Project on Hybrid

INTRODUCTION Honda Honda Motor Company, Ltd is a Japanese multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles Honda was the first Japanese automobile manufacturer to release a dedicated luxury brand, Acura in 1986. Aside from their core automobile and motorcycle businesses, Honda also manufactures garden equipment, marine engines, personal watercraft and power generators, amongst others. Since 1986, Honda has been involved with artificial intelligence/robotics research and released their ASIMO robot in 2000. They have also ventured into aerospace with the establishment of GE Honda Aero Engines in 2004 and the Honda HA-420 Honda Jet, scheduled to be released in 2011. Honda spends about 5% of its revenues into R&D. Honda is the world's largest manufacturer of motorcycles as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than 14 million internal combustion engines each year. Honda is the sixth largest automobile manufacturer in the world. Honda is headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Their shares trade on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange, as well as exchanges in Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Kyoto, Fukuoka, London, Paris and Switzerland. American Honda Motor Co. is based in Torrance, California. Honda Canada Inc. is headquartered in the Scarborough district of Toronto, Ontario, and is building new corporate headquarters in Markha,Ontario, scheduled to relocate in 2008; their manufacturing division, Honda of Canada Manufacturing, is based in Alliston, Ontario. Honda has also created joint ventures around the world, such as Honda Siel Cars and Hero Honda Motorcycles in India, Guangzhou Honda and Dongfeng Honda in China, and Honda Atlas in Pakistan. Hybrid electric In late 1999, Honda launched the first commercial hybrid electric car sold in the US market , the Honda Insight, just one month before the introduction of the Toyota Prius, and initially sold for US$20,000. The first-generation Insight was produced from 2000 to 2006 and had a fuel economy of 70 miles per US gallon (3.4 L/100 km; 84 mpg-imp) for the EPA's highway rating, the most fuel-efficient mass-produced car at the time. Total global sales for the Insight amounted to only around 18,000 vehicles. Honda introduced the second-generation Insight in its home nation of Japan in February 2009, with release in other markets to expected through 2009 the U.S. market will receive the new Insight in April 2009. At $19,800 as a five-door hatchback it will be the least expensive hybrid available in the US. Honda expects to sell 200,000 of the vehicles each year, with half of those sales in the United States. Honda has also been selling since 2002 the Honda Civic Hybrid (2003 model) in the US market, It was followed by the Honda Accord Hybrid, offered in model years 2005 through 2007. Honda is also planning to introduce a hybrid version of its Fit, as well as another unique small hybrid vehicle based on the CR-Z sports car concept that it introduced at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show. Hybrid Electric Vehicle A hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) combines a conventional internal combustion engine propulsion system with an electric propulsion system. The presence of the electric power train is intended to achieve either better fuel economy than a conventional vehicle, or better performance. A variety of types of HEV exist, and the degree to which they function as EVs varies as well. The most common form of HEV is the hybrid electric car, although hybrid electric trucks (pickups and tractors) also exist. Modern HEVs make use of efficiency-improving technologies such as regenerative braking, which converts the vehicle's kinetic energy into battery-replenishing electric energy, rather than wasting it as heat energy as conventional brakes do. Some varieties of HEVs use their internal combustion engine to generate electricity by spinning an electrical generator (this combination is known as a motor-generator), to either recharge their batteries or to directly power the electric drive motors. Many HEVs reduce idle emissions by shutting down the ICE at idle and restarting it when needed; this is known as a start-stop system. A hybrid-electric produces less emissions from its ICE than a comparably-sized gasoline car, as an HEV's gasoline engine is usually smaller than a pure fossil-fuel vehicle, and if not used to directly drive the car, can be geared to run at maximum efficiency, further improving fuel economy. The hybrid-electric vehicle did not become widely available until the release of the Toyota Prius in Japan in 1997, followed by the Honda Insight in 1999. While initially perceived as unnecessary due to the low cost of gasoline, worldwide increases in the price of petroleum caused many automakers to release hybrids in the late 2000s; they are now perceived as a core segment of the automotive market of the future. Worldwide sales of hybrid vehicles produced by Toyota reached 1.0 million vehicles by May 31, 2007, and the 2.0 million mark was reached by August 31, 2009, with hybrids sold in 50 countries. Worldwide sales are led by the Prius, with cumulative sales of 1.43 million by August 2009. The second-generation Honda Insight was the top-selling vehicle in Japan in April 2009, marking the first occasion that an HEV has received the distinction. American automakers have made development of hybrid cars a top priority. History In 1901, while employed at Lohner Coach Factory, Ferdinand Porsche designed the Mixte, a 4WD series-hybrid version of "System Lohner-Porsche" electric carriage previously appeared in 1900 Paris Salon. The Mixte included a pair of generators driven by 2.5-hp Daimler IC engines to extend operating range. The Mixte broke several Austrian speed records, and also won the Exelberg Rally in 1901 with Porsche himself driving. The Mixte used a gasoline engine powering a generator, which in turn powered electric hub motors, with a small battery pack for reliability. It had a range of 50 km, a top speed of 50 km/h and a power of 5.22 kW during 20 minutes. In 1905, H. Piper filed a US patent application for a hybrid vehicle. The 1915 Dual Power, made by the Woods Motor Vehicle electric car maker, had a four- cylinder ICE and an electric motor. Below 15 mph (25 km/h) the electric motor alone drove the vehicle, drawing power from a battery pack, and above this speed the "main" engine cut in to take the car up to its 35 mph (55 km/h) top speed. About 600 were made up to 1918. The first gasoline-electric hybrid car was released by the Woods Motor Vehicle Company of Chicago in 1917. The hybrid was a commercial failure, proving to be too slow for its price, and too difficult to service. In 1931 Erich Gaichen invented and drove from Altenburg to Berlin a 1/2 horsepower electric car containing features later incorporated into hybrid cars. Its maximum speed was 25 miles per hour (40 km/h), but it was licensed by the Motor Transport Office, taxed by the German Revenue Department and patented by the German Reichs-Patent Amt. The car battery was re-charged by the motor when the car went downhill. Additional power to charge the battery was provided by a cylinder of compressed air which was re-charged by small air pumps activated by vibrations of the chassis and the brakes and by igniting oxyhydrogen gas. Purpose and Need of Electric Cars Economic conditions around the world have been very encouraging. Global growth which as 4.8% in 2005 reached 4.9% in 2006 and is expected to hover around this level in the current year also. While the Chinese economy is growing at around 10% without any signs of slow down, the Indian economy is also continuing to grow at more than 8%. In the coming years, I am expecting that the Indian economy will be booming owing to the heavy demand on infrastructure. Energy sector is growing by leaps and bounds as it is receiving the highest attention of both the State Governments and Central Government. India has moved from an argarian economy to a manufacturing economy. The manufacturing sector now contributes around one-fourth of the total GDP and the industrial output has now crossed USD 65 Billion in value. Sustainable economic growth of India as well as rest of the world will depend on effective energy planning. Nearly 40% of the world¶s energy comes from petroleum. Natural gas contributes to another 20% and these two natural resources account for 60% of the world¶s energy. The growth in consumption of oil and natural gas in the past has been such that the consumption has been doubling every 15 years. This trend is likely to continue and will lead to complete depletion of natural resources in next 30 years. It is significant to note that more than 20% of the world¶s total primary energy is consumed in transportation. There are more than 550 million cars currently in the world and in another 20 years the automobile population will reach one billion mark. It is also significant to note that after 1970 the new oil discoveries have been very few and any new discoveries will not make any significant contribution to the world¶s energy pool. Transportation sector which consumes a large share of energy resource of the country also contributes significantly towards pollution. We at Honda have made our mission to provide vehicles which are emission free, which are inexpensive to acquire and operate.

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