Someone brought this up in another forum as a hybrid negative. He said electric motors produce ozone and that the larger motors in the Prius will negate the benefit of reduced CO2 emissions. Thoughts?
My initial thought is that ozone is created by a high voltage spark gap which occurs in motors that have carbon brushes and armatures (like a drill motor). If I'm not mistaken, permanent magnet motors do not produce ozone since there is nothing more than a magnetic field being induced and collapsed at timed intervals.
Well, then, I'm trading my Prius for an Escalade. Can I get with a carburetor so the solenoid motors in the fuel injectors don't release ozone? Nate
Dave, Ozone in the lower atmosphere is a bad thing. Scars lung issues, etc. In the lower atmosphere NOx and CO and HydroCarbons work with UV radiation to create O3 (ozone). Ironically, in the upper atmosphere (where Ozone is a good thing) NOx detroys ozone because the atmosphereic pressure is lower. Oxygenating gasoline helps reduce NOx and CO emissions. I don't know about the electric motor issue. Sounds like unruhly has an answer though.
Brushless motors, such as the ones on the Prius, don't make ozone. You need a high voltage spark for that, as was already mentioned in a previous reply. Tom
