Thanks to hybrid hydraulics, there is something especially awesome in the power of the next generation of garbage and delivery trucks that will soon be rolling through your neighborhood. Although they may still look like big, bulky trucks, inside they boast hydraulic power-train systems that are significantly more energy and fuel efficient than similar conventional or gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles. If hybrid hydraulics prove their mettle for more industrial uses, cars may not be far behind.
Could this be the system that ends our dependence on oil? With the smaller diesel engines, they could all be designed to run on biodiesel.
I don't think hydraulic hybrids work all that well for cars. If I understand correctly, they recapture energy efficiently and without the heating & charge/discharge rate issues of electric hybrids, so they shine in the stop-and-go cycle typical of garbage & delivery trucks, but don't have that much energy storage. Most cars aren't used in that kind of driving cycle. The electric hybrid as bridge to PHEV can fairly easily be increased to 30 miles or more of all-electric driving.
I think that a smaller hydraulic hybrid system in a car could help. Mostly use it as a mild hybrid use it to remove the starter for quick starts at lights so you can start moving when the engine is starting. It would help with city driving that is stop and go and could recharge if needed at anytime the car is stopping. With a smaller system it would be likely that it would reach full capacity when there is still time to "charge" it so a secondary valve could be added to bleed the pressure off and power accessories. It would send pressure to what would essentially be half a turbo with a freewheeling pulley on the other side.
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I do believe that a hyd. hybrid car is a fascinating idea, and with modern advances, has a lot of potential. But, this is not a new idea and for whatever reason, no one has managed to actually get one into production. I'm not sure if it is because the design is impractical for an automobile or there have been major design flaws in every design (possible but it seems unlikely), or is it because the people with a sound design don't have the capital and business expertise to make it happen. That's a debate I don't want to enter.
I found this article in an old Mechanics Illustrated that I thought some of you might find interesting, if you like nostalgia. It fits right in with the title of this thread.
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