Hi,
Quote:
Originally Posted by tjts1
N[ei]l
All of your examples are either heavy pigs or in the case of the Aptera, technically a motorcycle that seats 2 and doesn't have to meet any crash testing standards. Its not a flaw of GMs design here. It simply doesn't make sense to cram into one vehicle:
ICE
Generator
electric motor or motors
40 miles worth of batteries.
The displacement and weight of the ICE is irrelevant by comparison to the inefficiencies built into the series hybrid. No matter what engine you put into it, it will still be a 4000 lb car compact car. I would rather ditch the ICE all together and have a pure electric that goes 100 miles.
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Once batteries (or ultracapacitors) get better, then "pure" EV is certainly the way to go. But, my point is, when you need greater range, a serial hybrid is the most efficient and simplest way to do a hybrid.
My examples range from light weight (the Aptera 2h weighs 1,500-1,700 pounds) to medium weight (the Mini) to somewhat heavier (the S-Max probably weighs less than 4,000 pounds) -- and they ALL beat the Volt for efficiency, and even the S-Max (seating SEVEN people!) beats the Prius for efficiency.
Serial hybrid (when correctly done!) beats a parallel hybrid every time. Because -- guess what? A Prius has a 1.8L ICE, a generator, an electric motor, a transmission, and a battery. Take away the transmission and shrink the ICE (by a LOT) and increase the battery -- and you have a serial hybrid.
Serial hybrids have very few moving parts, especially if you use a microturbine (like the S-Max). Then the efficiency of the fuel use is almost 30% -- at least 2X as high as any ICE driving the wheels through a transmission. Think of it as an EV with a built-in generator (which lets you use a smaller battery, so the weight is almost the same) as the EV.