Impetus for Super-Efficient Drivetrains: Government Regulation in Fuel Standards, Emissions Per Mile, Etc.
Regarding my post: New Discovery in Hybrid-Electric Drivetrains, long-time reader Arlene notes: I haven’t looked at the engineering of the EDI drivetrain, (but) I would also suggest that this particular market niche is nowhere near as price sensitive as consumer light vehicles.
That’s 100% true. I think the real “driver” here, pardon the pun, will be regulation, i.e., the OEMs’ and big fleets’ ability to conform to emissions regulations. As far as I can see, EDI is in a unique position here; there are few (if any) other ways for these entities to obey the laws that are coming swiftly into place.
Hybrid drive trains for urban delivery vehicles, and public transport applications – both taxi cabs and bus are already quite compelling in Europe.
In the US you are paying around $2.70 per US gallon for both gasoline and diesel. UK prices which are broadly in line with general European prices are nearer $6.75 per US Gallon.
In my home town, the local taxi company has a fleet of 100 Toyota Prius’s converted to run on LPG (Half the price of gasoline or diesel with far cleaner tailpipe emissions).
In London, there is a fleet of more than 1200 hybrid busses running on 64 routes.
I am sure that the local delivery services across Europe will seriously think of hybrid vehicles as and when fleets are upgraded due to far lower running costs and better driving performance.