O.k., I admit that the MHD did sound good at first as I was mentally blinded by the thought of 50 - 60 mpg figures (drool being wiped off my chin). But upon really thinking this through... I may have been *gulp* wrong.
Picture driving home on a dark stormy night. You have on your headlights, fog lights, windshield wipers and a/c on defrost. The B-52's are wailing out "Love Shack" on the stereo and you are stopping at a red light. Oops... off goes the engine. What about the other components???? Does the battery run the lights, defrost, wipers, etc.???? Can't have all that shut down or 106 year old Grandpa will surely slam into the rear of your Smart as your tail lights are out. If the battery keeps running these items, that's quite a strain on the battery.
Also, my uncle, a retired engineer having designed helicopters and worked with NASA, said from his POV that first, the starting and stopping of the engine will present more wear and strain on the engine. It will probably shorten the lifespan. This feature will also cause strain on the starter motor and ignition. He said he would NOT recommend it.
Best option... petition for the DIESEL, convert it to run on used veggie oil, and become friendly with the manager of your local Micky D's!
IMO I would like them to have it as an upgradable option and or to come on the new SMARTS. I would pay up to $700 to make mine MHD.
Stopping and going of the engine may be true but if so does that mean all the hybrids in the market will not have a long engine lifespand because they are designed for the gas engine to stop when the electric motor is being used unless under heavy acceleration? Like the Prius at low speeds it runs on electric and then the gas engine shuts on. Imaging with rush hour stop and go traffic.
I don't think it will reduce the life spand of the motor where it would be visualy an issue for us. Usualy we trade in our cars after 100,000 -150,000 miles anyways.
Not sure how exactly that works in cars like Prius, but the electric engine kicks in when the gas goes off so you still have power. As for the life of the gas engine... maybe it's not so bad in the hybrids since some of the time the gas engine isn't used at all. But at red lights...the car still has a/c going, etc. since the electric engine (charged by braking) is running. At least that is my understanding. Sounds like the MHD Smart would be totally shut off since no electric back up resulting in no power to run anything... right????
Not sure how exactly that works in cars like Prius, but the electric engine kicks in when the gas goes off so you still have power. As for the life of the gas engine... maybe it's not so bad in the hybrids since some of the time the gas engine isn't used at all. But at red lights...the car still has a/c going, etc. since the electric engine (charged by braking) is running. At least that is my understanding. Sounds like the MHD Smart would be totally shut off since no electric back up resulting in no power to run anything... right????
Ahhh I see that is a great point. I wonder what is SMARTS solution to that. Im sure the people on the European forums would beable to give us insight since they currently have the MHD version.
The electric backup in the mhd smart is the battery. I just looked over at smartmaniacs.co.uk and they have a thread on the Popular Mechanics article but don't seem to have any more info on the mhd than we do.
Back to the question, if the mhd is stopped for a long period of time, will it have the option to restart the gas engine before the battery goes completely dead? Inquiring minds, etc.
Excerpt from eMBHave you been considering a new 45 kW/61 bhp petrol-powered smart fortwo but were envious of the micro hybrid drive (mhd) found on its 52kW/71 bhp big brother? Your jealousy can officially be laid to rest my dear readers, because starting In October of 2008, both models will now come standard with the fuel-saving technology. In total, mhd along with its user-friendly automatic start-stop system reduces NEDC fuel consumption by an average of 8 percent, while in the city, fuel savings of up to 20 percent are possible.
In the owner's manual, it warns about turning off the engine as it kills the power brakes and power steering units as well making it harder to stop and steer. I gotta believe they MUST have some back-up besides the little battery to keep other vital functions operating while stopped if the gas engine is off. Would love to know more about how this works... let us know if anyone finds out!
Yeah... some say we are getting MHD in U.S., but Daimler seems to be doing a thumbs down for now. Whether we get it as an option or automatically included or not at all... it's still interesting to know just how that system works.
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