The GrEeN InItIaTiVe.............................

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’...................