Shorting ICE

[Doggydogworld]

I was going to comment about how you were comparing apples and oranges between a parts diagram versus a design drawing. But in looking for a blowout of the prius' tranny, I learned that they use a CVT (or at least a modified version). Unlike Ford's hybrid, which mate their regular transmission with an electric motor. My bad for not noticing the details.

So comparing the Toyota hybrids with their non-CVT cars, then you're right about the transmission being simpler.

Yeah, I was looking for a good auto tranny design drawing but couldn't find one after a couple minutes so I gave up.

I didn't know Ford went to more complex designs. Their first hybrid, the Ford Escape, used the exact same eCVT design as Prius. I think there was even a cross-license. I know GM's original Volt transmission took the approach further for better EV performance. They added a second planetary and some clutches, so it was kind of a mix between Toyota's simple eCVT and a full-on automatic with torque converter and everything.

As I said, Robos will be BEV. But if BEV weren't possible they'd be hybrids with simple eCVTs like the Prius, since long life matters more than performance.

 

[Oil4AsphaultOnly]

Yeah, I was looking for a good auto tranny design drawing but couldn't find one after a couple minutes so I gave up.

I didn't know Ford went to more complex designs. Their first hybrid, the Ford Escape, used the exact same eCVT design as Prius. I think there was even a cross-license. I know GM's original Volt transmission took the approach further for better EV performance. They added a second planetary and some clutches, so it was kind of a mix between Toyota's simple eCVT and a full-on automatic with torque converter and everything.

As I said, Robos will be BEV. But if BEV weren't possible they'd be hybrids with simple eCVTs like the Prius, since long life matters more than performance.

Okay, having agreed on the transmission, you've still left out all the other issues with having an ICE AV.

Having a gas engine that would occasionally turn on to replenish its 12v battery supply while the AV is waiting for a customer is just NOT going to fly. Having it drive around looking for customers contributes too much to the urban heat-island effect to work as an alternative either. Polluting our air so that you can save $1/mile on your taxi ride would start a social war akin to 2nd-hand smoking. The technology might permit ICE AV, but society would not.

Maybe it would've been permitted in the 80's, just like smoking was in the 70's, but as more people learn about the harms of vehicle emissions, the less accepted it would be. So I disagree, without BEV's there would be no AV's - or at least no profitable ones anyway.