fortunately, with a straight "one-voltage" system—as used by MOTHER's car—some of the high-amperage relays can be eliminated and much money saved. However, anyone starting to build a hybrid today should know that the possible need for more batteries and/or a larger engine (such as our fuel-economical diesel), coupled with future changes in price and availability of government surplus components, could add a good bit to the cost of the total project. (It would probably now be a good idea to check with surplus suppliers to determine the size of their parts inventories before embarking on the project.)

MOTHER's researchers intend to finish testing our hybrid car—and to monitor the continuing research conducted by David Arthurs—and we'll report any breakthroughs as they occur. We're also interested in a related project: By replacing the generating assembly with batteries, we hope to achieve an "electric" range of 60 miles, without the noise and pollution that are unavoidable when using any internal combustion engine!

Considering that the cost of "plug-in" energy for the hybrid car is under 2.5¢ per mile (based upon our area's rate of approximately 4¢ per kilowatt-hour), such a vehicle should prove very attractive . . . especially in light of the fact that the average American car consumes fuel at a rate of more than 6¢ per mile!

And more news for our fellow experimental car enthusiasts: The DOE recently awarded General Electric an $8 million contract to develop two hybrid prototypes that—it's hoped—will use a "whopping" 5% less total energy than today's Detroit products. With that kind of money, it shouldn't be long before Big Industry reaches the point where Dave Arthurs was two years ago!

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