The invention of the self-starter dealt a death blow to the electric vehicle, because now anybody could use an internal combustion engine automobile (assuming one could learn the coordination of clutch and gears, a requirement which was completely eliminated by the automatic transmission).

Why is the electric car not feasible today? The answer has been reviewed succinctly (1) in that gasoline represents a source of energy approximately 100 time as dense as the best reasonably-priced battery available today. Gasoline has approximately 1000 watt-hours per pound, lead-acid and nickel-cadmium batteries have approximately 10 watt-hours per pound. This means that if one can go 300 miles at 60 miles an hour on a tankful of gasoline, one can travel only 3 miles at 60 miles an hour on a "tankfull of batteries".

There are batteries in the laboratory that have promise of 100 watt-hours per pound, which promise to make an urban use type of automobile, truck, or bus, completely practical (1).

Now examine Fig. 2, the basics of the hybrid. Again, we have a fuel tank with the stored energy in the form of gasoline, diesel fuel, kerosene, etc. Now the device that converts chemical energy to mechanical power can be either the internal combustion engine, with a substantially reduced average emission rate, (for reasons discussed below) or the external combustion, such as a turbine, a steam device, etc. Those problems that prevent the successful development of external combustion engines, such as steam engines and gas or steam turbines, revolving usually around the varying load applied in automotive applications, do not apply here.

The "prime mover", "the combustion engine", then operates a device which will produce direct current power for charging the battery or driving the vehicle, or both. This can be either a de generator or an alternator and rectifier.

Then we also have the battery, which represents a source of stored energy, and the electrical energy from the generator either flows to the wheels, and/or flows into the battery, or does not flow at all. When the internal combustion engine is not operating, then the battery provides all of the power to the next item, the electronic circuit speed control, and from thence to the motor and to the wheels. It is the additional complexity of the hybrid which hitherto has prevented it from being looked at as an immediate help to reduction of emissions from vehicles. The motor and electronics of Fig. 2 must be of the same size as that of Fig. 1 in order to have equal vehicle performance. So, no economies can be effected here.

However, the battery of Fig. 2 can be much smaller than that of Fig. 1, and the engine of Fig. 2 can be much smaller than the engine of Fig. 1. Substantial cost savings apply here. The gasoline tank can be as large as desired, and this overcomes completely the objection to the all-electric vehicle, the necessity of having to recharge the batteries too frequently for long distance trips, and possibly even for urban use.

Two major factors contribute to the substantially lower average emissions of the "prime mover" even when it is operating:

1. The engine of the hybrid can be a substantially smaller engine than that of Fig. 1, because it need not provide the peak power required for acceleration, climbing hills, etc. The battery in the hybrid can provide all the peak power necessary. The engine need provide only the average power consumed, which, even at 50 miles per hour for a vehicle weighing 4000 pounds, is only 100 horsepower (2). 2. As mentioned above, when the engine is operating, it is operating at its lowest specific emission. It operates at essentially one load level, maximum, for which it can be properly adjusted.

The above factors, when combined, make conservative estimates of the average emissions to be as low as % that of present day vehicles, or as high as 4 (2). But, because of the complexity, the initial cost of the hybrid vehicle for equal performance, tended to be, on analysis, noticeably higher than the equivalent "pure internal combustion engine", which is quite "impure" with regard to emissions.

Another reason delaying the development and production of the hybrid was that of performance. In order to keep the cost of the vehicle "within reason", low cost batteries were employed, i.e., lead-acid batteries. This has represented a fundamental error in thinking practiced all over the world. The low cost battery, usually the lead acid battery of the type available in ordinary automobiles for auxiliary power and engine starting, is indeed surprisingly cheap, considering its complexity. Mass production accounts for the low cost.

However, the power density, i.e., the amount of power available per pound is so low that the vehicle is inevitably sluggish in acceleration. In order to overcome the sluggishness, the vehicle has been made as small and as light as possible, i.e., a "mini-car", something which just does not appeal to the American public, per (George, et al. (3)). The energy density of lead-acid is 10-14 watt-hours per pound (page 40), but the power density is only 35 watts per pound, if a reasonable life is wanted from the battery.

On page 41, it is indicated that the corresponding figures for nickel-cadmium are 12-14 watt-hours per pound, but 300 watts per pound power density. Employing a figure of approximately one kilowatt per horsepower (close enough for this presentation), in order to have, let us say, 200 horsepower for rapid acceleration, or 200 kilowatts, one would need approximately 5000 pounds of lead-acid batteries.

On the other hand, one needs only 600 pounds of nickel-cadmium batteries. Since the cost of nickel-cadmium batteries is approximately 10 times that of lead-acid, previous designers have been reluctant to use nickel-cadmium, and therefore the vehicle acceleration has been sluggish and unacceptable, and/or the vehicle has of necessity been a mini-car.

However, using nickel-cadmium batteries, a vehicle can be, and has been built, (Wouk & Seiger (4)), which is full size and has excellent acceleration and top speed.

The vehicle I refer to is outside these Senate Buildings. It is available to any or all members of this Committee for demonstration rides, if you so desire.

Although this vehicle performs very satisfactorily, it is not meant to be an operational device, but rather a test-bed to prove the point of possible performance characteristics of an all electric or a hybrid.

This vehicle, shown in Fig. 3 herewith, is a full-sized station wagon. The conversion from internal combustion to electric was eminently simple, with everything "under the hood" associated with the internal combustion engine being removed. This is shown in Fig. 4. Taken out were the engine, clutch, gears, radiator, distributor, spark coil, air cleaner, etc.

An electric motor was put in the volume normally occupied by the clutch and the gears shown in Fig. 5. In the area normally occupied by the engine, radiator, etc., were installed a bank of batteries, 80 nickel-cadmium cells, 75 ampere-hours rating. This is shown in Fig. 6.

The vehicle will perform completely satisfactorily on this bank of cells, with respect to acceleration, top speed, etc., since the 75 ampere-hour cells can supply several thousand amperes for a short period of time for acceleration, and steep hill climbing.

George. et al. (3) "Prospects for Electric Vehicles," Arthur D. Little Report. C-69260, March. 1968.

Wouk & Seiger (4) “Design of an Electronic Automobile Employing Nickel-Cadium Batteries."

The vehicle has an equal bank of cells in the rear, in the station wagon baggage compartment, in order to extend the range for demonstration purposes.

If this were a hybrid, the rear bank of batteries could be eliminated completely. Further, the front bank of cells could be reduced to one-half, or even less, with the internal combustion engine-generator being mounted in the volume thus released.

Since the engine could be comparatively small, it might well be air-cooled, per the successful air-cooled engines in foreign vehicles of today.

This hybrid would then have all of the characteristics of the original station wagon, except for the substantially lower average emission, and the substantially lower noise level.

All of the auxiliaries currently associated with the type of car desired by the American public, could now be incorporated into the vehicle. These include airconditioning, power steering, power brakes, etc. As a matter of fact, some of these auxiliaries would perform in a superior manner, because they would now be electrically driven from a fixed voltage source of power. The air conditioning. for example, now requires an over-sized internal combustion engine because,

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among other reasons, the fact that the compressor of the air-conditioner must op erate over such a wide range of speeds, car occupants want air-conditioning when the engine is idling, as well as when the car is moving. With the hybrid, the compressor could be driven by a comparatively small electric motor which would be high-frequency, operating from electronic equipment that would convert the de from the battery to high-frequency ac.

Similarly, heating for the vehicle could be electric and operate instantaneously. Even in the coldest weather, the car could be warmed up as soon as the switch is turned on, by power from the battery.

Starting in cold weather would be absolutely no problem, because the vehicle would start up as an electric, and while it was moving, the full power of the batteries would be available for operating the self-starter. Also, heat would be available from the batteries to warm the engine prior to starting, thus making it simpler to start.

The hosts of other advantages of the hybrid are too great to list here. Many of them have been covered by Hoffman (2).

The initial cost is impossible to determine at present, because the only vehicles available are experimental models. However, if one wishes to have overall cost, over the life of the vehicle (assuming a 5-year life) of 125% that of the equivalent present day internal combustion, one can accept an initial price of 150% of that of the equivalent internal combustion engine. This can be achieved with mass production.

As has been shown by the Northwestern University transportation center (5), the maintenance costs of an electric vehicle versus an internal combustion engine is approximately 6th.

As indicated by Hoffman (2), the fuel consumption would be approximately 50% that of the equivalent internal combustion engine automobile, because the engine is always operating in its most efficient range.

We can therefore make a commercial case for a hybrid-electric vehicle that would cost as much as 50% greater on an equivalent performance basis, relative to a conventional automobile.

(5) (Proceedings IEE, Vol. 112, # 12, December 1965.