FIRST of all, an informative article -- in particular since it was done locally. Nothing like a local perspective on the Prius.
Always wondered what the Prius performance was in the Philippines. I have a slight disagreement with the author. She suggested that plug-in hybrids are superior to the current gas/electric setup. Well, in so far as the individual car is concerned, yes, it will certainly use up less gas.
But a lot of people forget (even here in the US) that plugging in a car means it uses power from the electrical grid. And in the Philippines, majority of our power still comes from generators fueled by dirty fuel, i.e., coal, diesel, bunker fuel and the like.
It is commendable that we now have power generated from natural gas but that is still not the norm. In theory if all the vehicles in the Philippines switched to electricity, we would still have problems since we would eventually overload our electrical grid. Now if we can generate that extra power from natural gas, then good, but if all the extra electricity came from coal, think of all the
extra smog we would now be producing.
In my mind the current setup of gas/electric is still the best. Just imagine if all the vehicles in the Philippines averaged 25 km/liter, wouldn't that be good for everybody! And we wouldn't have to build new power plants to boot.
-- Don Gonzaga, Fort Worth, Texas (via e-mail)
Reader reacts to Prius review
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Looks like Don Gonzaga has been away from the Philippines for too long. As of 2002, Hydro and geothermal power account for 36% of the Philippine power supply. Natural gas supplies 18% for a frand total of 54%. Good enough to supply a fleet of Prius (and other hybrid) vehicles, dont you think?
You have to remember that even coal fired plants have efficiency levels several times over that of the lowly internal combustion engine. The energy source will shift to power plants, yes, but they'll be cleaner per KM (just imagine that electric cars will also increase efficiency in themselves because you only need a motor, and not an engine anymore = less moving parts = more efficiency)
Yes 54% of power generation if from "clean' fuel (back in 2002), what is it now? but nevertheless, my comment was based on the presumption that all vehicles will be converted to plug in hybrids. which means an increase in demand for power. What kind of generator would provide this added demand for electricity? If natural gas then good, but what if we use coal to generate to meet this incrrease demand? then it is not worth it. A hybrid as it is presently implemented is still the better choice until they come up with a new battery that requires less electricity to recharge. Now hydrogen fuel cell vehicles is still the best option. However, until they can solve the problem of setting up hydrogen filling stations then we might better stick to gas or diesel hybrids.