Posted on 09/06/2012 8:05:23 PM PDT by rawhide
Even with an increasing number of car manufacturers building hybrid cars, it's hard for a lot of people to justify buying a new car for an extra 10 miles per gallon in fuel savings.
But a former IBM engineer and current professor at Middle Tennessee State University named Charles Perry and his students have designed a hybrid retrofit kit that may soon turn any gas powered car or truck into a hybrid.
It's been in the works for the past few years, but the technology is getting closer to becoming a reality
Prof. Perry's design takes a lot of the confusion out of hybrid technology, making it more realistic and accessible to car owners. The kit attaches to the rear wheels of just about any car or truck, and is powered by a lithium ion battery in the trunk. Sure, not everyone could install it themselves, but Perry insists that if you can change your brakes, you can install the kit.
When it comes to market he hopes to retail the kit for around $3,000, with battery costs as the main factor in determining the price.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Also reporter's video at link
Much longer news article here: http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Renewable-Energy/New-Retrofit-Kit-can-Turn-Any-Car-into-a-Plug-In-Hybrid.html
I have a kit for turning any car into a hybrid too. It’s called a “hybrid” decal and you can paste one on in seconds ;-)
OTOH, many will be looking at converting to natural gas versus gasoline. We have a LOT of that, at very cheap prices in the foreseeable future.
I wish them well with their invention and business but, as presented, the title “...Turns Any Car Into A Hybrid” is really stretching it.
Now THAT was pretty cool! And the fact that it can be installed into just about any new vehicle might make this guy some serious bucks.
This is really some outstanding engineering. There is nothing new here, but some very innovative packaging and an approach that may very well lead to enormous commercial success. Have to say, Mr. Perry seems like a no BS “engineer’s engineer”, so those who want to draw comparisons with Obama’s green energy crap would be well advised to pay attention to the differences rather than perceived similarities.
Of course, it will vanish into some vault where the Pogue Carburetor design is hidden. ;’) Meanwhile, I’ll just rely on my fuel line magnets. Thanks rawhide.
Stretching it? How so? It seems like a perfectly accurate description to me. Essentially you put on a new “wheel” and add the battery/control package to a conventional vehicle, and it operates independently. It’s actually a power-split hybrid just like the Prius, in that both electric and gasoline systems provide power in parallel. He calls it a plug-in bybrid because that’s how it is recharged, as opposed to having the gas engine recharge the battery like the Prius does.
This would make my 57 Bel Air current.
“Stretching it? How so?”
Rear wheel drive, drum brakes, available wheel well clearance, a safe and available space for an unknown battery pack - Ironically, an example of one that probably would not work would be the ‘71 Camaro the ABC Wier mentions up front, “even your own ‘71 Camaro”.
So the “kit” is like a make-up kit that turns your car into a fag car.
You got snookered by the fuel line magnets? Ha, you silly goose. You shoulda gone with the corroborator hurricane funnel like I did.
I have a FWD car - presumably the type of vehicle this device is targetted towards.
If you look at the suspension in the front, it is quite a bit more substantial than that of the back. The reason - the force exerted by the drivetrain propelling the vehicle has to be transferred through that suspension, along with the force of braking. Those forces occur in both directions up front.
By contrast, the rear suspension is significantly lighter. It only has to deal with braking, and since braking is front-biased, the rear suspension doesn’t have to deal with as much braking force. The design offers very little provision for transmitting propulsive force via the rear suspension, which occurs in the opposite direction as braking forces.
Unless I misunderstand this device, it’s supposed to bolt onto a vehicle like mine and suddenly provide additional power to the vehicle on the currently undriven axle. If that’s the case, it’s likely going to rip the rear suspension right out of the car if it’s at all effective at that.
I already own a couple of gas/air hybrids..
Lol
All good points.
The torque number mentioned for the electric motors are comparable to that of the existing gas motor. Not insignificant.
This system looks like it restricts air flow around the brakes, which can reduce their operating life and reduce their effectiveness. You would have to wonder how this system would interact with anti-lock braking systems.
From a physical standpoint, it looks like it is best suited to a drum brake system, in which the motor components can surround the existing drum. It might not be so easy (or even possible) to integrate this with existing disk brake components.
Installing this system would be in no way comparable to changing your brakes, as the inventor claims. Unless you happen to be a pretty competent mechanic, you will have to pay someone to install this system.
When mounted on the rear wheels of a FWD car, it effectively turns the car into a four wheel drive, which might be a good thing in some situations, but it might also upset the factory efforts to ensure stability (electronic stability control systems) and generally unbalance the handling of the car, which could result in a vehicle that is dangerous to drive in less that optimum conditions.
Lawyers would have a field day with systems like this, which fundamentally alter the overall mechanical design of a car once people start having accidents with it (even if the hybrid system isn’t the cause).
Properly done, the controller for the electric motors would have to be linked into the car’s computer as more and more cars are drive-by-wire designs. Generally speaking, car manufacturers are loath to give aftermarket companies access to their software designs.
A buyer of this system would have to be aware that it would have a serious impact on the factory drivetrain warranty, if that happens to still be in effect.
Last but not least, it also compromises the utility of a car by taking up a big chunk of the luggage space.
i don’t believe it. sounds like a hoax to me, sorry.
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