Hybrid auto road trips

Which would you prefer, white or dark meat?
 
Tire threads aside, here's why one should be careful with armadillos: leprosy!

Here's some info from the Web (bold-faced words are mine). I guess BBQ sauce would not be sufficient to make the meat safe.

A little background first: armadillos are one of the few animals, aside from human beings, that carry the leprosy-causing bacteria. The disease itself — which is characterized by disfiguring skin sores and nerve damage — is extremely rare in the U.S., with about 150 cases diagnosed annually. Most Americans who contract leprosy have worked in areas overseas where leprosy is endemic, such as parts of Brazil, the Congo and India; these cases are considered imported.

But, then, health authorities found that up to one-third of U.S. cases appeared to have been contracted in country — even in victims who didn’t seem to have had any contact with a human leprosy patient. These cases were most common in the states of Texas and Louisiana, but the range is now slowly expanding. Armadillos — almost by process of elimination — were suspected, but there was no solid evidence.

The NEJM researchers — from the Global Health Institute and Louisiana State University — drew up a study that included 33 wild armadillos known to have the disease, and 50 leprosy patients. They found a new strain of M. leprae, called 3I, in 28 armadillos and 22 patients who had never been abroad (and thus could not have contracted the disease from other people with leprosy). After sequencing the new strain and comparing it to other known strains from around the world, the researchers concluded that the leprosy patients and the infected armadillos had the same strain. The fact that eight of the patients recalled having contact with armadillos, including one who frequently hunted and cooked the animals for meat, only bolstered the researchers’ confidence.
​

PS. Leprosy should now be added as another item in the list of hazards for living in Texas. :cool:
 
Reading this thread - and also reading the blog of the lady who travels in, and lives out of, her Prius, got me to wondering how long it will be before we see hybrid RV's.

The type of Class C that I'm interested in typically gets around 10-12 mpg. A class C that gets 20-25mpg would be a wonderful thing methinks - especially with a full complement of solar panels on the roof helping the efficiency.
 
I would guess that the current hybrid engine technology, if applied to a smaller and streamlined RV like the Sprinter-based class B, would get to 20-25mpg easily. The diesel engine is already at 18mpg, I believe.

But it is really hopeless for the conventional brick-like class C. As I described in an earlier post, the terminal velocity of my class C is only around 65mph going down a 6% slope. That's when the aero drag is equal to the gravity pulling the vehicle down.

So, when traveling 65mph on level ground, overcoming that aero drag requires the same force as pushing a perfectly streamlined vehicle up a 6% slope. That's terrible!
 
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Major Tom said:
Reading this thread - and also reading the blog of the lady who travels in, and lives out of, her Prius, got me to wondering how long it will be before we see hybrid RV's.

The type of Class C that I'm interested in typically gets around 10-12 mpg. A class C that gets 20-25mpg would be a wonderful thing methinks - especially with a full complement of solar panels on the roof helping the efficiency.
Click to expand...

Around here the UPS brown delivery trucks are all hybrid and they look similar in size to small RV's so maybe it won't be too long.
 
I suspect that the delivery trucks get more advantage from hybrid engines due to their stop-and-go profile, plus low speed driving. I mostly drive my RV on long trips and at sustained highway speeds. The aerodynamic effects overwhelm anything else.

If we have no drag, once an object is up to speed, it requires no energy to keep it moving. And aero drag on brick-like vehicles far exceeds tire rolling drag.
 
NW-Bound said:
Tire threads aside, here's why one should be careful with armadillos: leprosy!

Here's some info from the Web (bold-faced words are mine). I guess BBQ sauce would not be sufficient to make the meat safe.
A little background first: armadillos are one of the few animals, aside from human beings, that carry the leprosy-causing bacteria. The disease itself — which is characterized by disfiguring skin sores and nerve damage — is extremely rare in the U.S., with about 150 cases diagnosed annually. Most Americans who contract leprosy have worked in areas overseas where leprosy is endemic, such as parts of Brazil, the Congo and India; these cases are considered imported.

But, then, health authorities found that up to one-third of U.S. cases appeared to have been contracted in country — even in victims who didn’t seem to have had any contact with a human leprosy patient. These cases were most common in the states of Texas and Louisiana, but the range is now slowly expanding. Armadillos — almost by process of elimination — were suspected, but there was no solid evidence.

The NEJM researchers — from the Global Health Institute and Louisiana State University — drew up a study that included 33 wild armadillos known to have the disease, and 50 leprosy patients. They found a new strain of M. leprae, called 3I, in 28 armadillos and 22 patients who had never been abroad (and thus could not have contracted the disease from other people with leprosy). After sequencing the new strain and comparing it to other known strains from around the world, the researchers concluded that the leprosy patients and the infected armadillos had the same strain. The fact that eight of the patients recalled having contact with armadillos, including one who frequently hunted and cooked the animals for meat, only bolstered the researchers’ confidence.
​
PS. Leprosy should now be added as another item in the list of hazards for living in Texas. :cool:
Click to expand...
That may be true, but keep in mind that armadillos love to dig up and eat underground yellow jacket nests, that is, the larvae.
 
Alan said:
Around here the UPS brown delivery trucks are all hybrid and they look similar in size to small RV's so maybe it won't be too long.
Click to expand...
I thought UPS was using hydraulic hybrids, designed to optimize savings during stop & go driving. Looks great for delivery routes but not sure how applicable that technology might be to the world of RV's.
 
NW-Bound said:
But it is really hopeless for the conventional brick-like class C. As I described in an earlier post, the terminal velocity of my class C is only around 65mph going down a 6% slope. That's when the aero drag is equal to the gravity pulling the vehicle down.

So, when traveling 65mph on level ground, overcoming that aero drag requires the same force as pushing a perfectly streamlined vehicle up a 6% slope. That's terrible!
Click to expand...

Perhaps we're in for a future of aerodynamically streamlined class C's? I'm thinking we're probably a way off from that.
 
While I am talking about aerodynamic drag, can anyone here take a guess of how much drag is on a rifle bullet, such as an M-16 round?

It's HUGE! Out of curiosity, I once consulted a ballistic table that showed muzzle velocity of a round, and then its velocity at 1000 ft, 3000 ft, etc... I then assumed that the bullet underwent constant deceleration due to aero drag as it exited the muzzle, and computed that deceleration.

I do not remember the exact number, but it was several G's of deceleration.

And many air-to-air missiles decelerate as fast as that bullet after their propellant burn out.
 
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REWahoo said:
I thought UPS was using hydraulic hybrids, designed to optimize savings during stop & go driving. Looks great for delivery routes but not sure how applicable that technology might be to the world of RV's.
Click to expand...

Cool :)


I'd just noticed the hybrid drive words on the side, and not looked into it in detail.
 
Major Tom said:
Perhaps we're in for a future of aerodynamically streamlined class C's? I'm thinking we're probably a way off from that.
Click to expand...
Class C RV makers do not even bother to round-off any edges of the MH body, except for premium makers like Chinook and some other brands.

Glenn Morrissette of the "To Simplify" RV blog reported something like 13mpg on his Chinook, while I cannot get more than 9.8mpg on mine. And as you probably know already, he is downsizing to a Vanagon, mainly because of his gas bill.

Yes, it's sad. I usually stop at Costco for gas in my RV trips (to save a few bucks), and while I spent 10 min pumping gas and felt sorry for the motorist waiting behind me, he probably felt sorry for me spending that money. And I have read of an RV'er with a big class A (a converted double-deck bus) holding 300+ gal of diesel.

And he got bored with RV and bought a boat with a fuel capacity of 3300 gal. :facepalm:
 
The lady who lives out of her Prius had it figured out quite well. I like how she can leave her heater on all night, and the engine only runs very occasionally when needed - plus, when it does so, it is quiet, so won't disturb her.

It was that fact, plus the fuel economy, that got me to wondering about the application of hybrid technology to RV's.

Once the same chassis' that are now used for class B's and class C's become hybrid, we might see some of the custom manufacturers such as Chinook, Roadtrek, LazyDaze etc develop new streamlined body designs. I look forward to that day. Actually, on my budget, I look forward to that day + 10 years, so I can afford to buy a nice used one, by which time my RV days will be behind me :(
 
But for a single person, you can get a used Sprinter-based class B diesel with decent MPG right now.

Or you can spend the time to build your own travel trailer like this guy who puts enough solar cells on top, such that he could run a small A/C from the solar panels! Yes, that is the first! It requires much better insulation than is in factory trailers.

It worked, but he is ripping the walls out to put in even more insulation. Said it was OK up to 95F outside temperature, but he wanted better.

If you do not know of this guy, search for "over the top cargo trailer". Really cool!
 
Chuckanut, I have a Lincoln MKZ hybrid. It's sweet!!! It has more room than the
Prius and consistently gets between 39 and 42 mpg over the two years I've owned it. We drove it from NJ to Cape Cod and back last year and it was a dream.
The 2013 model is improved - supposed to get up to 47 mpg with lithium ion batteries.

Go for it! The Lincoln is the smoothest and most spacious hybrid on the road today - and its 100% American made.
 
How about repairs and maintenance costs? I figure anybody can do an oil change but what happens if the drive train needs work? Is that something only a Toyota dealer can handle? I have a good independent repair shop near me that I trust.
 
Siestatime said:
Chuckanut, I have a Lincoln MKZ hybrid. It's sweet!!! It has more room than the
Prius and consistently gets between 39 and 42 mpg over the two years I've owned it. We drove it from NJ to Cape Cod and back last year and it was a dream.
The 2013 model is improved - supposed to get up to 47 mpg with lithium ion batteries.

Go for it! The Lincoln is the smoothest and most spacious hybrid on the road today - and its 100% American made.
Click to expand...
Does Ford know that?

http://media.lincoln.com/images/10031/2012_MKZHybrid_Specs.pdf

Final assembly location Hermosillo Stamping and Assembly Plant, Mexico
Click to expand...

I found scads of other websites confirming Mexico...

And domestic content for the 2011 MKZ 2.5L HEV looks like 20%, with 45% Mexico & 20% Japan?
 

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NW-Bound said:
Tire threads aside, here's why one should be careful with armadillos: leprosy!

PS. Leprosy should now be added as another item in the list of hazards for living in Texas. :cool:
Click to expand...
Yeah, I do admit we have plenty of them around where I live. But they are pretty widespread - I see plenty of armadillos in Georgia, for example.

The leprosy carrier thing has been known for a loooong time. I've never had the urge to pick an armadillo up, although their eyesight is so poor they'll walk right up to you if you don't watch it.

The other day I was amused watching an armadillo - he sure looked like he was carefully sneaking past that border patrol vehicle. But he was headed for Mexico!
 
One more sidetrack on the Prius, some of the tech and Prius sites talk about using the the Prius as a small whole house backup generator. Probably would not consider it with one under warranty but an older model maybe, first by installing an inverter (a large UPS)in the house then using the Prius to charge the UPS. One link to one of the tech sites:

http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/archive/index.php/t-12962.html

We have a class A with a diesel generator and a Honda EU2000i for emergency backup but still an interesting concept. You could drive the Prius everyday keeping the gas tank full and have a instantly available backup generator without having to worry about storing gas cans, etc.
 
HFWR said:
North American... :LOL:
Click to expand...
I guess I need to find Japan on a map again, didn't realize it was in North America...

Is any volume production car 100% American any more?
 
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