In alt.autos.ford Matt Whiting > wrote:
> But the energy to recharge the batteries still comes from gasoline. It
> takes gasoline to get to the top of the hill so that you can
> regeneratively charge the batteries on the way down. Yes, recapturing
> this energy that would otherwise be lost to heat via the brakes is a
> good thing, but it isn't a perpertual motion machine.

The energy spent to get the car to the top of the hill is spent to get the
car to the top of the hill, not to charge the batteries. Now that the feat
has been accomplished, if you want to get to the bottom of the hill, you
have to dissipate some energy. You might dissipate it as heat, or you
might put it into a battery.

Next time you go up a hill, some of the energy that you need can come
from the batteries, and some from gasoline.

It's not perpetual motion, but it's not all lost either.

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Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8,-122.5