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Cruise costs more money. The small motors I can afford can not effectively attain 50mph with enough torque to make a difference. When dealing with electric motors from cars believe it or not the 0-35 is a lot easier than the 35-55 mph bracket. Torque is easier and cheaper than SPEED. speed requires a bigger motor and a higher voltage pack.
I only need enough power for about 11 or 12 accelerations to make a huge difference in fuel economy.
Adding power to 30 minutes of my 90 minute commute won't really have much of an effect on over all mpg since its adding power where I LEAST need it.
Your talking about efficiency in extracting power from the engine. I am not. I am talking about using at little gasoline as possible. These are completely different things.
There is a reason the Prius uses the EV system for UNDER 35mph usage. This is because under 35mph usage is where you waste all your fuel.
If I can carry enough power to eliminate the motor for coast stop wait and accelerate to 30-35mph I could probably hit 70mpg which would have a significant effect on my gas savings.
using an electric motor for just cruising is a DOUBLE penalty. I am now using the ICE to still accelerate the car its LEAST efficient mode AND now I am adding on 1000 that I need to accelerate of "dead weight" in the battery and electric drive train until I get to cruise speed.
On top of that I would be seriously maxing out the electric drive train to get it to spin at 50mph on my budget and on top of that the additional energy would be "minimal" at best especially once you subtract the dead weight acceleration penalty imposed on the ICE.
no if I can't use it to accelerate there is no real point in trying the gain will be too small and never "pay" for the cost of installing it.
IF I were to install a drive pack the first thing I would do is remove the alternator and replace the water pump with an electric water pump. this way the engine does NOTHING but move the car.
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