Well honestly there is no perfect solution, but I would hesitate to call hybrids a "lie." Th exhaust emissions we put out by driving pale in comparison to factories and coal burning power plants. So I would argue that pure EV tech is more of a lie, because if we don't address where the electricity comes from to power our "green" electric vehicle we are merely passing the carbon buck to the power plant instead of our tailpipe.
I'm excited that people smarter than myself are looking at lots of solutions, from hydrogen powered vehicles, to solar power, electric, etc.
I guess you could play the long game and say that none of this matters as the sun will exhaust it's hydrogen fuel which will have been converted through fusion into helium and it will expand and destory the earth... in roughly 4.5 billion years.
Its not so much the emissions the vehicles produce themselves that I am referring to. Though the Atkinson Cycle of all the Hybrid engines Toyota makes creates a ridiculous compression (about 13:1) ratio that these engines compensate for by offsetting cam timing to keep the valves open longer and thus reduce their compression ratio to a more reasonable 8:1; this causes these engines to puke engine oil into their intakes bad enough for the oil to pool up. Of course, these engines never need to be smogged, so how would you know that it actively burns oil and clogs up the catalytic converters bad enough by 200k or so that the back pressure causes the cylinder head bolts to stretch enough that the gasket leaks and the exhaust coupling claps because its so badly choked off? So there's "Green" technology for you, an engine that burns oil like any other German brand!
The main reason I state that hybrids are essentially environmentally negative is what you touched on in this post. Their overall environmental cost to produce, assembly, and transport is slightly above than of normal non-hybrid vehicles. Not to mention when you start throwing in Li-Ion (you ever see what chemicals are needed to mine/process half these "rare-Earth" metals? Its pretty bad stuff) battery packs that have to have components mined/processed then shipped to Japan to be assembled, then that has to be shipped to another factory where the vehicle is actually put together, ect. the over all costs make these more environmentally negative than say a Corolla or Camry. Not to mention the battery packs are being replaced on 1st and 2nd gens left and right (though Toyota is actively trying to recycle/refurbish these, so that actually helps reduce cost to them and pollution.)
CO2 is a big contributor to the "Greenhouse Effect" that helps stabilize Earth's climate (and in excessive could theoretically become a bit rampant) to a hospitable place for most life on this planet, but NOx is just as dangerous if not more dangerous than CO2 and guess what? The furry Hobbit twats are forcing MORE of that stuff than CO2 into the environment by being so idiotically narrow minded and so damn fascist about CO2 emissions that they're letting their "golden goose" GDIs puke NOx out like you wouldn't believe. Europe is already acknowledging a large NOx problem that was caused by them tightening their regulations on CO2 and thus promoting GDI engines (which have been in Europe almost 4-5 years longer than in the US.) Now the US wants to copy Europe's "amazing" environmental policies which means now the US will be just as idiotically managed by the idiot hippies as Europe is. The biggest thing to remember is that you can't have something for nothing and EV technology is not a direct environmental polluter such as vehicles that puke exhaust, but they're no where near cleaner to actually make and just as environmentally unfriendly to distribute as current vehicles are. Sure we're not polluting the air anymore, we're just blanketing the land in strip mines, chemical run-off, and horrid working conditions for people involved all in the name of technology (of course most of these guys are working round the clock anyways, because... well we need to get that new iPhone CrapPad™ 6.who gives a **** because we'll throw our old one out and buy a new one anyways)
I'm sure [MENTION=66316]1engineer[/MENTION] would love to help me explain why removing lead from solder (and now forcing the Aeronautics and Automotive industries to use lead-less solder starting in 2012) is not only the biggest idiotic move in our current technological history, but is also no where near as environmentally friendly as the Berkeley Hiptards of the world want you to believe. Most of the politicians and companies who spout "Green" as a slang word these days are proposing the most short-sighted, obviously not well thought out ideas that clearly have ultior motives often based in profit and lies than anything intrinsically holy.
The instant torque of an electric vehicle is extremely satisfying. In the next 8-10 years I think we will still be a few years away from a battery pack that will have enough energy density and capacity to fit into an SUV and provide an adequate range for a reasonable price. So for the timeframe you mentioned, I see the 7th gen with a ~18 kW lithium air battery pack capable of just over 30 all-electric miles and a range-extending engine that provides the driving range most Americans demand. The great thing about a EREV (extended range EV) is the instant electric torque is always there and the range extender's sole job is to recharge the battery.
So, before you arrive at the trailhead you hit the "trail mode" button on the dash that tells the range extender to top off the battery before you arrive at the trailhead (similar to charge sustain mode on a Chevy Volt). Once at the trailhead, the gas range extender shuts down and you are able to rock crawl for hours on end in complete silence and still enjoying that instant torque, with no emissions. No need to shut it down when you get out to spot your friends and every downhill descent puts juice back in the battery. The 18kW of power will run any size fridge ARB could possibly make for days on end. Running low on juice? Range extender starts up. 8 speed transmission? That's low tech, electric drive needs no transmission, and thus the weight, spinning losses and mechanical complexity just aren't there. This is should be the future until we have the battery technology to completely eliminate these maintenance-intensive internal combustion engines.
Did I mention I love my Nissan Leaf? I want some of its attributes in my next SUV, and you couldn't pay me to part with my 3rd gen until that happens.
Your points are not at all things I disagree with inherently, as I said in most of my posts I am not against the technology in idea. It IS the future, but as I stated in my quoted post, when your Nissan Leaf craps out; you can call a tow truck hopefully to have it pulled to the nearest junkyard or dealership (whichever is cheaper.) But if you're out in the middle of the forest 200miles from the nearest cell tower and you're wonderfully technologically laden electric camping mobile decides it doesn't like that the Inverter has just a hair too much ripple in its AC current and defaults to a safemode or that your wonderfully torquey motor decides to just short out and take out the battery pack... well at least the fridge is pre-chilled because now you're stuck 200miles in the middle of no where with a hunk of metal, no power, and no way to contact help.
Or you hit a small rock while off-roading and it punctures the battery? Well at least its beautifully engineered to direct the flames to a safe venting point to protect the occupants... too bad you're still stuck up s*** creek with no power. Its great technology for on-road, but its still too young in reliability to trust anywhere a tow truck can't go (by the way you're not supposed to actually tow or roll electric vehicles, you need to Flat Bed them because the motors will create a hundred or two volts just pushing the thing which can damage more things! YAY!)
Pots Note-
I'm sorry if I am coming off as an old-world curmudgeon here. I don't mean to make it sound like EVs are the devil and that its a horrid technology, that's not at all what I am saying. I believe that EV is the future and is the best route to go in this more environmentally conscious and technologically advancing world. But I do NOT believe it is ready yet to be anywhere off-road, based on my experience with EVs and Hybrids currently. Between the Prius A-Z Plug-Up My A$$ Recharge With My Farts and the Tesla engineers I have spoken with, the people I know who work for Tesla, and most other technicians; we're just seeing a lot of failures that leave these cars essentially "bricked" and useless. At least when you blow a differential off-road you can gut it and limp the vehicle home (did this to an FJ40 that blew a rear diff one trip), or even have the vehicle safely pulled/towed out of a ditch; you can't do that with an EV or hybrid, it causes serious problems in safety and damage to the system.
TL: DR
-EV Tech is the Future
-EV Tech is best on Road for now
-EV Tech is not ready for Off-road and won't be for at least 10-15yr if not more
Lazy engineers!
