I love cars and I love driving. Not to brag too much but as it happens, I think I’m the second-best driver in the world. The US is perhaps the best place in the world for road trips. I’ve been fortunate enough to have dozens of road trips under my belt in the US, a few of them across the continent.
Recently a friend in the valley bought a mid-sized SUV, a 2026 Hyundai Palisade Hybrid. It has three rows of seats. This one is very luxurious, with all sorts of bells and whistles. Fancy seats. Great sound system. Cameras and sensors all around. Lots of nice driving assist features. I look forward to driving it one of these days soon. The specs are great.[1]
Hybrids are a very clever idea. They have a gasoline engine and also electric motors and batteries. Pure electric vehicles (EV) don’t have the gas bits and regular cars don’t have the electric bits.
The thing about hybrids is that they have the advantage of being fuel efficient without the accompanying disadvantage of inducing range anxiety. Hybrids are quite complex machines compared to the other two varieties. They are made possible because of the advances in computing and control technologies.
Being an engineer in my past life, I still retain my fascination about how mechanical things work. I decided to brush up on how hybrids work. YouTube delivered through Technology Connections, a channel I have been following for a few years. It’s very well done.
I used to think that hybrid technology worked on the same principle as diesel-electric locomotives: a diesel engine charges up batteries, and electric motors drive the wheels using battery power. Not so for modern hybrid cars. It’s a lot more sophisticated and for good reasons, as the video explains.
Time for a song. Live from Heart by Sa Trincha.
Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.
NOTES
[1] The Hyundai Palisade Hybrid has a 2.5 liter turbo inline-4 gas engine that delivers 258 hp. It is paired with two electric motors integrated into a 6-speed automatic transmission and a small 1.65 kWh lithium-ion battery. The combined output is 329 horsepower and 339 lb-ft of torque. It does 0-60 mph in about 6.6 seconds. It has a 33 city /35 highway mpg EPA, and a range of 620 miles.
Atanu Dey : Life is a Random Draw 