Hybrid Vehicle & EMF Part 3: EMF In Hybrid Vehicle

Let's do a recap on the electrical property of hybrid car

Car Model	Electric Motor Type	Motor Output (kW)	Battery Voltage (V)	Current ( A = W/V)
Toyota Prius	AC	27	201.6	134
Toyota Prius C	AC	19.3	144	134
Honda Civic Hybrid	DC	20	108 - 172	116 - 185
Honda Jazz Hybrid	DC	10	100.8	99

Some guess works:

1. It is DC between the battery packs and the electric motor.
2. There is no step-down or step-up in both voltage and current between the battery pack and electric motor. Any step-down and step-up will cause heat and energy loss.a

Although multiple study show that there is no evidence of health risk on low frequency EMF, is it really the case for hybrid car, where you are so near to the EMF source, in an enclosed metal cage (like in a microwave oven) and expose for long duration?

In early 2010, Israel Ministry of Environment Protection is expected to publish the results of the study this week. The study will group hybrids sold in Israel into three different radiation groups, reports Israel’s Calcalist. It’s expected that the current-gen Prius will be deemed ‘safe’, while the Honda Insight and Civic Hybrid (as well as the prev-gen Prius) will be listed as emitting ‘excessive’ radiation. Recently, the research committee stirred the public conscious as it advised the Israeli Police against adding hybrid cars to its mostly diesel powered fleet, due to medical hazards to officers exposed to radiation for lengthy periods of time. (Source: The Truth About Cars)

Quote from Wikipedia:

However, Toyota^[136] and several independent studies^[137][138] have indicated that aside from a brief spike when accelerating, the electromagnetic fields within the Prius are no different from those of a conventional car and do not exceed the ICNIRP^[139] exposure guidelines.

Sound alarming? BUT Consumer Reports released a study on car EMF level in mid year 2010, surprisingly they found non-hybrid car generally generate higher EMF compare to hybrid car.

Also information from Japan EMF Information Center, indicated that EMF in hybrid car is within the safe level: Assessments of exposure to magnetic fields of hybrid cars and electric cars were reported at the BioEM 2009 Meeting held in June 2009 (jointly hosted by the European BioElectromagnetics Association (EBEA) and the Bioelectromagentics Society (BEMS)). The result of measuring EMF of direct current to 100-Hz frequencies leads to the conclusion that "the average exposure was within 5% of the reference level for the public specified in the ICNIRP guidelines(1998) and the maximum value was up to about 15% of the reference level."

Go to Part 4