The company developing a plug-in Hummer throws down the gauntlet to smaller hybrids
Posted 08.26.2009 at 5:37 pm
13 Comments
Electric Hummer
Can the Humvee go green?
Raser Technologies
An electric Humvee may still sound like fingernails on a chalkboard to environmentalists, but the company developing a plug-in Hummer H3e claims its green version can get 100 mpg on average. And what's a little boasting without taking a shot at the competition?
Raser Technologies calls its revamped Hummer a "Prius-Stomping Green Machine," based on an E-REV powertrain that supposedly enables large vehicles to drive the first 40 miles in all-electric mode. The company calculates that a typical driver who goes 65 miles per day would average about 100 mpg, and that driving over 200 miles per day would still get about double the fuel economy of a regular Hummer.
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Cars, Jeremy Hsu, chevrolet, chevy, hummer, humvee, hybrid, plug in, raser, voltPopSci took the Volt for a test drive back in May, and found it to be a sweet ride. But we'll admit to a certain admiration for improving even the hungriest of gas guzzlers, assuming that all the claims about the electric Hummer bear out. One of PopSci's previous "Invention Award" winners looked to draw power from shock absorbers on the military-grade Hummer H1, with backing from Humvee manufacturer AM General.
[via Fast Company]
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awesome!! I love the idea! how about selling them?
Finally, big, comfortable, real American car reached fuel efficiency. GM's new triumph is around the corner. Don't give up GM!
Igor Vishnevskiy
http://www.meestsf.com
Gm is not the one making the Hybrid Humvee, they are actually dumping the brand and trying to sell it off. This is another company.
Still a waste... it's all relative. Picture 10-20 years from now... While the mainstream standard will be say 230 MPG, these guys will still be trying to sell a 7000lb steel box that gets 40MPG at best saying it's 3X as efficient as the last one. It will always look stone-age.
99% of folks don't need the large/fullsize SUV capabability which in itself is questionable.
The SUV of the future will need to use more composites, advanced lightweight materials. I just does not make any sense spending all that extra energy to pull around that weight and capability that you will never use.
It's dumb, and people are catching on...
^^ Annoying environmentalist isn't satisfied? Big suprise
^^ Annoying environmentalist isn't satisfied? Big surprise
blaxpear, can't you at least be happy that they are a gas guzzler that will be more efficient then most cars today? I understand where you are coming from in terms of need for a large vehicle like this, however i am totally all for makes those larger vehicles super fuel efficient.
I think we could cut down so much on fuel use and pollution if we incorporate same technology used in smaller hybrid cards and put them into the larger vehicles, i think the amount of fuel savings would be tremendous if eventually every car no matter what size uses hybrid technologies.
I seriously think this would be an awesome step forward, and if the large trucks are getting 190mpg and the smaller hybrids are getting 230mpg that is still pretty awesome compared to how it is today. Sure it would help if EVERYONE switched to small cars, but seriously be real here...
Wow, sorry for my horrible grammar. I rushed that comment and did not proof read.
At least its a step towards building larger powertrains which will need to be developed for transport trucks and heavy equipment (although thats still a long way off.) in the end though without government legislation to go 100% green with all electric vehicles powered by solar, nuclear, wind etc. then who cares how efficient it is. Al Gore will blast over you in his private jet at 800 miles an hour burning more fuel in a trip than you will in a lifetime of driving a Hummer. Lets not forget we can go 100% green with current technology, go up in the mountains of Montana and you will get a crash course, it's the politicians that would rather spend a trillion dollars on wars and bailouts than research and development and infrastructure.
Probably a sign its time to go to some other mpg equivalent for hybrids and electric vehicles.
I'm not sure about the use of a Hummer, but if they need the flash to push the tech, I'm all for it. After all, if they can get a Hummer that efficient, how long before they get pick-up trucks that run off electricity?
Say what you will, a work truck is a work truck and every one of us out here in the country has one and uses it in ways a Chevy Volt could never replace (hauling, dragging, etc). I'm sure al the city eco-freaks whine cause we are out here driving our trucks everywhere, but I also own acres of forest-land with no intentions of cutting it down, while they own an aloe in a window box.
I commute 18 miles a day, my wife 44. We use our cars most day, because it is cheaper, but at least one of the commutes a week is in the truck. Give me a plug in pick-up, and we would quicly drop a car and the truck for it, and I would drive it every day.
If you can't see the economic advantages of spreading fuel efficiency conversion to larger vehicles, you have a small view of life in America and need to leave the city sometime.
That said, even if the Hummer matches the Volt for fuel economy, it is still going to suck more in electricity. These duel figures really need to have two ratings. Miles per kilewatt and miles per gallon. That, or we need to convert to a simple miles/$ (which would also help line up disel, biofuel, etc).
scott_t...nice Phssthpok the Pak picture. Awesome book.
100 MPG is pretty misleading. You go the first 40 miles on the batteries before the gas engine kicks in. Unless your electricity is free this is nowhere near a huge savings in transportation costs.
Are we going to start seeing "infinite mpg" Segway ads?