Majari Magazine

Hybrid Cars, Hi-fashion Solution for Air Pollution

by Inra Sumahamijaya on 22/01/09 at 4:59 am | 3 Comments | |

Hybrid cars began grabbing headlines in 2004, especially after movie stars were seen arriving at the Academy Awards in these environmentally friendly vehicles. With worries over air pollution and with gasoline prices topping $2 a gallon, the public imagination has seized on hybrid cars as a high-tech, high-fashion solution.

The state of California provided the major commercial impetus in the U.S. for the development of electric (battery), electric-gasoline (hybrid), and fuel-cell vehicles. In 1990 the California Air Resources Board mandated a schedule for sales of light-duty vehicles in the state in order to reduce air pollution. The first modern hybrid cars, the Toyota Prius and the Honda Insight, went on sale in Japan in 1997 and 1999, respectively, and in the U.S. in very limited numbers in 2000 not mentioned when in Indonesia. Greater numbers—although still fewer than 50,000 in the U.S. (compared with some 17 million gasoline vehicles sold each year)—became available with the 2004 model year. Sales took off, with dealers reporting waiting lists of from six months to a year. American manufacturers countered in the summer and fall of 2004. Ford introduced the Escape, the world’s first hybrid sport utility vehicle; General Motors offered hybrid versions of its Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra trucks; and DaimlerChrysler came up with a hybrid version of its Dodge Ram truck.

Hybrids typically use nickel–metal-hydride (NiMH) batteries to provide power for an electric motor that shares duties with a small gasoline motor. Either or both motors may be operating, according to driving conditions. When the car is idling at a stop, going downhill, or cruising at low speeds, the gasoline motor is shut off. (Unlike conventional gasoline vehicles, hybrids get better mileage in the city than on the highway.) Under full-throttle acceleration, when climbing hills, or while cruising at high speeds, the two engines operate in tandem by means of a sophisticated electronic transmission. When decelerating or braking, the force used to slow the car is harnessed to charge the battery.

Hopefully this hi-fashion modern car type can replace the former hi-”urban air pollution source” car type. Talking about urban air pollution, Los Angeles is worst example of polluted air. Tokyo has such a serious air-pollution problem that oxygen is supplied to policemen who direct traffic at busy intersections. Milan, Ankara, Mexico City, and Buenos Aires face similar problems. Although New York City produces greater quantities of pollutants than Los Angeles, it has been spared from an air-pollution disaster only because of lucky favorable climatic circumstances. Compared with those cities, Jakarta and Surabaya is “not very polluted enough” but our kind of air problem still dangerous for traffic and pedestrian user like us.