diesel/electric hybrid released 74 mpg euro cycle

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by LoveLearn

I expect any really well designed diesel-driven electric configuration will be able to reduce engine speed to its least fuel-consumption rpm for the instantly-required throttle-controlled road-horsepower. I expect that diesel will be wonderfully reliable because it will be so ideally loaded, running almost all of the time at low rpms and high throttle settings.

The whole point is that hybrids don't work that way. Yet.
They only add an additional electric drive to an ICE.
As a result, the ICE is still the main engine and it still needs to be fairly large to propel the car at respectable speeds.

Is sizing a diesel engine so it is most durable "over-sizing?"

No, that's sizing it properly.
But that's not what's happening today.

A frugal VW 1.2L or 1.4L TDI continuously running at its optimal performance and generating electricity rather than directly driving a car, should well be able to keep the batteries (temporary storage) of a respectable car juiced up.

The downside would be that you can't drive it at high speed for extended periods as that would drain more power from the batteries than the engine can generate.

It's an option I'd gladly give up.
People would choose their engines based on the continuous power they require - if you tow a lot, you'll need a larger generator.

While I occasionally enjoy the German No-limits Autobahn,its net result is that cars are not designed for their most common application - cruising at set, officially limited speeds - but for driving long distances at speeds that are illegal in the rest of the world.

I like having incredibly durable drive systems with robust reserve power-delivery capacity when I feel it's needed.

It'd be possible on a real hybrid drive : ICE generator / electric motors driving the wheels / battery as temporary storage of the generated electricity.

The electric engines could produce far more power and torque than the little ICE generator - but only for short periods.

[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by Piwoslaw

It's too bad that Peugeot/Citroën keeps investing in its 2.0 HDi engine instead of the 1.4, or producing a 1.2 liter turbodiesel. The cars keep getting heavier and more powerful. I'd love to see the aerodynamic 3-door C4 lose some weight and get a 1.2 diesel hybrid system. Instead, the new generation of C4 will be heavier, more luxurious, and only produced as a 5-door.

I found out that one of the first vehicles to have PSA's hybrid drive was supposed to be the Citroën C4 which, in the 3-door version, is quite aerodynamic.

(click image for link)

It's a shame that the 3-door C4 was discontinued and the hybrid drive will be put in the 3008, which has much more frontal area and a greater Cd than the C4's slippery 0.28.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by Piwoslaw

It's a shame that the 3-door C4 was discontinued and the hybrid drive will be put in the 3008, which has much more frontal area and a greater Cd than the C4's slippery 0.28.

That's the sad part of it all:
Hybrid systems are often not being used to build vehicles with a far better fuel efficienc (in 1st generation Insight style) but as a band-aid to be able to build bigger, heavier vehicles with a more or less acceptable fuel consumption.


Then when Honda builds a smaller hybrid (the Jazz / Fit hybrid), it actually has worse FE than the larger Insight II while being only 1000 euro less expensive !

[cleanspeed1]

How does this style hybrid compare to just an efficient diesel with just a stop/start system, all things being equal in terms of car and engine size?

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by cleanspeed1

How does this style hybrid compare to just an efficient diesel with just a stop/start system, all things being equal in terms of car and engine size?

In that case, the hybrid will do beter.