Hybrid Vehicles: and the Future of Personal Transportation [Paperback]

Allen Fuhs (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1420075349 | ISBN-13: 978-1420075342 | Publication Date: September 19, 2008 | Edition: 1

Uncover the Technology behind Hybrids and Make an Intelligent Decision When Purchasing Your Next Vehicle
With one billion cars expected to be on the roads of the world in the near future, the potential for war over oil and the negative environmental effects of emissions will be greater than ever before. Now is the time to seriously consider an alternative to standard automobiles.

Exploring practical solutions to these problems, Hybrid Vehicles and the Future of Personal Transportation provides broad coverage of the technologies involved in manufacturing and operating hybrids. It reviews key components of hybrid and pure electric vehicles, including batteries, fuel cells, and ultracapacitors. The book also discusses both concept and production-bound hybrids as well as the economics and safety issues of hybrid ownership. In addition, the author supplies effective tips on how to save gasoline with conventional and hybrid automobiles.

Making the jargon of fuel-efficient vehicles accessible to a wide audience, this guide explains the history of hybrids, how they work, and their impact on the environment. It will help you make a sound decision concerning the purchase and operation of a hybrid or electric vehicle.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Distinguished Professor and Fellow of Society of Automotive Engineers, Carmel, California, USA

Product Details

• Paperback: 504 pages
• Publisher: CRC Press; 1 edition (September 19, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1420075349
• ISBN-13: 978-1420075342
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,543,263 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Could have been a great book..., May 25, 2009

By 

B. Nibali (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hybrid Vehicles: and the Future of Personal Transportation (Paperback)

I am a mechanical engineer working on a development project and purchased this newly-released book based on the contents description and author's credentials ("Distinguished professor and SAE Fellow").

I am extremely disappointed with the content of this book. From literally the inside of the front jacket it is full of technical errors and incomprehensible charts. Sentence fragments are pervasive and the writing in general is imprecise and often overly casual. Occasionally the author tosses in seemingly random thoughts that serve to distract the reader. (What does pickup truck tailgate position have to do with hybrid vehicles? Nothing.)

If you overlook the incorrect unit conversions on the jacket (degrees Kelvin??) and flip past the literally 23 page Contents (??!) you come to the Preface, where you will find some clues to what went wrong. The author restates the purpose of the book about four times; "for buyers or would-be buyers of hybrids...", "intended for potential hybrid customers", "information for the educated citizen", "for the engineer...a starting point for additional research". I think I disagree with all of these. As a 460+ page book full of equations this is clearly not a buyer's guide. Unfortunately, no engineer can make use of the contents because it is so full of errors and inconsistencies that any seemingly useful nuggets of information must be researched from scratch to determine their validity. What responsible author cites Wikipedia as the source for a graph used to illustrate a key technical concept? (Figure 7.1)

It is perfectly acceptable to publish a technical book that is not written for engineers. It is another thing entirely to release a book that is full of charts, graphs, equations, and statistics that imply a level of technical accuracy that does not stand up under scrutiny.

My overwhelming impression is that the book was rushed to the printer without adequate proofreading and technical editing. Perhaps the publisher gave in to the pressure to cash in on the fuel economy craze that hit in late 2008, and what could have been a useful and comprehensive technical overview turned into a typed collection of notes. It is indeed a shame, since the basic research and technical understanding was clearly there. The author and/or publisher simply did not have the discipline to properly finish the job. I fear for our collective future as an innovative society if we begin to accept work like this.

I believe there is a place in the market for an interesting and accessible technical overview of hybrid vehicle technologies. This is not that book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A unique book on hybrid vehicles, October 20, 2009

By 

EMprof (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hybrid Vehicles: and the Future of Personal Transportation (Paperback)

I am a professor of electrical engineering, so I have critically evaluated the portions relevant to my area and found them to be accurate. In the book Dr. Fuhs has covered the four basic areas of power electronics, motor/generators (M/Gs), electrochemistry, and control. He has done a good job of connecting the electrical and mechanical aspects of the hybrid to illustrate the important tradeoffs. Many of his explanations start with basic physics, which allows everyone to follow the analysis.

I also liked the way he treated the commercial aspects of hybrids (the consequences of vehicle size, options, weight, etc.) and explained the nuances of the various vehicle rating systems (a discussion which should definitely be of value to consumers).

The book covers a very broad range of engineering and technology disciplines, and in this sense is unique from all other books on the topic. It has many "gems" of wisdom and thoughtful insight into the area of personal transportation.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Six Stars, September 11, 2009

By 

Expat of (Dalkey, Ireland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hybrid Vehicles: and the Future of Personal Transportation (Paperback)

As an overview of hybrids, this is an endlessly fascinating book by Allen Fuhs.

Extraordinarily broad in its coverage, it ranges from peak oil (with useful new details) to the differences in suitable electric motors; it is filled with lots of practical nuts-and-bolts calculations that will appeal to the armchair-engineer who enjoys interpreting numbers and juggling costs, pay-offs, and alternatives in range, fuel consumption and weights. (*)

Because of Big Oil disinformation efforts -- see EV web sites and discussions hijacked by AI-generated posts of encyclopedic substance and length -- I don't accept the criticism of other reviewers as necessarily valid.

Big Oil disinformation? Surely you jest? Wally Rippel - WKTEC - "There is a $100T (T as in Trillion) worth of business still to be done (in oil in the ground)." For obvious reasons 'peak oil' and 'global warming' are not popular topics for Big Oil - see the last eight years for details. You bet there is disinformation. And a lot more besides. Got Peter Dale Scott?

I found it in Stanford University's bookstore and, in this case, go by the theory that if it is good enough for Stanford U's engineering students it is good enough for me, and perhaps you. You might try to look at a copy before making your own mind up.

(*) The extraordinary broadness of its coverage and its clever and approachable explanation of the tradeoffs in hybrid vehicle design -- noted by EMprof -- and above all, the clarity of its thinking, are very reminiscent of two works that were outstanding in a different field - Darrol Stinton's The Design of the Aeroplane, and The Anatomy of the Aeroplane - two magnificent books for those interested in another EAA - the Experimental Aircraft Association.

Another EAA; since the EV was (re) born and the Electric Auto Association became more widely known.