Via
GCC:
A company that developed a flywheel energy storage/delivery system for F1 race cars has proposed (at an SAE conference) their use as a less expensive, more efficient option than battery/electric hybridization of trucks & buses.
CVT (left) & flywheel enclosure (right)
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There is a surprisingly close match between the energy storage requirements of an urban bus and the current F1 regulations. This also makes the packaging so much easier than an electrical solution; we can even retro-fit a system without impacting on the passenger space.
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The system mates the flywheel to a specially developed CVT (that ptero posted about here:
New CVT transmission electric-assist with electric assist ) to mate the flywheel to the existing drivetrain.
They say the overall efficiency of the system is greater than a battery hybrid primarily because overall losses in their purely mechanical system are less than converting mechanical energy to chemical/electrical energy and back again.
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Torotrak claims the system offers more than 30% fuel saving over the London bus test cycle
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More info:
Green Car Congress: Torotrak to Present Paper Advocating Flywheel Hybrid System for Buses at SAE Commercial Vehicle Conference
Possibly related...
flywheel. power bus