I drive a Toyota Tacoma small cab small box 2 wd 4 cyl truck. It is the least I can drive and do the work I do. I rarely haul more than a hundred pounds or so, and very rarely travel on roads with a speed limit of over 55. I see Prius type cars all the time and understand they are very fuel efficient. Why doesn't anyone make a small truck with a Hybrid engine system? I run about 30 thousand miles a year, so any additional milage would help. Instead I see these 600 hp V12 concept cars that no one could afford to buy or drive, but nothing for the working guy to make a living with.

Not a small one, but they're headed there:
http://www.gm.com/company/gmability/adv_tech/100_news/hybrid_110205.html

Maybe this is your answer: http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/t66365.html

Probably not for the poor, I am guessing.

Both links show large trucks. Perhaps a market exists for them, but I would think there would also be a huge market for a small super-efficient pickup truck.

The GM pickups have also offered the Displacement-on-Demand (DOD) V-8 engines for a few years now, as well as the Impala SS. It's the Chevy small block engine that runs on 4 cylinders when cruising on the highway, and then all 8 cylinders kick in during heavy acceleration or whenever needed.

Oil companies also buy out their competition (smaller companies that develop hybrid technologies) so they don't get put out of business. However the public is beginning to demand alternatives to crude oil due to gas prices and pollution, so it's only a matter of time until more and more big-name companies have to accomodate their customers.

quote:

Originally posted by scottydl:
The GM pickups have also offered the Displacement-on-Demand (DOD) V-8 engines for a few years now, as well as the Impala SS. It's the Chevy small block engine that runs on 4 cylinders when cruising on the highway, and then all 8 cylinders kick in during heavy acceleration or whenever needed.

Anyone remember the first attempt at this? They called it the 4-6-8 and it was the biggest POS out there. Like the DOD engines it went from 4cyl-6cyl-8cyl.

This is were technology takes us - we must first try things and fail before something better comes along or ,in this case, they improve on the original concept.

Hybrids (and other technologies) are something we should look at and fail doing. The R&D aspect pumps billions into our economy - if it work great - if not - back to the drawing board. I know what the naysayers think, but so what!

After we crack that nut, then, we will let the Chinese reverse engineer the crap out of it for pennies on the dollar.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill N.Y.:
Anyone remember the first attempt at this?

Sadly. I bought one that had missed out on the Cad dealer conversion to full 8 cylinder operation. I intended to do an engine swap and use it as a tow car. The computer was too stone-age to do the job. But, being a fiddler, I tried to make it work well as a 468. Alas, it was not to be.

I ended up putting a built 403 Olds (carbed) engine and TH400 in the car. With a little suspension work, it became a superb tow car. Going up in the mountains to ski (sans trailer), it made believers out of a lot of hotshots in BMWs et al.

I wonder what happens when the Hybrids need new batteries?

My impression at this point is Hybrid buyers are people that keep or lease a car for the period it is covered by the factory new car policy.

The last time I looked a battery was not "non-poluting" or low cost when it was time to get rid of it and buy a new one. As I recall having the Stringfellow acid pits next door did not do a lot to increase your property value.

I'm not being a doom and gloom guy it is just as Bill says we do have to look at things differently and if something doesn't work we should not fall in love with it, just move on and try again.

Timothy



P.S. Bill, the Engine in the Barth is moving forward, just a bit slower than I planed, oh well it looks great. I am sorry I have not communicated in the past few months. All I have to do is start the darn thing but it is off to Mexico next week for a few days of sailing, a full life is a fun life.

quote:

Originally posted by Danny Zeeff:
I drive a Toyota Tacoma small cab small box 2 wd 4 cyl truck. It is the least I can drive and do the work I do. I rarely haul more than a hundred pounds or so, and very rarely travel on roads with a speed limit of over 55. I see Prius type cars all the time and understand they are very fuel efficient. Why doesn't anyone make a small truck with a Hybrid engine system? I run about 30 thousand miles a year, so any additional milage would help. Instead I see these 600 hp V12 concept cars that no one could afford to buy or drive, but nothing for the working guy to make a living with.

Maybe a Scion Xb would work for you, since you don't need much cargo space.

I thought the Scion was a very cool little buggy, but Suzy thinks they are the ugliest box on the road. Not sure it would be that much more efficient than my 4 cyl Toy. I get about 24 in traffic, and about 28 on the rare occasion I travel I roads. I need to see a realistic 45 or better before I'm shuckin out 15 grand or better for a matchbox.

Oddly enough, I'm considering selling my Lexus LS400 for a Scion Xb - more room for the dogs, and it would be towable 4-down (2005 or earlier)behind StaRV II. I average 22 mpg in the LS400, BTW, so it's decent.

However, I expect in the next two or three years, we'll see some new-generation diesels in compact pickups that'll get 35-38 mpg.

I know the little diesels are out there, I've seen a ton of them in Bermuda, but I suspect they won't pass our emmission tests yet so we don't import them.

Back in the early 80s during a fuel crisis all the mfgs had a diesel option. You probably remember the VW rabit diesel, but Nission, Toyota, Cheverolet (Luv Isusu), and Ford courier (mazda) all offered diesels that got better than 30mpg. Most of them still do, but quit importing them to the USA for lack of demand.

quote:

Originally posted by Gary Carter:
Back in the early 80s during a fuel crisis all the mfgs had a diesel option.

I remember some full-size GM sedans with a diesel option too, but IIRC they were notoriously bad at freezing up in the winter... as in the fuel would solidify and the car would obviously go nowhere. Hopefully any newer technologies would move beyond problems like that!

"Why doesn't anyone make a small truck with a Hybrid engine system?"
Answer: Very few will buy them; certainly not enough to justify producing them..

"Oil companies also buy out their competition (smaller companies that develop hybrid technologies) so they don't get put out of business"
This is a myth/falsehood. Repeating this lie will not make it a true statement.

quote:

Originally posted by Gunner:
[b"Oil companies also buy out their competition (smaller companies that develop hybrid technologies) so they don't get put out of business"

This is a myth/falsehood. Repeating this lie will not make it a true statement.

It is indeed. I worked for a major oil company (think "clam"), and we used to get a kick out of the claims of "150 mpg carburetor" and "magnetic molecule alignment technology". An internal combustion engine's maximum efficiency is dictated by the physics of the Otto Cycle or the Diesel Cycle.

If a major oil company were to buy a hybrid technology company, they'd do it because it was promising, and they'd develop the technology if they could - mainly because it could be profitable. Back in the '60s, one of our engineers at Shell said, "We're really stupid burning petroleum, because in 100 years we'll wish we'd saved it for other things we need it for."