Posted on 08/29/2007 5:22:15 AM PDT by Red Badger
200v at 5.5 amp hours (about 160 D cells) is slightly over a kilowatt hour.
Either the 16 or 23 kilowatt power usage would drain it completely in 3 to 4 minutes, however the onboard controller protects the battery life by limiting drain to about 33% of max. Heat generation is intense at those currents (100 amps thru D cells) and the controller measures temp to limit the heat.
Figure ONE minute or less.
Good point, however if the controller is limiting or shutting off the current, then you either get full power for a short time with lots of charge remaining, or less than full power for a much longer period of time. Going with full power would be the sensible thing to do, because power to accelerate would normally only be needed in bursts of less than thirty seconds. Think of how little time elapses between pulling out and easing off on the gas pedal.
There are advantages to going that route because of mechanical simplicity; by putting a motor in each wheel hub you can eliminate the gearbox, driveshaft and differential and you can run the powerplant at a continuous RPM. The downside is the weight of the batteries needed to pull it off. Smaller batteries=bigger powerplant needed=less benefit from going hybrid.
Let’s see:
This battery holds about a kilowatt watt hour which is about 1 horsepower hour when the efficiency of battery heat losses, controller, and motor considered. Drain must be limited to 33% for maximum battery life. Battery weights about 60 pounds and costs $2000.
A very efficient car can run do 60mph on 12 horsepower.
You would need 36 of these batteries....2160 pounds ....$72,000 to drive 60 miles at 60mph.
I think we’re still an order of magnitude away from the right batteries, and probably 2 orders of magnitude if you the existing performance and comfort and price of todays average car.
Not very close, much less very, very close.
You sure it wasn't a Fiero?
What kind of batteries are you talking about?......
However I a pretty old slow driver myself, but I know I need more than 20hp to accelerate .... that engine isn’t there just for charging.
Oh, I remember them all too well and will for the rest of my days. I was a parts mgr for a Chevy dealer when this stuff was being sold to customers believing they were saving themselves a ton of dough.
I kept up to 15 long and short diesel engines in stock at any point in time because Chevy was warrantying every one of them that exploded like a hand grenade!
What a POS!
Sounds like nickel hydride in this case. Lithium is probably best, but double all costs.
The motor on this is not intended to be the sole source for acceleration. The idea here is that it kicks in for acceleration only, so that a smaller main engine can be used. Furthermore, according to the article the battery is charged only by regenerative braking and not from the main engine, so what this really amounts to is a means of saving the energy from braking and using it to get going again.
Yep, according to the article that’s what it is. It’s a small battery only intended to provide a brief (<1 minute) power boost when accelerating.
Had a neighbor in high school whose Buick “spontaneously combusted” in his driveway. He did jail time for insurance fraud!
The diesel is not smaller than the electric motor.
The diesel is the primary battery charger not regen (usually only a small percent or recharge).
If the motor is only used for short periods of time, it’s not making much of an overall contribution is it?
This is a very efficient diesel car with electric, on demand boost.
The total battery capacity is about equal to 6 oz of diesel fuel.
But the article states:
“The electric motor alone is responsible for starting and driving at low speed, while only the diesel engine is used on open roads and highways...”
One week ago today we went to Memphis from Nashville to pick up my neice who was there to finish opening preparations for a store; on the way back we found ourselves in bumper to bumper traffic for three miles.
It took 50 minutes to go that distance.
It was 103F outside and our engine was idling at 205F just creeping and stopping.
Wouldn’t have wanted to open the windows that day.
What do you think of the Tesla?................
“The Volkswagen Lupo 3L TDI has once again proved itself as the world’s most fuel efficient production car by setting yet another record. Gerhard Plattner, an Austrian journalist and economy driving expert, has, for the second time this year, entered the Guinness World Records™ Book in a Volkswagen. Earlier this month Plattner covered a distance of 2,910 miles through 20 European countries in a standard Lupo 3L TDI. He achieved his aim of completing this journey – which started in Oslo, Norway and finished in The Hague in The Netherlands – with just 100 euros worth of fuel. In fact, all he required was 90.94 euros, which corresponds to an average consumption of 2.78 litres per 100 km (101.6 mpg).”
I really suspect this car would do just about as well without the BS, be lighter, and much more affordable.
Not in my price range, but you’re welcome to by one.
I’m still waiting for the $20 million the lady in Africa promised me.
Wow, that’s even better than my scooter, a 2006 Yamaha Vino 125. I burn about 3 litres per 100k. That does improve dramatically if I ride at 70k or slower but I don’t have the patience for that ;-)
If you think about it, $89k is not really all that expensive for a High Performance Sports car. A Chicago Bears football player wrecked his new (400 miles) Lamborghini over the weekend, priced at $300k. But like you said, it’s out of MY price range..... (unless I win the Lotto this weekend!)..............
I have a Dodge Sprinter 2500 hightop van made by Mercedes. It has a 5 cylinder turvo diesel that has no emission odors at all. It cruises easily at 70 mph and gets 23 mpg.
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