Health Risks of Hybrid Cars Have Been Misrepresented by the Media

re: Health Risks of Hybrid Cars Have Been Misrepresented by the Media

LeeP — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:22:29 GMT

Measurements in my 2007 Prius with a trifield meter would support this analysis. Turning on the heat/AC fan to high in any car I've tested moves the meter off the chart....

re: Health Risks of Hybrid Cars Have Been Misrepresented by the Media

campeau.serge — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:24:16 GMT

MatrixNews,

Lead-Acid batteries which could be a great concern for the environnement are completely recycled.

There is no logic reason why the same thing could not be done with Ni-MH batteries. Expensive materials are usually not wasted.

The quantity of Nickel used in batteries worldwide is absolutely not comparable with the quantity used in alloy steel and stainless steel that is used everywhere for mechanical parts (including bolts and nuts), kitchen tools and the like. Your argument about nickel mining is rather absurd. Nickel is also very abundant on the earth.

Anyway, Ni-MH batteries will soon be superseded by Li-Ion batteries and ultra-capacitors.

Serge

re: Health Risks of Hybrid Cars Have Been Misrepresented by the Media

massolrac — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 05:29:24 GMT

Dr. Mercola, with all due respect, according to a study done by the University of Connecticut, hybrid vehicles such as the Prius require 50% more energy to build than a conventional truck like the Hummer. Additionally, these vehicles (hybrids and electric cars) are actually an environmental disaster when you realize what goes into the building of the 600 - 900 lb. battery they typically use. The mining process required to obtain the needed elements (nickel, etc.) and manufacturing of the batteries are extremely destructive to the environment and counterproductive to efforts to curb global warming/climate change. Also, the higher price (gas and maintenance) of such vehicles will be finally offset after about 5 years of driving (at a cost of approx. $3.50 per mile) vs. 2 to 3 years at $1.50 per mile total cost for the Hummer. Suffice it to say, if everybody traded their regular vehicles for hybrids/electric cars, we would need the resources of another 4 Earths to create them all and wind up destroying their environments anyway! After learning the truth, I will never see another hybrid/electric vehicle the same way. There are no simple answers to the problem of individual mobility, yet there remains the possibility of restoring/expanding public transport.

re: Health Risks of Hybrid Cars Have Been Misrepresented by the Media

Coop — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 02:05:29 GMT

There is a very real, and well studied, solution to EMF's for virtually all applications. It is called Advanced Tachyon Technologies, and uses Zero Point Energy technology to harmonize the negative effects of EMF's

see www.tachyon-partners.com/tls for various solutions.

Be well!...

re: Health Risks of Hybrid Cars Have Been Misrepresented by the Media

campeau.serge — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 00:27:41 GMT

By the way, cadiddlehopper, modern electric cars or hybrid cars use 3 phase AC motors (Permanent magnets synchronous motors or induction motors) not DC motors anymore. The motor is controlled by a power controller typically called "drive" which provide the AC current by Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) at frequencies in the 10 to 20 kHz range. The current in the 3 wires from the drive to the motor is totally alternating plus the switching ripple. Electric vehicle builders have to keep these wires as short as possible and even shielded if possible. The switching ripple can also be present all the way back to the batteries in the suppling DC wires. There is no "real" constant current anywhere in the power circuit of an electric vehicle. Trust me.

Even DC motors systems need to be operated in switching which always generated spikes or ripple and any power wire can emit something not talking about the motor itself and the controller.

You don't have the knowledge necessary in electric power technology to call others morons.

Serge

re: Health Risks of Hybrid Cars Have Been Misrepresented by the Media

MatrixNews — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 23:28:33 GMT

Dr. Mercola states "There’s no disputing that hybrid cars are good for the environment. But lately another issue has been raised" He is DEAD WRONG. Hybrid cars are NOT good for the environment in which the nickel for the batteries is mined, nor are they good for the landfills that are filled with the batteries. Ask the people in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. Their health is certainly not better because of the "hybrid" cars.

They are a gimmick. Pure and simple. Just like biofuels and Al Gore's "global warming". Biofuels have proven to be a disaster and so will the hybrid cars. Wait until all those batteries need replacing and disposal.

re: Health Risks of Hybrid Cars Have Been Misrepresented by the Media

JamesMacPherson — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 23:25:29 GMT

katchi, you say that

"The problem is not what the waste is, but it is a factor of it being in put all in one big blob. Unfortunately environmental activists who act first and think later brought in legislation which means the only way this waste can be disposed and stored is as "one big blob". Depleted uranium is not as dangerous as some people would have you think, I have personally held a piece of depleted uranium rod in my bare hands with no health issues."

So, I take it that you believe that the solution to pollution is dilution. Is this why we are using depleted uranium (DU) in ammunition that we are firing all over the mid-east? Or disposing of DU in consumer products by using it to harden things such as zippers on your blue jeans? Or disposing of DU by selling it to makers of food irradiation equipment?

Personally, I don't want to eat it, wear it, or contaminate other countries with it. Let's leave it in the ground where it belongs.

re: Health Risks of Hybrid Cars Have Been Misrepresented by the Media

campeau.serge — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 04:02:44 GMT

I always find it funny when I read comments on this subject from lay people.

I have a master degree in engineering and my project was on a hybrid vehicle.

katchi and others you're really off the track.

1. Hybrid cars so far are not plug in. They DO works, since they are driven like any other cars, run on gas only and use less gas, period.

2. Batteries used in hybrids cars are Ni-MH and are not polluting at all, which is not the case with Ni-Cd.

3. Pure electric vehicles are the best solution for those who have no problem with the limited range. Power plants that runs on coal are much more efficient than a car combustion engine and also pollute less per kW. You cannot put a big, heavy and expensive pollution control system on a car. Furhermore, electricity production is not all "dirty" like from coal. Here in Québec, almost all our electricity is perfectly clean hydro-electricity and we sell a good part of it in the US. Not considering the other means like wind and solar which will increase slowly. Overall, that would be still better to transfert a good part of the vehicles energy load on the electric network even considering all the losses involved.

4. Hydrogen cars are bullshit on the short term. So far, cheap hydrogen production could only be achived from petrol. Hydrogen storage in cars is still very problematic. Considering the high cost of hydrogen, cars would not run with combustion engine (even though it's very easy to do) but rather with fuel cells which give electric power directly from hydrogen with a much better efficiency than a combustion engine. But, again, fuel cells are not ready yet and could still take a lot of time to be reliable, cheap and mass produced.

5. Magnetic fields could certainly be present in hybrid cars and even worse in all electric cars. But I don't think it could be comparable with the kind of field many workers sustain 8 hr/day in many industries (near huge motors, generators, inductive melter in foundry, etc.)

Serge

re: Health Risks of Hybrid Cars Have Been Misrepresented by the Media

frogger — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 02:44:17 GMT

Dear Gary J. Collins,

When you wrote "The main complaint about all electric vehicles today is the lack of range." I have to say, there are already brown outs due to electricity shortages and now you want everyone to plug in a car? Where is all that power going to come from? 80% will be from polluting coal and oil which will mean speeding up the mountain top mining in the Appalachians where they literally strip log the mountain, blast the top off to get to the coal layer, and dump the slag into pristine running streams in an area that is only 2nd to the Amazon forest in biodiversity. Who really stands to gain by pushing electric cars? Just watch.

re: Health Risks of Hybrid Cars Have Been Misrepresented by the Media

Aiea — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 19:01:01 GMT

A hydrogen hybrid is the best answer, especially if the hydrogen is generated on demand from the engine (using H2O) rather than a storage tank. Problem is that this would mean you no longer need fill up stations or ongoing cost of fuel to drive. This technology has been around for over 150 years. Today only backyard mechanics utilize this system which is clean and with almost no cost. The focus on hydrogen cars has been the fuel storage and the battery because that's where the residual money lies, but the best answer kills a large industry. If everyone converted their car to run off of a hydrogen generator, the high cost of special hybrids and ""green" cars would not be needed. Study history.

re: Health Risks of Hybrid Cars Have Been Misrepresented by the Media

cadiddlehopper — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 18:52:11 GMT

How many of these morons have a working knowledge of physics? None. Direct current passing through a cable or wire or a coil of wire produces no fluctuating electromagnetic field. It is the same as a permanent magnet, which most of you quacks think is beneficial to arthritics. You probably wear magnetic bracelets for your arthritic wrists. the magnetic field of which is identical to that produced by direct current passing through a wire or coil of wire.

re: Health Risks of Hybrid Cars Have Been Misrepresented by the Media

archergirl — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 18:40:33 GMT

Spinkman: Where I live, traffic is so heavy and people drive so aggressively that you are taking your life into your hands by riding your bicycle on the road. You are not even safe in your car...!!!

re: Health Risks of Hybrid Cars Have Been Misrepresented by the Media

westwatch457 — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 17:01:51 GMT

Boulder is one of America's green cities, perhaps the greenest of all. The consultant may have an agenda. Children in elementary schools in Boulder and elsewhere are being taught that hydrocarbons are evil and that we must go green to save the planet.

Resource management, including hazard assessments for combustible fuels and electromagnetic fields is needed to expose the truth concerning pros and cons of using both sources of power. Most people won't die, and the planet won't suffer more if responsible resource managment replaces green agendas, politics and profit margins.

re: Health Risks of Hybrid Cars Have Been Misrepresented by the Media

zetacon4 — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 10:55:54 GMT

Comment addressed to craig_br.

Sir, please. You omitted the one thing that would have given your comment any credibility. That being, some actual facts gathered from reliable and confirmable sources. Please let us all know the exact cost in terms of energy expended, mining and manufacturing costs, etc. for the components of a hybrid vehicle. Then, perhaps we will consider your comments on "shortsightedness". I admire your intent, but you failed to deliver on content.

re: Health Risks of Hybrid Cars Have Been Misrepresented by the Media

Gary J Collins — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 02:45:33 GMT

The so-called Hybrid cars of today are not what the claim to be. They are in fact a petroleum powered internal combustion engine which has a supplemental electric engine added. Not only does the internal combustion engine provide all the power need to propel the vehicle but it has to also power an extra generator to recharge a battery. This extra load diminishes the power to weight ratio of the vehicle.

As most of these cars have a 1.5 litre engine I would be expecting to get about 50 miles per gallon anyway. I have driven many cars of that size over the years. I found that the performance more than matches cars of larger capacity except for towing capability.

A true hybrid would be an all electric power train with a battery that could be recharged from the mains power network then when that battery runs low have a small internal combustion engine drives a generator recharge the battery while propelling the vehicle thus extending the range of the vehicle. Something along the lines of a portable home generator is what I am thinking off.

The main complaint about all electric vehicles today is the lack of range. Currently it is limited to about 200 miles before the need to recharge. Given that the average use of a motor vehicle is the daily commute of about 50 miles each way why is there a need to have a wider range for the average usage?

For those who suffer problems while driving a current hybrid, check your seating and other positional conditions before jumping to the conclusion that it is the power train electronics causing your discomfort.