Joel Walker wrote: > see, to me, the better choice would be a hybrid .... but not the > way they are doing it. back to the original porsche car ... first > car he ever designed: gasoline (or diesel) generator to power > four electric motors, one at each wheel. all-time 4wd. This is called a "series hybrid". The hybrid cars currently on the market are "parallel hybrids". > only problem i can see is the transmission. how to have one. or > do you need one? It depends on the electric motor(s) you use. If you do need a transmission, it'll be a very simple one. Most electric cars that have been produced have used a simple fixed reduction drive. Electric motors start producing torque at 0 rpm, and have very flat torque curves, so there's no need for multiple ratios. The experimental series hybrid I saw at my college used an 8:1 reduction drive. This was good from 0 mph all the way up to 80 mph (which corresponded to the motor's maximum RPM.) > that seems to me to be a better idea than this toyota prius and > honda insight hybrid stuff. those designs, to me, seem way too > complicated ... i mean, you've taken the already complicate > internal combustion engine and its emission problems and made it > worse (by adding the electric side of things). Well, a series hybrid doesn't get away from that. You still have an IC engine. I think there are two reasons we've mostly seen parallel hybrids so far: - Expense. You need a much bigger motor for a series hybrid. Likewise, the power electronics need to handle more current. This all adds up to a more expensive vehicle. - Trust. People don't really trust the electrical stuff in hybrids yet. A parallel hybrid has a built in limp-home mode, since it can move on engine power alone.
-- David Brodbeck, N8SRE '82 Diesel Westfalia '94 Honda Civic Si |
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