An electric car in 1899, is it real ?

Actually I wasn’t planning to write for today but ideas kept coming to my mind!

Recently Charlie Chaplin’s one of the movie turn into a global phenomenon for time travel. A lady is passing in front of the camera and she is holding something to her ear and seems like she is talking with that thing. Interestingly this video revealed just couple of weeks ago, since 1920s nobody ever noticed this fact. I don’t wish to talk about the possibility of time travel but I would like to warn for a similar situation.

Nowadays electric cars promoted as something “new” and many people think that they are new technology. Actually they are not! It is a really old technology older than the mobile phone in Chaplin’s movie. In 1899 Ferdinand Porsche produced the first hybrid vehicle on earth. The wheel were the engine, there is no transmission. And it was producing around seven horse powers in 1899! Also it was four wheel drive!

The system is very basic; wheels are the engines, energy comes from battery and battery is charged by petrol engine. Very simple and effective technology. Interesting the Audi A1 e-tron uses the same technology platform. 110 years has passed and this car is not available yet!

If one day a video appears in YouTube and tells, there is a time traveller in Ferdinand Porsche’s video, don’t believe it. We just forgot what have done in 110 years ago!

Note: Toyota Pruis uses a different system, petrol engine can engage with during the drive and also acts as a generator. Ferdinand’s Porsche concept excludes petrol engine from the drive train.

Pictures', Video Copyrights
Charlie Chaplin, Porsche

Do you want fake engine noise for your car ?

Since the hybrid phenomenon started a question popped up in my brain. The hybrid cars have the capability to drive through electric motor thanks to batteries. And also they are very silent, efficient and you know the rest. Hybrids are the tree huggers!

But there was a minor detail many people ignored! The electric engines are too silent, that’s not something bad but they too silent for pedestrians. You won’t notice this until a hybrid was one meter away to hit you.

The ultra silent hybrids emerged a new problem of car sound. Because, many of us understand that a car is approaching to us by hearing the engine noise. And hybrids do not have an engine noise while they are using the electric motor. So, we will not hear anything and hybrid might crash to us. I think there are some incidents have happened.

Today Toyota announced that, they will be coupling hybrid vehicles with virtual engine noise! I have never seen more ridiculous that this. A car is making faking noise !?! I hope they will be working with game companies. I cannot imagine this hilarious condition of automotive business. They are trying to find ways to make fake engine noise. I am sure some tuning companies will remap the noise and your Toyota Prius can sound like a Ferrari :)

I am sure some ladies are reading this blog, and I would like provide a different explanation. Hybrids situation is like making fake noises for your high heels and help other people to realize that you are approaching. It is that simple :)

Pictures' Copyrights

Toyota, Lexus

Environmental High Heels !

Recently I read a news about Ferrari's hybrid future. Due to government pressure, Ferrari will reveal a hybrid model on 2015! Why? Because, emission levels must go down. Very reasonable! Ferrari was the mother of global warming and when they offer hybrid Ferrari, world will be saved :)

But I am pretty sure that, many people will disagree with me and they will say; do you know the emission created by a Ferrari! They are consuming our future. A Ferrari is consuming and polluting our future? What future! I think you never seen or heard of Ferrari. Ferrari cannot be used like a stupid Toyota Corolla every day. Because, it does not have even have a proper boot. Yes, you cannot go to grocery and shop when you drive with a Ferrari.

There is not space. Yes, there is but you have to buy nearly nothing to fill it. And Ferrari's are not very comfortable for daily driving. They are designed for different purposes. So, many Ferrari live their life staying in garage for long time and been driven just for weekends. There are only very few people are using their full potential and they are not doing that all the time!

If Ferrari is destroying and polluting our future, Christian Louboutin shoes have the same effect on ecological system. As they are made from real leather and every lady wants to own one and they do everything to buy one, so this increase the demand on leather and ecological chain will be destroyed :)

In summary, hybrid Ferrari's impact on emissions levels are less then Christian Louboutin's impact on leather business.

Pictures are taken from;

Ferrari and Christian Louboutin Websites

VW China, hybrid bicycle !

Nowadays bicycles became very popular to car companies! May be focusing on China market and involving with their culture influence the manufacturers and they decided to manufacture bicycles besides cars. Yesterday I mentioned about the pointless and good looking Lexus hybrid bicycle and today VW announced their hybrid bicycle!

However, VW's bicycle looks quite descent. It worth to be tried at least once. But I would not planning to buy it! VW's bicycle might be good for riding for once but if I wish to own a bicycle I would be buying from bike company! I guess, VW and Lexus are focusing on how to increase our market share in China with whatever product we can make :)

Picture is taken from;

Worldcarfans Website

Enviromental Bicycle by Lexus :O

In automotive industry you can find many interesting things! As I mentioned earlier, you can have Porsche power drill, weird looking car branded shoes, pointlessly expensive car branded pencils and many interesting things, until now. Today, the world's the most boring car brand announced something more pointless than Porsche's power drill. Hybrid bicycle! Yes, a hybrid, an environmental bicycle. People who has nobody about hybrids, I would like to explain quickly. Hybrid is a technology which combine electric and petrol engine together to reduce CO2 level and offer more economy. This technology is designed for vehicle which are running with combustion engine not with feet!

Lexus's obsession with hybrid concept helped to reveal this ultimately pointless bicycle. Who on earth will going to buy a hybrid bicycle. I know there are many people who bought Apple iPad without knowing what to do with that but this is more pointless than iPad. Bicycle suppose to be ride by feet for sport or for fitness not to save the earth! Or to show off that I care environment and I ride this pointless thing.

The batteries are charged by regenerative brakes, I hope that these brakes are working properly. And it has 8 speed auto gearbox with 240W electric motor. Actually there is one thing nice in this bike, its design. Lexus's success on dull design on cars cannot be seen on this bicycle and I do hope that they will try this on their cars also ;)

Pictures are taken from;

Lexus and Worldcarfans Websites

Ferrari powered by battery !

Don't re-read the title, it is true! Ferrari will reveal the hybrid 599 at Geneva Motor Show. Hopefully it won't have a similar structure which can found in Prius :) Ferrari is transferring technology from Formula 1 to production cars. Ferrari's are offering many technologies those are directly transferred from F1. This time Ferrari is transferring the kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) and combines with hybrid technology.

Of course, Ferrari's hybrid won't be offering a slower Ferrari for more price! This KERS technology is currently used by F1 cars, by pushing a button the energy stored while braking can be used for boosting the car. And you will have a faster 599, also Ferrari is saying hybrid 599 %35 is more economical. I don't think that, many Ferrari buyers will be influenced by this economy! Offering a hybrid means, while parking your 599, there won't any engine noise; just an electric engine!

If I could ever have money to buy a 599, will I buy a hybrid version !? I can consider it after I have a test drive with non-hybrid and hybrid models. May be this KERS technology can offer same feeling from F1.

Pictures are from;

Varta Website

My own picture

How to fuel future?

In 1890s, internal combustion engine was a fresh technology and it was a great opportunity to replace inefficient horses which have limited top speed of seventy km/h. There were some electric engine cars and plans to run diesel engine with peanut oil but they were all died by petrol. End of 19th century was the rise of the petrol, people find out that petrol is something very vulnerable  and can be used in cars. It can be considered as petrol is invented a bit earlier than petrol engine! And this made it very easy to fill the cars' tank. Engineers did not invent an engine which is using something that does not exist!

However the case is totally opposite now! We are trying to find ways to use electric cars and hydrogen cars. But both of them cannot be filled very easily. Honda's fuel cell car works on hydrogen and it does not emit any emissions at all :) That's a great news but producing hydrogen is an expensive and complicate process. It will take decades to have hydrogen filling stations like petrol stations. So the car is ready but its fuel is not ready!

With electric cars, situation is a bit complicated. We can charge our e-car by plugging into our wall at home but it takes very long time to charge and electricity is not something cheap and you still emit emissions while charging it. One other fact; if we all drive electric cars and charge them at night, we could end up burning the whole electricity network which is not designed to charge whole countries' cars! So, there should be a huge investment to upgrade electricity network for charging our cars.

In the two alternative cases, invented technology is moving faster than the fuelling technology. I cannot say the exact for hydrogen cars but I could see one thing clear, we will drive petrol engine for quite some time.

Picture is from;
Honda Website