Quote:
Originally Posted by jakobnev
Driving the test route with a hybrid would be interesting.
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This is the reason hybrids came to be. Honda and Toyota actually took President Clinton / Gore serious when their White House got behind the Program for New Generation Vehicles ( PNGV).
The auto stop-start, electric acceleration engine assist, and regen were all part of the strategy to recover from the inefficiency of yields, stops, un-synchronized traffic lights, and gridlock.
In 1988, the Texas Governor's Office published the results of research on traffic light synchronization. For every $1 spent, consumers would get $62 back. That was no incentive for change though, in a political environment lubricated by oil lobbyist campaign financing, and federal and state fuel taxes. We got a war in Iraq instead.