Shotgun said:
>I'd settle for a retro-fit electric motor that fit around my drive-shaft.
>Control from the brake could provide regenerative braking, and return
>extra excelleration at startup.
Check out Electromotive R&D of Manassas, Virginia.
The have been doing this kind of retro-fit for 4-5 years.
http://www.electromotive-inc.com/hybrid/hybrid.h tm
Their primary product is computer controlled ignitions and engine controllers for racers. This system knows the position of the crankshaft to a ridiculous precision (sorry I forgot the numbers).
Using this data, they connect an electric motor to the crankshaft. It switches the motor into generator mode on the power stroke, and then switches it to motor mode for the
other strokes. I toured the factory and test drove a retro-fitted hatchback car a year ago with the Electric Vehicle Association of DC http://www.evadc.org/ . The engine ran so smoothly, I had trouble feeling the engine speed through the stickshift!
I asked if this meant they could eliminate the gas engine's flywheel, and they said theoretically yes, but if the computer ever fails, they want it there as backup.
They use a motor of 10% the rating of the gas engine, in this case 10 hp IIRC. The two complement each other, the electric has the most torque where the gas has the least. It had very impressive acceleration for a hatchback, and is reported to get ~60-70 mpg.
Cost is about $5000, including the competition grade ignition and fuel controllers.
Don't know if they could put in just the hybrid part without the ignition and fuel bits.
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Shotgun said:
h tm
>I'd settle for a retro-fit electric motor that fit around my drive-shaft.
>Control from the brake could provide regenerative braking, and return
>extra excelleration at startup.
Check out Electromotive R&D of Manassas, Virginia.
The have been doing this kind of retro-fit for 4-5 years.
http://www.electromotive-inc.com/hybrid/hybrid.
Their primary product is computer controlled ignitions and engine controllers for racers. This system knows the position of the crankshaft to a ridiculous precision (sorry I forgot the numbers).
Using this data, they connect an electric motor to the crankshaft. It switches the motor into generator mode on the power stroke, and then switches it to motor mode for the
other strokes. I toured the factory and test drove a retro-fitted hatchback car a year ago with the Electric Vehicle Association of DC http://www.evadc.org/ . The engine ran so smoothly, I had trouble feeling the engine speed through the stickshift!
I asked if this meant they could eliminate the gas engine's flywheel, and they said theoretically yes, but if the computer ever fails, they want it there as backup.
They use a motor of 10% the rating of the gas engine, in this case 10 hp IIRC. The two complement each other, the electric has the most torque where the gas has the least. It had very impressive acceleration for a hatchback, and is reported to get ~60-70 mpg.
Cost is about $5000, including the competition grade ignition and fuel controllers.
Don't know if they could put in just the hybrid part without the ignition and fuel bits.