f toyota and f the prius, just a joke from the word go.
why use "atkinson cycle" engine without actually being "atkinson cycle"?
the way they do it, you use energy to get air INTO the cylinder, then wopo, use energy pushing it back OUT as you wait for the inlet valves to close.
that defeats all this tech developed to enhance airflow into a cylinder...cam timing, all that guff. filling a cylinder then pumping half of it back out again is just plain stupid. it takes energy to get it moving. halting it then pushing it the other way is just wasting energy.
feel free to prove how that concept isnt utterly braindead
then...whats with the radiator? cooling system? isnt that just a way to dump energy, excess heat? waste it? blow it out the exhaust or chimney or whatever? akin to lighting cigars with banknotes if you ask me.
if they DO use a free piston engine, and they DO use its wasted heat to do something useful, say...peltier generation, absorbtion refrigeration (why run a compressor when you could use the dumped heat to cool the cabin?), stirling generators (a stirling can work with less than 2 degree temperature differential!) then finally, i will accept toyota's prius.
until then, the mere sight, mention, awareness of the toyota prius makes me froth at the mouth...a joke car for joke yuppies that think drinking spring water from 70% recycled plastic bottles is being "green" and "eco friendly". suggest the idea that ALL water is and was sewerage at some point and they think youve flipped your lid...its SPRING water! they say... "ecologically harvested in an environmentally friendly manner"... forget how transpiration, evaporation and precipitation all work together in a tightly knit process. yuppies know better
the batteries...do they consider how environmentally damaging the batteries are as they plod along in their uber green hybrid POS??
oh no, of course not, because its "green" and "in touch with the planet and its needs"...
end rant
mmmm, free piston stirling engine with efficiency ratings of 75% plus... it will never happen though. no interest in making things that actually make SENSE these days