China's longer-term opportunity is to build an auto industry based not on the gasoline engine but on alternative fuels, skipping a generation of technology as it has done in areas such as telecoms.
This is a welcome change from my Lexus hybrid, which shudders slightly when the gasoline engine kicks on.
In other hybrids, you can usually feel a subtle shudder through the steering wheel, seat or gas pedal when the gasoline engine kicks on.
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Even though we were in a hybrid, the gasoline engine kicked on several times and it was nearly impossible to detect an increase in noise from within the cabin.
Adding a plug and a more powerful lithium-ion battery to a hybrid can give that sprinter a bit more stamina: It can travel at higher speeds up to 10 miles or so on electric power before the gasoline engine kicks in.
As I calculated in my earlier Forbes article, one needs to multiply the EPA MPGe by .365 to get a number that truly compares fossil fuel use of an electric car with a traditional gasoline engine car on an apples to apples basis.
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Conventional hybrids use mainly the gasoline engine for propulsion, drawing on the electric drive and batteries only occasionally to (impressively) improve gasoline efficiency.
EcoMotors and Achates are developing two-stroke, opposed piston diesel engines while Pinnacle is working on a four-stroke opposed piston gasoline engine.
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The gasoline engine serves as an on-board personal electric utility for when you forget to plug in to the local grid, or for ensuring a total range to match that of any conventional car you'd buy today.
It runs on battery power for about 40 miles, after which a small gasoline engine kicks in to power an electric motor that extends the EV range for up to 300 miles.
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The car uses a 1.8-liter, 98-horsepower four-cylinder gasoline engine with an 80 hp (60 kW) electric motor charged on a Ni-MH battery.
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The flex-fuel engine--prized because it uses a renewable resource that reduces dependency on traditional gasoline--on the Cherokee was even worse: three out of 10 and one out of 10 for the air pollution and gas emissions, respectively.
On the other hand, the LS600h L has a hybrid powertrain that pairs a 5.0-liter V8 gasoline engine with an electric motor.
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