Diesel Hybrids on the Beat & in the Garage

Mayor Bloomberg is truly taking a step in the right direction by converting the NYC Taxi fleet to hybrid vehicles. This in turn will lower exhaust emissions in the City and our dependency on foreign oil. I say why not take it a step further. Along with the yellow taxis we all see around the city, there are just as many police cruisers (marked and unmarked) throughout the five boroughs. 

 

Yesterday I posted a comment on the DeSmogBlog.com in regards to the idea of swapping out gas powered NYC police cruisers, over a period of time, with diesel powered cars. At best diesel engines are 50% more efficient than a same sized gas engine. The increased efficiency to due to several factors.

1. Diesel engines use compressed air to create a reaction when mixed with diesel fuel. With the compression ratios twice as high as they are in gas engines, the air gets extremely hot and combusts without the need of a spark. In simpler terms, the more compression in the cylinder the more efficient the engine will be.
2. One gallon of diesel fuel is actually heavier than one gallon of unleaded gasoline. Both fuels are comprised of carbon and hydrogen atom chains. The chains in diesel fuel are longer which makes the fuel heavier and more efficient. So, by comparison a gallon of diesel fuel is 17% more efficient than a gallon of unleaded gasoline.

My point is, over a period of time the City of New York should phase out gasoline powered NYPD police cruisers and replace them with diesel hybrid electric cruisers. The reason I suggest diesel hybrid electric cruisers again is two fold.

 

1. Diesel engines are sluggish off the line. The addition of electric motors solves the problem of acceleration in emergency situations.
2. As we all know hybrid diesel and gas engines achieve even better fuel economy on city streets. The energy created from braking is stored in a bank of batteries to power the electric motors in the future.

 

In the future, I think we'll see diesel hybrid police cruisers in all urban areas and even possibly diesel hybrids in our garages.