Demonstration Vehicles | Clean Automotive Technology | US EPA
The best engine on the planet today is at 55%.
efficiency.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brake_s...el_consumption
It burns 285 tons of heavy fuel oil a day at 92 RPM.
Look at the VW and Audi engines, in the chart, and you can honestly think they will never reach 50% or possibly 60%.
They could do that by using the same technology that power plants use by converting the wasted heat energy from the prime generator into useful electrical energy.
The philosophy is as old as the triple expansion steam engine.
Use exhaust heat to boil water, or another liquid specially desinged for the purpose, run it through the previously linked u-tube demo pump and stick some magnets on the outside and a coil for an alternator.
Since 62 % of the heat energy is wasted, capture that energy the same way a powerplant does.
regards
Mech