The
journey for over the past five months at Delhi has kindled many thoughts in me-
some new and some revived....Some of them I can connect with those back home at
Chennai. One such thought process occurs to me whenever I drive-be it the free
highways or the heavy traffic jams of the Mount Road of Chennai or ITO at Delhi
is the effect on the environment. Every time I see the two-wheelers speeding
and squeezing through, like the rats of the Titanic’s third class or the
four-wheelers each of which look like an INS Viraat, letting out emissions, I
just get reminded of Kurt Vonnegut’s quote
‘I really wonder what gave us the right to
wreck this poor planet of ours’.........
I wish each one of us realized like Gary Snyder
that,
‘Nature is not a place to visit, it is a home’.......
This BIG home of ours needs to be protected against
every destructive cause beyond all odds. Let me discuss this from the automotive
perspective..
THE
ROAD AHEAD:
While
the constant Research and Development in the fuel and engine design has paved
way to many roads, the one I find to be providing a promising solution is the Hybrid
solution. Before proceeding further, let’s first get the fog cleared
off about hybrid technology.
‘Hybrid’
as the name says is a technology that combines the conventional fuel-efficient
gas engine with an electric motor that aids the engine during acceleration.
Depending on whether the engines are in parallel or series, they either work
together to accelerate or the gasoline engine aids in charging the batteries,
respectively. Hybrid cars are considered to be highly fuel-efficient for the
following reasons:
·
Small and efficient engines
·
Regenerative
braking where the braking energy is captured in an on board
battery
·
Automatic
engine shut off-where the engine automatically shuts off
when stopped in traffic and later switches on, once back in gear
·
Aerodynamic
design to reduce the effect of drag which opposes the
motion of the vehicle
·
Low
rolling resistance tyres which also reduce the effect of
drag.
OTHER
BENEFITS:
(i)
Maintenance
benefits
In addition to the above mentioned, the following are the other
advantages of resorting to a hybrid car:
· Combined advantage- Could use motor as driving source
in city traffics thus reducing pollution and in highways engines can be used as
driving source to give the peppy feel which car owners expect.
·
Electric cars alone will need charge
every time whereas in hybrid cars the engines will charge the battery.
·
Since the work is shared
between engine and motor, the maintenance would be less whereas in conventional
cars engine needs more maintenance.
·
Plug-in hybrids which can be charged using charging
sockets present at home itself
(ii)
Environmental
benefits
·
Hybrid cars use nickel metal hydride
batteries which are far less toxic than the conventional lead and
nickel-cadmium
·
Highly suitable for long-distance users
as there is high reduction in CO2 emissions
·
Use of lesser fuel compared to conventional
cars hence less strain on the environment
With
the growing importance of hybrid technology, many global auto-players have started
adopting this technology. Honda, Hyundai, Ford, Toyota, Volkswagen etc are involved
in rolling out new cars and the market share of hybrid cars globally is
expected to double in the next three years.
TOYOTA’S INITIATIVE
Toyota
has been a pioneer in the hybrid initiative and rolled out the first version of
its hybrid product, Prius in 1997. Toyota has always been known for its quality
or ‘Quality revolution’ as it can be rightly called. Hence, the high quality of
Toyota can be found in their hybrid productions also.
In
case of India, Prius was launched in 2010. Due to lack of awareness of the
hybrid technology and higher pricing, Prius has acquired a ‘high-end’ car image
in India. Toyota is also coming up with new versions of hybrid like Camry
hybrid which is bound to release by 2013.
With
concepts like lean, JIT solely known for Toyota, the hybrid technology is
another feather in its cap.
SWOT ANALYSIS FOR
TOYOTA PRIUS
|
STRENGTH:
·
Reduced carbon emissions
·
Improved fuel efficiency
·
Brand positioning as a ‘high
quality’ brand.
|
WEAKNESS:
·
High price (27-30 lakhs)
|
|
OPPORTUNITIES:
·
Pioneers in the hybrid segment
·
Strengthening the supply chain
|
THREATS:
·
Competitors with lower priced
products like Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov’s priced at 6.6 lakhs
|
Hybrid
technology with constant research on it, can open gates to many more concepts
and cost reduction in the existing technology.
Finally,
my long thought process comes to an end at the parking lot as I move away from
my scooter thinking whether John Keats came up with those words having
understood the fact that there is always a research going on to find solutions
or improve the ways of living and hence,
‘The poetry of the Earth is never dead’...................
