Hi,
Quote:
Originally Posted by tjts1
The series hybrid is fundamentally flawed in a car. Parallel is the way to go.
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I disagree -- a well designed serial hybrid could have a 250cc-500cc 2-cylinder ICE or a microturbine that weighs at most 1/4 as much as the 1.4L 4-cylinder used in the Volt. Please remember that in a serial hybrid, the engine/power plant can be run at a single speed, where it is run at it's maximum efficiency.
Examples of what I am referring to:
The prototype Mini hybrid with 640HP (four in-wheel 160HP electric motors) that used a 250cc 2-cylinder gasoline engine -- it got ~85mpg. Just imagine what MPG it would get with four mere 40HP electric motors in each wheel?
The Aptera 2h is supposed to have a ~15HP ICE that gets 130mpg at worst.
The Ford S-Max 7-seat chassis that has a Capstone micro turbine charger, and gets ~67mpg:
Ford S-Max based micro-turbine plug-in series hybrid [w/VIDEO] — Autoblog Green
Compare these to the Volt which is reported to get ~50mpg while in charging mode. The
Cruze XFE is supposed to get 44mpg -- the Volt gets a whole 6mpg better!
The simplicity of a well designed serial hybrid has many advantages over the complexity of a Prius-like parallel hybrid. A serial hybrid with a micro turbine has about 4 to 6 moving parts. If in-wheel motors are used, the physical layout of the chassis can be easily optimized for efficiency. The fuel-burning engine can be used at it's maximum efficiency, and therefore it's size and weight can be minimized -- and the size and weight of the fuel tank can also be minimized.
And the result of all the size and weight savings results in either reducing the size and cost of the battery pack required and/or the range of the EV-only is increased -- and the charging time of the battery is also improved.