Wikipedia material

I found this at Wikipedia:Hybrid vehicle#ICE-ICE Hybrid, tagged for cleanup. The commentary isn't suitable for Wikipedia, but perhaps it can be adapted or drawn on for use here. I'm hesitant to just copy it directly into an Appropedia page till we've resolved license issues:

Nearly all motor vehicles use some form of Internal Combustion Engine, and this includes the current hybrid-electric cars such as the Prius. A basic efficiency problem of the ICE motor is that they must provide enough power for acceleration and this generally requires over 100 horsepower (75 kW). However, the amount of power needed for a typical 3,000 pound (1,350 kg) vehicle may be less than 5 horsepower (3.7 kW) when running 60 mph (95 km/h) on level roads (one term for this is "Road-Horsepower"). It is very inefficient to run a large spark-ignition (i.e. gasoline) engine under such a light load. So, in an ICE-ICE hybrid a second small motor might be used at cruising speeds. This might be wired into the common electric cruise control which many cars already have. The small motor's horsepower could be chosen with a goal of ability to allow the vehicle to climb slopes up to five degrees since few roads are truly level for even short distances. For simplicity, the small motor could have a single fixed gear ratioed to run most efficiently at a defined speed range such as 60–75 mph (95–120 km/h).
This system would be more efficient than manufactured systems with cylinder shut-downs since those systems still have large amounts of friction—the shut-down cylinders are still running. The late Frank-Winchell of General Motors may have done work with the ICE-ICE hybrid, perhaps it is unpublished. Advantages of ICE-ICE hybrids over Petroleum-Electric hybrids would be greater range and less weight. One of the worst design flaws of the ICE-Electric vehicles is overall vehicle weight in part due to heavy batteries. But, the real waste is that 90% of the time, there is only one person in a 4–8 passenger 3,000–5,000 pound vehicle. Making a large hybrid for single person commuting is a misleading waste no matter how clever the technology. In 2002 Volkswagen showed its "One Litre Car" running concept which got over 200 mpg, weighed only about 600 pounds, was crashworthy and carried 2 people. However, the acceleration was very slow—but with a second larger motor for acceleration it could actually be quite sporty and still use very little fuel—as an ICE-ICE hybrid. A similar petroleum-electric ultralight tandem seater, the 2005 Daihatsu UFE-III could be made into an ICE-ICE hybrid for far greater range without the anchor of batteries. Also, because both of the these vehicles are only one-person wide they have a small frontal area coupled with a low drag shape. So, both are Naero vehicles (Narrow, Aerodynamic). Keep in mind that the bigger something is, the more energy it will take to move it, and there is no magic method to avoid it. Any time anyone claims superb energy efficiency, watch out for wild claims of super-high mileage, usually those are based on driving on very flat ground, with no hills and no accelerating from a start.

...contributed by Wikipedia user Mitch Casto, who I've attempted to contact. --Singkong2005 (now known as Chriswaterguy) · talk 03:49, 11 November 2006 (PST)

Feasible distance in the chart?

What is the distances based upon? Is it only approximation? Or is it in fact a time based estimate, on how long a person can manage walking in one hour or carry a grocery bag?

I think that a person can walk up to 8-10 km within two hours. and it is possible to bicycle up to 25 km within three hours. With proper bags (with ergonomical handles, or a backpack) or appropriately packaged cargo on the back of the bike or on top of a skateboard, it is possible to carry several big grocery bags, but at a lower speed and a bit shorter range.

If without better options any distance to walk is convenient, it just takes a little longer time. --Yeahvle

Concern about car getting better "infrastructure investment" rating than rail in table

I am concerned that "car" gets a green dot rating for infrastructure investment in the table, compared to rail getting 2 red dots, and metro/urban rail getting 3 red dots.

In an urbanised setting and looking at the big-picture I think this is at minimum a problematic oversimpliciation, and quite possibly quite wrong.

Yes - building railways is by no means cheap.

But the cost of "car" as a transport mode is not just an individual family buying a 2nd-hand car for $10,000 - it is part of a whole auto-industrial complex that implies expensive asphalted roads, a global network of oil production and refining, large amounts of land dedicated to parking, etc. And in any moderately large city there is a strong tendency towards building very expensive high-capacity road infrastructure like freeways, the very thing that a good urban rail system would significantly reduce the need for.

Not to mention the high 'externalities' of car transport in terms of injuries and fatalities, air pollution, reduced street amenity, and even in relatively affluent countries like the USA and Australia, in contribution to obesity via encouraging a sedentary lifestyle.

Therefore I suggest at least a footnote to this effect in the table, and possibly re-considering the ratings.

For pro-public transport people, there is a very legitimate discussion about whether the cost of rail is justified compared to bus-based transport, especially in developing countries, and how "BRT" (Bus-rapid transport) can bridge this gap. Perhaps this table should encourage this kind of focus a little more too.

-- PatrickSunter, 8 October 2012

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