Electric Supercharger

[Frank Lee]

Originally Posted by roflwaffle

You just mentioned how it provides an advantage. Unless the turbo is designed to operate a low loads/speeds, and in that context limits power output, adding this, just like adding a conventional supercharger, can greatly improve low speed torque.

Erm... so put the right size turbo(s) on it, that pretty much works right? Or supercharge it. Or pick what you want- low end grunt or high end scream. Me, I don't need em both.

[bgd73]

low speed torque.

start this whole fiasco with a 3 main boxer all natural aspirated and see how much electric supercharger babble gets buried. they can't even vtec an inline four into mimicking a two valve 50 year old version. How far backwards does engineering go ? anybody?

diesels and long slow burn use a turbo better than any machine on earth using faster fuels than diesel. max rpm 2100.

an engine that torques anyway, finds turbo power <3k. An old subaru engine maxxed at 2800.

This nonsense. I gotta headache.

[Christ]

Electric Supercharger, anyone?



Didn't this idea get shown the bricks years ago?

I seem to remember that it just takes too much electrical power to create enough airflow at high engine speeds to actually create a supercharger's effect of increasing intake volume by any reasonable amount.

In fact, many of the "electric superchargers" that were tested restricted airflow, keeping the manifold under vacuum even under full "boost" conditions.

[Ryland]

350 amps under acceleration? the motor on my electric car has a 350 amp slow blow fuse, sure it peeks higher for a few seconds if I totally floor it... but under normal loads 200 amps or less and this is driving the wheels.

[theycallmeebryan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkQTHhCjyc8

[Christ]

I actually watched a ricer in a Honda Civic lose to a Neon, then duct tape a 2-stroke leaf blower to his intake through a hole in the firewall, and win against the same Neon.

All I had to say was "Wow."

What people don't account for when considering boost is the fact that ANYTHING over the normal vacuum for your RPM and throttle angle is boost - even though it's not actually pressurizing the intake, it's still boosting the VE of the engine by reducing pumping losses.

The problem with the Electric Supercharger that I posted above is that it simply can't flow enough air to keep an engine happy. Often, you'll find similar things that are actually trolling fans for boats. They can't move 300 CFM of air on good days, and people honestly think they're making a difference in top-end HP. Well, they are, actually... they're REDUCING it.

[cfg83]

Christ -

Originally Posted by Christ

...

I seem to remember that it just takes too much electrical power to create enough airflow at high engine speeds to actually create a supercharger's effect of increasing intake volume by any reasonable amount.

In fact, many of the "electric superchargers" that were tested restricted airflow, keeping the manifold under vacuum even under full "boost" conditions.

That's what I was thinking. I am giving it the benefit of the doubt for now and just specumalatin'. Maybe I'm giving Treehugger too much credit.

Who is "Controller Power Technologies"? :

Controlled Power Technologies... Background

Controlled Power Technologies Limited was founded in early 2007 by senior automotive executives to focus on carbon reduction issues.

Asset and technology acquisitions from Visteon Corporation, together with the signing of associated licensing and collaboration agreements with Switched Reluctance Drives Limited, give the new company immediate access to a portfolio of production-ready and near-term solutions to the problem of automotive CO2 reduction.
...
“Following adoption of the EU legislation to limit average CO2 automotive emissions from 2012, and an increasing focus on emission reduction in the US, the need for carbon abatement is rapidly growing in importance,” said the company’s chief executive Nick Pascoe. “Coupled with increasing fuel prices, company car tax determined by CO2 emissions and increasing costs of diesel powertrains, there is now stronger demand than ever before for cost-effective fuel-efficient technologies.”

Ok, it looks like they're carving a niche out of the EU emissions legislation.

Now, who is Visteon? :

Visteon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

... one of the world's largest suppliers of automotive parts. The company formed in 1997 and spun off from the Ford Motor Company in 2000. In 2005, Visteon moved to new headquarters in Van Buren Township, Michigan. Visteon is to the Ford Motor Company as Delphi is to General Motors and Denso is to Toyota.

Sooooo, at least Visteon is the real deal. But maybe they sold their "rotten fruit" to CPT.

"Switched Reluctance Drives Limited" is for real too :

Switched Reluctance Drives

CarloSW2

[dremd]

I saw theses guys at SEMA one year.
It does in fact move a poop load of air (my estimate was 3x a commercial leaf blower); but thats all I can vouch for.

[Allch Chcar]

350 Amps huh? So about 5kw under acceleration. 1.45 atmospheres on a 1.2l is nice.
350 amp burst for what? a half minute? It could work if the electronics were all taken care of and you used a big enough battery pack.

The problem with the "electric superchargers" was that they were simply a leaf blower mounted to the intake. If they were driven more like a true turbo/supercharger system tied to the throttle and RPM and the electrical system was upgraded for the large power demand it could work. The main problem is that 5kw is being used to feed more air into the engine. It's on a 12volt system for which that amperage is too high for more than a few brief bursts like the starter. The solution is to use a higher voltage motor or bigger batteries. A 48volt motor with 4- 12volt batteries with 25amp/hour capacity would provide about 10 minutes of boost per charge. You really only need a few minutes at a time but the pulse amperage is really dependent on the battery.

If it means using a 5kw motor to boost the engine's displacement, you know people are going to take the boost over using a 5kw motor to the wheels.

[Christ]

Originally Posted by Allch Chcar

350 Amps huh? So about 5kw under acceleration. 1.45 atmospheres on a 1.2l is nice.
350 amp burst for what? a half minute? It could work if the electronics were all taken care of and you used a big enough battery pack.

The problem with the "electric superchargers" was that they were simply a leaf blower mounted to the intake. If they were driven more like a true turbo/supercharger system tied to the throttle and RPM and the electrical system was upgraded for the large power demand it could work. The main problem is that 5kw is being used to feed more air into the engine. It's on a 12volt system for which that amperage is too high for more than a few brief bursts like the starter. The solution is to use a higher voltage motor or bigger batteries. A 48volt motor with 4- 12volt batteries with 25amp/hour capacity would provide about 10 minutes of boost per charge. You really only need a few minutes at a time but the pulse amperage is really dependent on the battery.

If it means using a 5kw motor to boost the engine's displacement, you know people are going to take the boost over using a 5kw motor to the wheels.

Foolishly, of course, because no one will actually do the math. They'll hear the word "boost" and jump on it. Of course, one could downplay the idea by calling the IMA system "boost" as well, since that's one of it's potential uses - to give a "boost" in acceleration for short "bursts". Kind of like E-Nitrous.