----- Original Message ----- From: "Godfrey DiGiorgi" Subject: Re: OT - Prius Fuel Economy
> > Technically, I don't think your reservations about the batteries in > cold climates are that big a deal (block heaters are regularly used > for ICEs in such environments, no reason you couldn't do the same for > a battery All that does is change where the emissions are being generated, and takes away most if not all of the environmental advantages of the hybrid technology. A block heater doesn't take more than a few hundred watts of power. I expect that keeping several hundred pounds of batteries 40-50 degrees above ambient temperature would take quite a bit of power, many amps at least. Most commuter vehicles aren't allowed to plug in more than a block heater in daytime parking because of loading on the electrical grid. All this would put more load on the power generating infrastructure, which at some point creates the need to build more power generating stations, generally at the expense of the environment. William Robb -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
