Grease Guy: Four pounds of grease, that comes to, sixty-three cents.
Homer: Woo-Hoo!
Bart: Dad, all that bacon cost twenty-seven dollars.
Homer: Yeah, but your mom paid for that!
Bart: But doesn't she get her money from you?
Homer: And I get my money from grease! What's the problem?

 

It seems to me that Minis are most popular in dense urban areas, for obvious reasons. A Mini hybrid (with regenerative braking) would make a lot of sense in very slow center-city type driving. The extra torque would help for standing starts (since I understand that electric motors make peak torque at zero RPM). My own commute is so slow that I get less than 15 mpg in my MCS. A hybrid system would surely make a big difference in my type of driving.

Aerodynamics don't make much difference tooling around town, so the Mini's high coefficient of drag would not be an impediment to making an effective hybrid.

 

However, that is untrue. All you need to do is look at the tailpipe emissions from a Prius, vs a VW diesel.

The diesel is a disaster.

It has about 17 times the emissions of a Prius....and it has nothing to do with the quality of US fuel, which will actually be lower in sulfur content than Euro Standard fuel by 2007.

It has to do with the diesel combustion cycle. Diesel combustion takes place at such a high temperature that it oxidizes atmospheric nitrogen into NOx which is a prime component of smog.

Been to Europe lately? Try Barcelona, Rome or some other Mediterranean climate that is a lot like southern California. The smog is worse than anything I have seen since LA circa 1970. About 40% of all cars are diesel. This is not a coincidence.

There are ways to reduce NOx that are being developed by auto manufacturers. Most involve urea injection into the exhaust. This might be fine for 18-wheelers, but where are you going to put a 13 gallon tank of "ammonia water solution" on a MINI? There is hardly any room under the hood as it is.

Until manufactures can get the diesel tailpipe emissions under control, hybrids will continue to be favored in states with strict air quality controls: CA, NY, MA, etc.

 

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All I know is that I hunted for a TDI here in CA, can't find one new, all 6 dealers told they they were not allowed to sell them in CA. If you bring one in used with more then 7500 miles that's ok. The funny thing to me is they are still selling a diesel Pick ups.

 

Sulfer ffree Diesel fuels coming to the USA next year. This will allow the importation of much better diesel engines. MINIs are useful in the city but were built for the road...nice, twisting, curvy, beautiful open roads......

 

As posted before: Low sulfur fuels has nothing to do with whether better diesels will be available in the US. Key thing is NOx emissions which are key components of smog. NOx is a by product of the high diesel combustion temperatures and NOT the fuel.

 

I thought that direct injection helped improve the emissions from diesels, but the higher-sulfur fuels don't work well with those systems.

 

Gallon for gallon diesel will produce more NOx than unleaded gasoline due to the temperature of the combustion. Diesel can only combust at one temperature while regular gas mixture can run rich or lean. Unleaded can be made to combust at a much lower temperature than diesel thus reducing the amount of NOx.

 

I just called my mom this morning, $3.27 a gallon in maui. Ouch. I'll take my $2.97 for 87 this morning rather then 3.27. Most cases desil costs more and in maui few stations have desil.

 

This article was just posted on LeftLaneNews.com:

GM, Daimler, BMW to unveil hybrid plans

I wonder if there are any plans for a hybrid version of the upcoming R56 MINI? I'll probably stick to the MCS for my next version, but it is still pretty interesting news.

Does anyone out there have any inside info on this announcement.

 

Here is some general information....

http://www.pscleanair.org/specprog/c...f_diesel.shtml

Diesel is more efficient per gallon than gas, hybrids generally allow a gas engine to compete with a diesel. I've always heard that the emissions for diesel cars are what made them unavailable in CA and other states, because the emissions regulations take into account everything from NOx, CO2 and also particulate as well. The problem has been that the U.S. refineries haven't made the same grade fuel as available in Europe.

Starting this year, both GAS and DIESEL will be undergoing changes at the refineries. Remember that the oil companies made $42B in profit this past year. How many refineries are already upgrades? Zero. That cost will be passed off to the consumer starting this summer. Prepare yourself, because $3.00/gallon will be back in full force come summer (my personal prediction).

I suspect that diesel is actually going to rise even higher - reason being is that the Big Three auto makers have sold millions of very large diesel trucks, most of which get 12-18 mpg.

So even though good diesel cars may be here again soon, if the price of diesel is 25% higher and the cost of the car is 10% higher and the fuel savings is x% higher...etc.....you can see where diesel may save some money but in the long run won't make a big difference for most users.

I think that is why Toyota and Honda are betting on hybrids. I think they've done the research and see the writing on the wall. Not to mention that hybrid diesels would be even more amazing in the mileage department....

 

I wouldn't want to replace a Hybrid's batteries.
You think using less gas would save on paying road tax, but then the government uses GPS to track your "use." I had the opportunity to drive a GM EV1; the electric motor torque was powerful enough!

 

All comments and opinions about hybrids/electric vehicles are appreciated.

However, what I was wanting to know is if anyone knew about MINI's plans (if any) for a hybrid or alternative fuel vehicle.

Thanks.

 

You should check on the BMW site, as you are more likely to find something there than with Mini. BMW has been doing work on a lot of fronts, including a hydrogen combustion engine - the concept is nothing new, but they did find a way to make a high power engine that could SAFELY transport the necessary hydrogen fuel to be practical if costs could be managed. The benefit of a hydrogen powered car is no emissions (other than water) and the resource can be renewed via solar or other renewable energy.

The problem with diesels and hybrids is that they are just an evolution of the traditional internal combustion engine, so they continue to be bound by its limits. Fuel cells have the potential to change that in favor of electric motors if (and only if) they efficiency, cost and power output can be acheived.

I still tend to think of hybrids as a transitional engine technology that will be used to eliminate low speed emissions. So it's a good idea, and it could easily be around for decades while the auto industry tries to come up with something better.

 

Nothing announced, and no reason to expect anything on the 2007 models. A true hybrid requires a bespoke chassis (i.e. highly modded from stock) for the battery pack and electric motors, and I just don't envision BMW being able to make a business case for doing that on the MINI.

It's at least conceiveable that mild hybrid technology that could be integrated onto an existing platform might make it to the MINI.

 

Total BS dude. My Dad's insight gets 60 mpg AVERAGE! You are absolutely wrong on this one, dude.


As far as a hybrid Mini... in the recent automobile magazine, the CEO of BMW made some comment about not wanting to build hybrid engines but instead BMW was looking at other techologies. I assume Hydrogen fuel cell as that seems to be what the other German automakers are into.

 

Uhh, well actually they DO

 

I ran across this today. This was from a while back, but shows the direction BMW is looking at. This would probably be a European model, however, as hydrogen in the U.S. is only used for science labs and atomic activities.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:C...hydrogen-1.jpg

 

640hp 0-60mph in 4.5 seconds, top speed of 150mph. I'd say that's pretty serious. Check it out:

http://www.leftlanenews.com/2006/07/...in-45-seconds/

Check out the fact that this thing is all wheel drive and if the onboard gas engine hasn't charged it to your satisfaction or if you simply have a chance to chance to charge it for free, you CAN plug it in!!! Wow! I'd like to look at installing two of those motors on my rear wheels. The motors are the size of the your disc brakes. Check it out here:

http://www.pmlflightlink.com/index.html

As technology improves to shrink the battery sizes and improve their power retention abilities, and reduce production costs hybrids will become more and more feasible.

For all you naysayers on the subject of hybrids just think back to the first digital camera. They were big, goofy looking, expensive, didn't take high resolution photos, and were very limited. What you're buying when you buy a early generation of any new technology model is the R&D for the next generation. Low and behold 7 years after I paid for my $800 Sony digital camera, we now have professional level digital cameras that can one up many SLR frames. Cheap pocket cameras that can take photos even in low light or heavy bouncing conditions that come out NICE!

So what I'm seeing with hybrids is something similar. Yeah the models right now are kinda goofy looking. A little more expensive than the base econobox price, and not THAT great on gas for the big Camry or SUV models. But year after year, the technology will get better and cheaper. I'd say in less than 10 years it will make sense to get a hybrid rather than a similar model with a V6. The price will be comparable and you will be releasing less pollution into the atmosphere. I'm all for it.

Give me my Mr. Fusion NOW!

 

I heard that VW was working on a hybrid diesel for either 2008 or 2009. It is suppose to be built for the Golf/Jetta platform and average around 70 mpg.

I can't imagine VW/Audi creating an engine that will get high mileage like that and BMW not responding. VW/Audi is one of BMW's main competitors. I don't really like any of VW's lineup, but I wonder how many people would reconsider a Mini if there was a Golf/Rabbit/GTI that got 70 mpg?